Being grateful

Hi all
Hope you’re all out there training hard, eating well and doing whatever else it is that makes you happy! I was back at work all of 5 seconds when I got struck down with a tummy virus for almost a week. Today is my first day back at work and although I often complain about my desk job it feels sooo good to feel normal and do something productive! Never never never take your health for granted! It’s one of the simple things most of us can usually be grateful for almost everyday.

I watched a lot of Oprah during my week on the couch and yesterday saw her interview with the lady who got mauled by her boss’ ‘pet’ chimpanzee. Did you hear about that a little while ago? She wanted to be able to reveal her face on her own terms rather than let the papparazzi get a shot of her. I don’t know if you’ve seen her face but the injuries were horrific and they had to remove her eyes. Our society places such pressure on women to maintain their appearances and it all feels very trivial when you hear about survival stories like this. You might think you'd rather die but when Oprah (very sensitively) posed this kind of question to her it seemed almost offensive. Why would she rather have died when she is now in no pain and has a teenage daughter? On a day when I’m struggling with what to feel grateful for all I need to do is look out the window of my office at the sky.

I also watched a lot of reality type shows on the lifestyle channel such as ‘what not to wear’, ‘how to look good naked’ and ‘extraordinary weight stories’. Major theme being women generally feeling miserable about themselves, their looks and their bodies. Its nice to see attempts being made to make these women see that they are perfectly fine the way they are (perhaps just needing to take a little more pride in choice of clothes etc) rather than selling them stupid creams and ab rollers. I love it when the host says “I don’t want you to just accept your body the way it is, I want you to flaunt it!” lol. Its not about loving being fat, its about having confidence and treating yourself well. No one ever successfully and healthily lost weight by hating themselves.

I’d very much like to rid myself of the mindset ‘never good enough’. It’s a waste of a life.

So what are you grateful for? Right now I'm grateful that I feel well enough again to eat my broccoli without gagging :)