It’s funny how my office just finished an 8 week biggest loser competition for getting in shape for summer and Tuesday someone brought in a box of smores poptarts. I never buy poptarts seeing as they aren’t that great for you and it’s just me so eventually I would end up eating the whole box sooner rather than later. However, I decided to go for a mid morning snack and open a packet and take 1 poptart. Well you would have thought that was a crime when one co worker said to me, “I can’t believe you are eating a pop tart”.
Can I just say I love poptarts, preferably the brown sugar kind. Sure a lot of people classify them as bad. Yes I do love my vegetables and my daily salads but I also love chocolate, cookies and the occasional pop tart.
Growing up, my parents didn’t buy pop tarts. Let me rephrase, my mom didn’t buy poptarts but my dad would hide a box in his office sometimes. It was a treat to get a poptart (as it should be, in my opinion).
It shouldn’t bother me but it really does bother me when people call me skinny or when someone tells me you can shop at that store and get loads of stuff because you are so small.
I know we all tend to judge and look only on the outside. There are all different shapes and sizes of bodies, but some people can’t help that they are thin, they may have fast metabolisms or it is in their genes, same goes for the opposite being on the heavier side. Note, I only said some, but you don’t know the person’s story or history.
I love how far I have come to loving my body and I have certainly put in work for it. I used to not exercise at all except for gym class. The summer before I joined the swim team my sophomore year of high school, I had to go to the doctor since it was required to be on a sport. My doctor basically told me I was really out of shape (I didn’t look it, by the way) after making me run up and down the hospital stairs. My interpretation from the doctor’s words was that maybe I shouldn’t be on the swim team. I left crying in the elevator with my dad and my dad started to bring me to the gym for the summer. We would work on some weight machines and the treadmill etc. I wasn’t that into working out at that point but enjoyed learning a bit. I know I was one of the slowest swimmers (thank goodness swimming was a no cut sport) but you know what? I showed up for practice everyday and I stuck it through the whole season. I left a better and stronger swimmer.
I discovered weight lifting in college and I have never looked back. I had no idea that the gym and fitness would become such a big hobby for me in the future. I then got into healthy eating only a few years ago but I still believe in moderation. One poptart isn’t going to kill me.
At this point in my life I am not training for anything specific that I need to have perfect macros or anything. In fact I am really proud of just how far I have come in the last year. I feel healthier, both mentally and physically.
I am still working on improving and finding balance as we always are but for now I am really happy where I am. I think I read on an Instagram feed one time, “you have to be happy with your body at every stage”. Do I want to have a flatter tummy? Sure, but right now I feel I am at a good place. I continue to remind myself that I am happy with my body and that is all that matters. Ignoring the comments and judgement is definitely hard, but I believe you also become a stronger person because of it. “Embrace and love your body, it is the most amazing thing you will ever own”. For me, sometimes that means I will eat a poptart and I don’t feel guilty or bad about it.
Thanks Amanda for letting me Think Out loud.
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Yay for Poptarts and lifting! I’ve actually been wanting to try making Pop tarts, and this re-inspired me to do it!
That would be awesome to make poptarts. I think I read a recipe for some one time, but I never got around to making them. Would love to see you make them. Maybe some brown sugar ones? Or your own smores version for summer 🙂
Love this! It’s so incredibly important to listen to your cravings, whether it’s for a big salad or a Pop Tart. No food is “bad”. It’s all about honoring what your body (and sometimes your soul) wants.
Brown sugar is definitely the best flavor by the way :p
Yes, if my body wants it, I try to listen when I can. I crave salads all the time, but sometimes I crave a giant cookie or a poptart. It’s all about balance.
Agreed. Life is meant to be enjoyed… Poptarts and all!
Yes! Thanks Jess
When i used to work in an office of all woman, anytime I ate anything other than a salad or something I brought form home it was a BFD. Which is stupid. But whatever. When I was a kid and in HS I’m not gonna lie – I had poptarts every morning. I would split them with a kid in my homeroom and he would get the middles and I would eat the edges, ha!
haha splitting the middle and the edges, reminds me how I split apple pie with my sister, she eats the inside and I take the crust.
I went through what was probably a 2 year period where I would eat a Poptart for breakfast every morning. And I lived to tell the tale! 😆 I feel like people take the whole clean eating thing a little too far and demonize too many foods. Is it the best choice? Despite not necessarily being made with the best ingredients, it may very well be the best choice at that time. People forget that health includes the mental part of it as well, and that constantly denying ourselves and being afraid of foods isn’t healthy. And for the record, S’mores Poptarts are the best 😛
People really do take it too far, life and eating is meant to be enjoyed. I couldn’t even remember the last time I ate a poptart so it was a very good treat.