Wednesday 25 February 2009

The Cheek Of It!

I want to feel proud of choosing something that I was craving for my snack this afternoon. But I don't. It's almost 4 hours later and all of a sudden, my head is spinning about what a stupid choice I made, that I should have picked something higher in protein, blah, blah, blah. All that really really important stuff. Because one small snack in the grand scheme of my diet is really the "make or break" of my day/week/life/the WORLD. Lol.

I am fully aware that my thinking right now is irrational. I am not acting on these thoughts- hell, there's not much I can do right at this moment. There's nothing I even want to do/have an urge to do (except write, obviously!)

I have been trying to distract myself by thinking about the human body as a whole. All the amazing things it does- some we are conscious of (thinking, feeling, etc), some we don't see/feel (cell production, osmosis, all that biology malarkey).

Did you know...
  • In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately two kilograms in a year.
  • Every square inch of the human body has about 19,000,000 skin cells.
  • Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.
  • The human body makes anywhere from 1 to 3 pints of saliva every 24 hours.
  • The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries.
  • The aorta, which is largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.
  • The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily.
Pretty amazing, right? So while I am sitting here panicking about eating a snack bar that is slightly lower in protein than my regular picks, my body is doing all kinds of amazing stuff. I wasn't thinking about this earlier- I was thinking about what food sounded good at that moment. My body told me, and I responded. Who am I to question the signs my body sends? Or more to the point, who is anorexia to know what my body needs to function best?

Edited to say: the focus of my blog has changed quite a bit since starting (more so in the recent couple of months) and I thought a new layout was needed. Plus, if I am including pictures, I have a hard enough time taking decent ones without them having to "match" a bright pink background! Let me know what you think!

7 comments:

Lauryn (www.fitawakening.com) said...

ellie, i LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! you are so right; in the grand scheme of things, one snack DOES NOT matter! not to mention it's not like you stuffed yourself silly with junk; im sure you still had something delicious and nutritious that FUELED your body! and that's all that matters.

hooray for new ways of thinking! i am taking your advice big time today =)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

**Saw your comment on my blog:


I can't eat Keribars since they're not soy-free. Which Larabar flavor did you try??

Pamela Alida said...

You have such a wonderfully positive attitude. keep fighting girl. you can do this!!!

Anonymous said...

88 pounds of oxygen!!?? thats INSANE!

Anonymous said...

You'll find that the more you eat what you feel like, the less of a slave you'll be to eating. Your life won't revolve around it, be so influencd by it, it won't be the center of your life and a controller of your feelings.

A huge part of recovering from ED is learning to eat things that aren't totally "worth it"--just because eating ISN'T that important...and once you challenge that, it can't control you and you can LIVE. :)

Jaime said...

hey girl! I LOVED THIS POST!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you for sharing all of these wonderful facts! it really made me stop and think about how IMPORTANT it is to ensure i'm the healthiest i can be :) thank you so much ellie! u are amazing ladydoll

Elle said...

First of all - love the new layout! It's minimalist and elegant, and I think it looks great. And your banana baked goods look absolutely delicious. Seriously, I eat 2 bananas a day like clockwork and I've been known to drive to to grocery store at 2 a.m. if I realize I won't have one around for breakfast. Little crazy, I know, but they are sooo good; I'm going to have to try that recipe!

Your factoids about the human body are so interesting, and a great way to remind yourself of how trivial one snack is in the grand scheme of things. It's definitely a great attitude to have and a way of bringing things back into perspective when the ed-anxiety kicks in!

Have a wonderful night!!!