#it sounds ideal its romanticized it sounds so convenient because then you wouldnt have to keep squeezing yourself dry to reach your goal

[devondespresso]

friendly reminder as new years comes up and companies double down on exploiting marketing to people's weight loss resolutions: please please please please PLEASE be kind to yourself. love if you can, be neutral if you can't. there's about a million posts about this that i want to restate but then we'll be here all day so ill just stick to my two cents.

a lot of fitness culture (nice and well-intentioned people, not just shitty companies) will tell you you can do it right. you can be educated and smart, know the macros and minerals and do the best HIIT and have your rest days. And i don't have the authority to say that idea doesn't exist in reality, but i can say i was doing it as smart possible. reduce dont cut, stay above your calorie minimum, balance cardio and strength, eat healthy fats and get good protein.

you don't get an eating disorder by being dumb or uninformed or well-intentionedly doing it wrong. you dont get sucked in deeper by being flippant, by choosing with a sound mind to take those risks. and you dont get out of that shit by being smarter or learning more or figuring out how to do it right. you get out of it by being kinder to yourself, and most fitness companies dont want that for you so you have to want that for yourself

i like thinking of going to the gym as a hobby, and three years after my lowest point i still like weightlifting and yoga a lot. the difference now is that im recovering, making protein shakes that are closer to glorified milkshakes (ice cream and all, plenty of ice cream), putting effort into eating enough and not forcing myself to do stuff ill hate in the name of discipline or whatever. you don't force yourself to attend a painting class because you hate how your hands are shaped and youre told that if you just put all your willpower and discipline into painting regularly you'll be able to fix them. being creative on your own time and as you enjoy it *is* good for you and can definitely make you feel better, but staring at a canvas for weeks agonizing over the work you're only doing because you 'have' to is not.

so please please PLEASE be kind to yourselves💕💗💖