What I learnt when I ate a cupcake

As many of you know, I’ve made lots of changes to my health this year as I found out I am both gluten and dairy intolerant and when I eat these things not only do I feel really unwell but I have really bad flare ups of endometriosis (fun!).

Since arriving back from our honeymoon, I have realised that it has been more of a challenge than usual to stay completely gluten free and dairy free. Perhaps due to being so relaxed on our trip and not having a care in the world or perhaps I have found myself feeling busier than usual with starting uni on top of full time work.

A few weeks back I had pizza at a friend’s place and became so ill after a couple of hours. My husband just looked at me and said “Why did you do it?” at the time I honestly couldn’t give him an answer.

The same thing happened a few weeks back at a friend’s baby’s first birthday party. It was such a great day catching up with a few mates and I was really enjoying myself. When offered a cupcake, I thought “what the hell!” and gobbled it down.

The drive home I was kicking myself- mentally and physically I felt horrible.

After a few days of feeling super guilty and silly about it all, I started to evaluate about how much I had been struggling with my intolerances, I realised that it was because I was emotional eating- I didn’t want to miss out on any of the fun things and I felt restricted, I guess I was “fighting back” at my intolerances even though I knew full well that avoiding these foods is the best option for me.

I then realised that I had to look at things in a realistic way, I am not perfect, no one is! We are all human. As a health coach I think I put unnecessary pressure on myself. I eat well 90% of the time with a really clean diet, but to try and live like that 100% of the time would be unrealistic and I probably do more damage to myself when I beat myself up about it- in my case by putting so much pressure on myself I was beginning to feel like I was missing out on something. Obviously I will do my best to avoid the foods that harm me but if every now and then, I eat something that was not the best choice that’s ok, at least I am conscious of what I am eating.

I want my beautiful readers to realise the beauty is that health is a journey not a destination and we need to be kinder to ourselves.

Each time you add a new healthy habit to your lifestyle is a step forward and if you occasionally take a step back, that’s ok- it’s a journey and there is a lesson to be learned.

That’s what life is all about, it is meant to be lived and from your experiences you learn and you get better next time.

What do you struggle with when it comes to healthy eating?

I would love to hear about it, comment below.

Amy x

 

Photo credit: taste. Cupcakes book by Hinkler

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