Why Is This Important To Me?

Seriously though. Why did I create a whole different blog from my homemaking blog? Why is exercise SO important to me? Why would I choose such a job? I was a theater major! We're not known for our exercise habits (unless running across campus to rehearsal counts...) I rarely had TIME to go to the gym. I ate fast food at 11pm (because rehearsal went until 10pm and I was HUNGRY)

So why exercise? I have a variety of reasons actually...

As a Christian I believe my body is a temple (1Corinthians 6:19-20). I don't take it to, what I consider, extremes and avoid all "bad" things. I have to have caffeine each morning (I think I have trouble seeing color until then! lol), I enjoy the occasional alcoholic drink, and I love chips a little too much.

I have an eating disorder in my past. 5 years of off and on bulimia. I developed a distorted view of beauty, health, and food. Foods were "good" or "bad" and I based my self worth on which food I ate. Even at my thinnest I was terribly unhappy with how I looked and tried to become even thinner. At that point it wasn't about health. My brain would distort what I saw in the mirror. Eating disorder awareness and education is VERY near and dear to my heart. There are so many misconceptions about it. So many people view it as "stupid" and whatnot. I want to teach people (especially teens) that you can be healthy and happy and enjoy the occasional cheat meal! You can exercise without killing yourself.

I'm going to step on toes with this one...

I hate seeing overweight and obese CHILDREN. That bothers me to no end. A little baby chub is fine and healthy (my exclusively breastfed boys were pretty chunky). If your child eats healthy foods and is a bit bigger than his peers that's fine. It's the toddlers that weigh as much as a 10yo that eat soda and candy all day that bother me. Usually these heavy kids are accompanied by heavy parents. You can stop the cycle! You can start healthier habits and teach your kids.
When my husband and I first got married we would sit up until 11pm, watching TV shows, and eat chips and dip. We could easily finish a full sized bag of chips each. We didn't have a lot of money so we ate a lot of boxed crap. Hamburger Helper, Blue box Mac-n-Cheese, SPAM, etc... We drank water only because we couldn't afford anything else (not out of health concerns obviously).
When we had our first baby we decided things needed to change. (And it turned out he was dairy intolerant so I, due to breastfeeding, had to cut out dairy. Are you aware that just about every boxed meal has dairy in it?) We wanted our kids to have better palates than we did.

And...I just wanted to be healthier. I want to be thin without being SKINNY. I want to have energy to take care of my kids. To echo my above point: I was at the park with Franklin the other week and saw an overweight mom with her toddler. The toddler was running (as toddlers do) and she was struggling to keep up. I felt so bad for her and wanted to go over and encourage her...but I know a lot of people don't appreciate that so I didn't.

What do you think? Comment below (even if  you disagree)