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Thin Line Between Healthy & Unhealthy Dieting

Thin Line Between Healthy and Unhealthy Dieting

It’s almost that time of year again when we douse ourselves in sunscreen and shove aside our leggings in exchange for those favorite pair of shorts. The temperature is rising along with most of our anticipation for long summer days that seem to stretch on endlessly. We eye our neighborhood pools when we pass on our way to school and daydream about smelling like chlorine for three months straight. However as exciting as spending afternoons lazily lounging on pool floats and the only worry being about what the UV index is – there is a downfall to the upcoming season.
It’s the first time we go to shrug on our favorite shorts and in the course of a year (and natural course of life by growing as we get older), the denim is less fitted and more uncomfortably snug. Or maybe it’s when you look down as you slather on sunscreen and notice curves that weren’t there the last time you were covered in the pasty cream. With bathing suit season on the horizon, insecurities can sometimes surface as well. Tugging on that bikini for the first time in months can be taunting and suddenly your surged with an urge to kick your sno cone diet for that gluten free fad your older sister is always raving about.
But like most things in life, dieting is something that is all about balance. It can very easily transition from just simply nixing that midnight snack to teetering on borderline insanity due to obsessively examining and recording every calorie you ate that day. It can be tempting to punish yourself for binge eating your mom’s buffalo chicken dip the night before by going overboard on cardio. But all that does is destroy your knees and willpower for the next day’s workout.
When following trends like keto dieting it can be easy to slip into bad habits like restricting valuable nutrients. Or when trusting temporary solutions like juice cleanses, it can be disappointing when the weight loss results disappear once you switch back to solid foods again. Ironically, concentrating so heavily on weight and even the word ‘diet’ can be harmful to your overall health.
In other words, don’t think diets parallel with health and don’t think a number on the scale reflects anything about beauty. Body positivity doesn’t surface from hours on the treadmill or three weeks of depriving yourself of dairy. Don’t measure your appearance on something as minimal as your weight. If you do want to tweak your body due to a lack of self confidence, put an emphasis on healthy eating habits and less on demonizing carbs.
But lastly, life is short and summer is even shorter so enjoy the sno cone before the season is over.

Kristen

Kristen is a contributor for GirlSpring. Her posts focus on GirlSpring updates and current events.

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