I get it, I’ve been there (and I still am). Constantly putting others before yourself is tiring, and quite frankly, not worth it half the time. Always caring what others think and putting their happiness before your own is an endless cycle of exhaustion and lack of self care that may not pay off in the long run. It’s a unique gift and a terrible curse all at the same time.

It often seems like your consideration, selfless acts, and continuous love go unrecognized. And it stabs you right in the heart every. single. time. But I’m here to tell you that you need to start putting yourself first sometimes. Whether that is 30 minutes of Netflix, a long bath, or reading your favorite book.

You deserve the same love that you give to others. No excuses. No questions asked. 

If someone truly cares about you, they will go out of their way to do whatever for you. Being “busy” or “not having time” isn’t an excuse given to those who truly love you. We constantly hear in college phrases like “I’m super busy, I can’t make it” or “I’m really stressed out and need to get my life together”.  NEWSFLASH: Everyone our age is just as busy as the person next to them.

This has been a difficult thing for me to realize as I seem to constantly put people first who wouldn’t do the same for me…but I am learning. And I am trying each day to love myself more and more. It is so important to stay in check with your emotional and mental health; and how can you do that if you aren’t carving time out of your day for yourself?!

I am simply here to tell you that I am in the same exact spot you are in. I am struggling with the same things you are struggling with. I know what you’re feeling and I know how much you are hurting at times.

Don’t let someone ruin your self-worth. Love yourself, put yourself first. xoxo

Ah, the month all Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (and future RDNs!) look forward to…National Nutrition Month! Each year in March, a new slogan is created for the month of celebration, but they all focus on the same few topics. The slogan for the 2017 year is “Put Your Best Fork Forward” and concentrates on a few key messages.

• Create an eating lifestyle that includes a variety of your favorite, healthful foods.
• Practice cooking more at home and experiment with healthier ingredients.
• How much we eat is as important as what we eat. Eat and drink the right amount for you, as MyPlate encourages us to do.
• Find activities that you enjoy and be physically active most days of the week.
• Manage your weight or lower your health risks by consulting a registered dietitian nutritionist. RDNs can provide sound, easy-to-follow personalized nutrition advice to meet your lifestyle, preferences and health-related needs

This year’s them of “putting your best fork forward” is referring to how each bite counts. You can’t change your eating habits overnight, it is a slow and progressive process. Making small, positive changes will add up overtime and improve your overall lifestyle! The theme for this year “inspires us to start with small changes in our eating habits – one forkful at a time”.

Throughout this month, I plan to post more frequently and focus a majority of my posts around the celebration of this month! Stay tuned for more. xoxo

“I need to start working on my spring break bod.”

“I really need to lose 10 pounds before spring break!”

“I’m only eating salad from now, until spring break.”

I bet that you have heard one, or even all three, of these phrases multiple times in the past few weeks. Everyone is striving to look their best on the beach, but when has it been taken too far?

Okay, I understand that most of us will be on the beach for spring break in bikinis…exposing most of our body to all college students out there, but I don’t think that is an excuse to starve yourself to have the “perfect” body.

Newsflash: your body is already perfect just the way it is! We weren’t created created to all look the same, our bodies are crafted to fit our unique selves.

This thought didn’t fully cross my mind until I revisited a documentary I last watched my senior year of high school, “America The Beautiful”. This Netflix documentary takes its viewers on a journey around the country to see how others feel about beauty, physical appearance, and social media. During this film, the director interviewed both a 7 year old girl and 12 year old girl, who both insisted they were ugly. No girl at that age should ever feel ugly, ever. The girls couldn’t say specifically why they were ugly, they could only reference pictures of celebrities and ads of models to how they are supposed to look. How sad is it that at the prime of their youth, they feel so awful about their appearance?

This Netflix binge then sent me into a spiral looking at video after video of people’s perception of beauty. I came across a “slam poem” of sorts by a 17 year old girl, Savannah Brown. In this poem she states, “I would go home and put on a sweatshirt with my eyes closed, denying myself the right to be shown myself because I didn’t dare want to insinuate beauty in regards to something so insulting as my body.” As the poem continues, her tone intensifies stating the way she felt due to what social media and society told her how to feel. In the end, she tells her viewers how she is focusing on loving herself and not begging for the love of others. “When I first learned that no one could ever love me more than me, a world of happiness previously unseen was discovered.”

Lastly, what urged me to write this post instead of study for my midterms, was National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. This week is recognized during the last week of February every year (February 26th-March 4th for the 2017 year). I find this fitting as spring break is coming up soon for University of Alabama students and I think it is important to spread awareness about this problem.

• It is a complex, and very serious mental illness
• It is not easy to spot someone with an eating disorder
• It is not “a diet gone out of control”

I know that we all find ourselves aimlessly scrolling through Instagram or Facebook wishing we looked like someone we aren’t; I personally find myself doing this constantly. We feel as if there is a never ending search for the perfect body…and we are right. Because there isn’t one perfect body, every body is perfect.

Starving yourself will do nothing but harm your body, but you know what will immensely help your body?! Fueling it with nutrition and positivity!

I want each of you reading this to know that you are so beautiful and so loved. Don’t let social media, society, or cruel people tell you otherwise. Your body is your temple, fuel it properly and don’t deprive your body of what it needs. So screw the “spring break bod” and bring on body positivity! xoxo