Tune In
If you hadn’t noticed from previous posts, I watch television with a critical eye. My DVR is home to a range of programming, from talk shows and documentaries, to fictional dramas and sitcoms, both low and high brow. Although I don’t have a huge taste for reality television, I do acknowledge its appeal.
While trolling around for reviews of the dramatic Grey’s Anatomy season finale (admittedly, one of my guiltier pleasures), I came across an article in the NY Times about a CNBC documentary called One Nation, Overweight. Alessandra Stanley describes the documentary as “a chilling portrait of a health epidemic that endangers all Americans.” I was curious to see if diet was mentioned at all in this program, so I recorded it and gave it a whirl.
The documentary opens with familiar images of actresses on the red carpet – Jessica Alba, Zoe Saldana, Amy Adams, Kristen Stewart, Nicole Kidman, Keira Knightly, Sarah Jessica Parker – each showing off svelte, impossibly thin bodies.
The documentary then quickly juxtaposes this with the equally familiar barrage of food advertising we are inundated by at a seemingly constant rate, not only on television, but during our daily commutes to work, walking around our cities, perusing online, and reading newspapers and magazines. Mainstream media tells us at once to be thin and consume mass amounts of cheap, unhealthy food.
During a long walk along the Hudson, yesterday, I realized that we need to start ignoring the misinformation and conflicting messaging we are hit with on a daily basis, and turn inward for solutions. I do not believe that our bodies were engineered to need processed foods or animal products to thrive. I do not believe that we need to be impossibly model thin to be beautiful. And I do not believe that happiness is a place in the future when I have the right job or boyfriend or dress size – it’s RIGHT NOW.
Turning inward, listening to my body, learning what the signals it sends me means, is what has allowed me to achieve greater happiness, peace, and ultimately, personal success. The things that have facilitated this growth have been a plant-based diet, lots of introspection, self-awareness, and a commitment to being present and having a positive attitude.
In celebration of this realization, I have decided to kickoff a new challenge based around yoga; a practice that strengthens body and mind and helps keep me balanced and centered. While I do not turn my back on the running that was a big part of arriving at this place, I am committed to being fit in a way that is less punishing to my body. I plan to practice yoga every day for 30 days – all of June (coincidentally, my birth month – shout out to all my Geminis).
When it comes to diet, I am continuing to eat plant-based foods, incorporating as much raw and unprocessed foods as possible. This decision is in pursuit of feeling my absolute best, and nourishing my body with foods that energize my body and make me stronger.
And while I won’t completely tune out the joys of the tube, I will tune in to myself and my body every day. And I will know that I am exactly who, what, and where I want to be: happy, healthy, and enough, exactly as I am.
Filed under: plant-based diet, Yoga challenge | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alessandra Stanley, Amy Adams, CNBC Documentary, Grey's Anatomy Season Finale, Jessica Alba, Keira Knightly, Kristen Stewart, New York Times Alessandra Stanley, Nicole Kidman, One Nation, Overweight, plant-based diet, raw foods, red carpet, Sarah Jessica Parker, unprocessed foods, Zoe Saldana
No Responses Yet to “Tune In”