Comments on: fuel.

By: Abby

Abby — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:42:31 +0000

I completely agree with you and think Ellie pretty much said a lot of the things I would have. As a former athlete, I always remember how I trained and how I ate (tons) and compare now to then. Not good.

So, I try and remember that even “normal” people that don’t exercise still eat large amounts of food without justification or worry. They eat because they’re hungry and they exercise to stay fit. We need fuel to function.

However, in my mind, I still find the need to justify extra anything, even though I should just eat more and not exercise at all! There’s that balance I’m trying to achieve, and I think this post was both very timely and very inspirational.

Thank you!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:07:53 +0000

Great point! I think that it is definitely a delicate balance, as well as a line that I easily go back and forth over. Sometimes, I’m excited to fuel my body for a great workout I’ve planned, yet others times I find myself in the old mindset of working out BECAUSE I ate my meal plan and I want to maintain the balance.

It’s definitely something I’m always working on, thanks for your thoughts on this.

By: Lo

Lo — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:22:59 +0000

i think i def eat to exercise since im training right now..but otherwise I exercise for pleasure and i eat for pleasure! i love just “being” and not having to worry about burning off a brownie or cookie.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:49:33 +0000

I don’t exercise so I can eat, but I do feel like I should exercise because of what I’ve eaten. I really want to just do exercise when I feel like it and not feel guilty or bad if I don’t do any. I enjoy swimming and dancing and should just do it because of that :)

By: coco

coco — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:32:05 +0000

I can’t agree more with you!!! Years ago I’d burn some cals just to justify to eat normal and felt bad when I don’t. But now, when I don’t want to exercise, I just don’t, it could be a day, a week or even a month. And I do more yoga than cardio burns, because it makes me feel better and less obsessed about food. Of course, I do enjoy the endorphin that cardio gives me, but only when I need it, not because of food. :) It feel so great this way!

By: Lexi

Lexi — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:55:41 +0000

Such a great post. I, too, have struggled with un-healthy thoughts regarding exercise or lack there of, and have recently developed a much healthier relationship with my workouts as well. I definitely eat so I can have a good sweat session. Thanks so much for posting this, it really made me think :)

By: Maya

Maya — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:10:52 +0000

I couldn’t agree more, and luckily it seems that more and more women in blogworld are on board with this mindset. Thanks for the reminder!

By: Dotsie

Dotsie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:43:15 +0000

At this point, I’m probably (ok, definitely) living to eat…but I know I should be eating to exercise :-)

By: Rose

Rose — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:11:51 +0000

I love this post and have felt this way often lately. Sometimes I catch myself throwing on my HRM and forcing myself to run until I burn 500 calories because that’s how much my lunch was – or how much my dinner is going to be.

It’s hard sometimes – because I’m trying to lose weight without being obsessive, and I feel like too often in the past, they have gone hand in hand for me.

It’s nice to see that exercise has a new place in your life and that you are present. It’s very inspirational – thank you.

By: ellie

ellie — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:11:11 +0000

Interesting post. I can definitely relate. When I danced, I swung between eating for energy to dance, and dancing to justify eating. I often didn’t realise it until I had to stop dancing for whatever reason and notice how my eating was affected (or not). When I look back at my dancing days though, I really only remember the feeling of food being fuel to power me through my classes, and the couple classes I took where I hadn’t eaten properly beforehand (thinking, “I need to earn XXX before I eat it”).

Nowadays…it’s hard to say. I walk a lot and in my mind, I guess it’s partly to justify eating. I definitely do not eat to fuel my exercise because it’s not strenuous (more to fill time than anything else right now) but I struggle with getting my head around the fact that bodies need a certain amount of fuel just to live. To me, i guess, I am still caught up in the whole ‘exercise = food’ thinking. Which i didn’t realise until just now and thought about it!

Thank you for your messages…xxx