|
|
|
||||
| In Search of a Natural Body Weight By Amanda Turner, based on the book "Natural Body, Natural Shape" |
Do You Have An Opinion
Or An Experience ? Share it with us on our
|
|||
| My size 4 jeans felt loose and baggy around
my hips and thighs. It was a good feeling! I felt skinny and glamorous. I was 20 and weighed 101lbs at 5'2".
I would eat an orange at breakfast, a cup of tea without sugar and half
a cup of soup at lunch time, 4 sticks of celery and 2 mini carrots for a
snack and a slice of bread with half a can of tuna for dinner. This diet
would ensure that I could stay at 101 lbs.
As good as baggy size 4 jeans made me feel, inside my body was starving, and yes, there is such a thing as being too thin. I stayed at this weight for a year, and if I had the choice, would have stayed there forever. However my body had a mind of its own. It decided that it was slowly starving to death, and over time I started to gain weight even with the meager portions I ate. It seemed as if every calorie I consumed was hoarded and turned to fat in order to save my life - literally. |
||||
 |
At the opposite end of the spectrum, after
leaving a high stress job at an insurance company, I had gained 35lbs
from being under so much stress. I was now 26 and weighed 135lbs. Huge
for someone who had once been a baggy size 4. During the year and a half
that I worked for the insurance company, I would skip breakfast and maybe
eat a protein bar for lunch, (more often than not, it was a snickers bar).
By dinnertime, I was ravenous and would eat all of my calories during
that one meal. It was the only time I had left in the day to eat. I only
ate once… one very large meal and I had 2 or 3 very large helpings
- essentially, eating three meals in one. The meals were of healthy foods
like rice, vegetables and lean meat or fish, but they were also just before
bedtime. At this weight and size, I felt uncomfortable. I was self-conscious
and felt the need to hide this big fat body of mine. I believe that there is a happy medium, a weight at which I am neither starving nor over-eating, a weight at which I feel comfortable and a size that I can realistically maintain without starvation and without stress. |
|||
| At
34 and the mother of two children, I am now looking for that happy medium.
I am conflicted between the strong desire to fit comfortably back into my
size 4 jeans and the feeling of "what does it matter if I can't wear
my size 4 jeans". I want to be happy, comfortable and at a healthy
weight, one that I do not have to struggle to maintain and one where I am
eating good healthy food and enough of it - not too much or too little.
I am looking to find my natural body weight.
I believe that my natural body weight is somewhere between 115lbs-120lbs. But, natural body weight is not about a point on the scale. It is where you body naturally settles when it is not under stress and is being exercised regularly and fed a good healthy diet. I am on a journey right now to achieve my natural body weight. Interestingly enough, I am discovering that my quest for my natural weight is opening up all kinds of issues in my life whose outward manifestation is inextricably tied up with eating habits and jeans sizes. Read
Amanda's 30-day Challenge Journal
Sign up to receive our monthly feature article via e-mail. |
Previous Topics ‘Put Your Foot in Your Mouth’ – The Value of Good Flexibility and a Strong Spine Cultivating Your Natural Body Shape Through Yoga Healthy, Natural Posture: Makes You Look and Feel Good Is Anybody Home: How Yoga Relaxation Reduces Stress |
|||
 |
||||
