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Lose the Freshman 15: Forgiveness

 

It is the end of the weekend collegiettes. Hope everyone had a fabulous one!

Today’s topic is a bit of a serious one for me. I wanted to stress the importance of forgiveness. Forgiveness is seriously one of the most important words to me and I have considered getting it tattooed on my wrist, as a reminder of where I was and how far I have come. Let me explain.

I have struggled with disordered eating for about 4 years. I would force myself to eat huge quantities in short periods of time, triggered by my emotions. After a binge, I would have feelings of intense regret and hatred of myself, which would only cause me to binge again. It is a vicious cycle. I have come so far from my lowest of lows and it is in great thanks to forgiveness. See, one of the biggest points is that it is not so much what you eat in a binge, it is how you handle the aftermath. Do you binge again? Or do you move on? I have learned to be able to look at myself and say, “I forgive you. Everything is ok and you can move on.” This has been such a huge step in my recovery.

Last night after a school basketball game, my girlfriends and I went to the market to buy some things for dinner and dessert. Dinner was pizza and dessert was smores pie- ridiculously healthy, right? ;) Lets just say, this morning I woke up not feeling the best about my choices. I would have loved to go on a run to clear my mind, but my knee is a little swollen from my race and I decided to ice instead.
 All I could do was look in the mirror, forgive myself, do an ab work out and decide to start making good choices again. I looked to the Jump Start Diet and created the yogurt parfait for breakfast as a light, refreshing breakfast to start my day on the right track again.

The point of this post is to remind you that even if you slip and stumble off your path, there is NO sense in beating yourself up or giving up. All you have to do is make a few good choices to get the ball moving again. Slipping up one day or even one meal is NOT going to set you back as far as you may think. What will set you back is punishing yourself for, as I would call it, “failing”. Weight loss is a tough journey, but it is conquerable. Let SELF help you on that journey.

So if you slip up, brush it off, look in the mirror and smile. Tell yourself, ‘I forgive you! I am making an effort to become healthier and I WILL get this.”

Fall down seven times, get up eight.

WE CAN DO THIS!

Xx Jessica 

Feel free to leave feedback. If you need reassurance, support, advice, anything!! I am here because we are in this together! 

Jessica is currently studying Graphic Design and Psychology at UC Davis. She hopes to one day move to New York and work for a fashion or fitness magazine. When she is not dreaming about her life in New York, she is either running, watching shows on hulu, socializing or baking cupcakes. She loves anything that will make her laugh, sunny days  and everything purple!