Happy hump day, friends! I”m so glad that you enjoyed yesterday’s post on the question of soy’s inclusion in our lives. It makes my day to read your positive feedback. I just want to re-iterate a couple of things that came up in the comments section:
- Soy is one of those foods that can elicit an allergenic response for some people. If you are experiencing GI (stomach) issues, definitely consult a physician whom you trust.
- We can run into problems with soy isolates, or soy protein isolate. In this case, protein from soy has been removed from the soybean and processed into a food. Soy protein isolate is most often genetically modified (see this old post for more info on GMOs), so we should stay away from foods containing soy protein isolate.The exception lies with organic soy products. By law, organic soy can NOT contain GMOs. Therefore, an occasional indulgence in a LUNA bar, for example, that is made with “organic” soy protein isolate is okay for an occasional sweet treat. While whole foods are always best for us, we also deserve to enjoy food – and I certainly love to enjoy a LUNA bar here and there.
Okay! Onto better things. Like Justin Bieber.
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It took me awhile to catch it but I’ve definitely got some Bieber fever! His new song, “Boyfriend,” is first on my workout playlist and pumps me up. It is reminiscent of Justin Timberlake, and that makes me smile. And, according to this morning’s Facebook status, It seems that many of you agree. I’m glad we’re on the same page here.
Workout
I burned my way through a new shoulders/back circuit before hauling hiney on the StairMaster with an abridged, 15-minute version of Self Magazine’s DROP 10 Engine Revver. This is our Wild on Wednesday challenge for the Tone It Up Bikini Series! Now, in case you’re in the market for a new shoulders/back routine, here ya go!
I’ve been kicking booty on my weight circuits and lifting heavier, with encouragement from my #FitFluential gal pals Meg and Kasey. Love you girls!
Breakfast
It’s been awhile since I’ve shared my morning meal with you guys, so I just wanted to show you that – yes – I’m still eating chocolate protein pudding oats every morning. I just love it!
I’ve made the executive decision (actually my bank account made the executive decision) to switch from my beloved Vega to Life’s Basics plant protein. I love it! This protein powder is made with hemp, chia, brown rice, and pea protein, and is sweetened with stevia, which I’m a big fan of. The taste is amazing too. Would you guys be interested in a vlog on it, in addition to how I make my protein oats?
Lunch
After a full morning of work, I made my way down to the dining commons for a quick lunch. I had an interview for an article that I am writing for The Gatepost and totally didn’t time myself well, so I kind of rushed through my meal. Nevertheless, it was delicious!
The kind cook gave me tofu overload! On the menu was blackened tofu (tofu in a spicy sauce made with olive oil and chilis), cider braised kale, and loose leaf spinach. I ate about 3/4 of the tofu and went back for seconds of the kale. Shocked?
Dinner
I had my only class of the day at 2:30 p.m. today. Afterwards, I met up with Kristen and our group mate to work on a business plan for our management class. We got a lot accomplished in two hours, at which point our brains died and our tummies began to growl.
Kristen and I enjoyed a nice dinner together, which also included kale. Apparently, it is my lucky day! I had the typical spinach salad with veggies, hummus, and balsamic vinegar. I also munched on green beans and kale with lima beans. It looks like a mushy mess but it tasted so good!
“Strong is the New Skinny” Has Gone Too Far
NOTE: If you are currently suffering from an eating disorder, this may be triggering. Please proceed with caution and know that you are loved and amazing just the way you are!
As an avid Pinterest pinner, I love to peruse the site for motivation, mostly quotes on living a full, happy, and strong life. This is what I strive for in my life – my own personal goals. I want to feel full of joy, happy, and strong. These three aspects make me the best version of myself, which, in turn, allows me to be what I want to be for other people: a good girlfriend, daughter, friend, student, and blogger (I hope!).
It seems that I cannot escape seeing this phrase day in and day out. At first I loved it but, to be honest, I really dislike what it has become.
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When I first saw the phrase popping up last year, I really loved it. In order to be strong, we have to nourish our bodies with healthy foods and challenge ourselves during our workouts. This is what I’m all about! Now, it’s turned into an obsessive community of “fitspiration,” a term I’m still on-the-fence about.
Let’s think for a minute. If strong is the new skinny, what is the old skinny? The old skinny stems from the “thinspiration” era, the Nicole Richie/Lindsay Lohan/Kate Moss obsession era. Photos of malnourished celebrities were plastered all over the internet with phrases such as “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” I know this because I visited those toxic web sites every single day when I was suffering from my eating disorder. They were, undoubtedly, an extremely unhealthy obsession.
In my opinion, “strong is the new skinny,” has merged into that same obsessive category. If you Google the phrase, you will find many web sites dedicated to “fitspiration” based off of this quote. I don’t think this is healthy for people to look at. Regardless of whether we’re looking at “skinny” pictures or “strong pictures,” they still give us the same message: we need to look like these women in order to feel good about ourselves.
Strong is beautiful. It is something we should all strive for. But we shouldn’t just focus on becoming strong physically. While it is important for our health and maintaining our bone density throughout old age, our biggest prize comes from the strength we gain from within. That is the ultimate strength.
Stay lovely,
Heather
Question of the Day: What do you think of the phrase?
I’m all for a vlog on how to make the protein oats. Currently I use Sunwarrior but want to take a look at the brand you mentioned. That workout couldn’t have been posted at a more perfect time. Tomorrow is upper body day for me!
Okay, Mary, you’ve got it! A protein oats vlog is comin’ your way! Let me know what you think of the workout.
I wish we had anything that healthy to eat when I was in college. It was all fried foods and it was no wonder I gained the freshman 15!
Great post. I definitely agree with your thoughts on “Strong is the new skinny”…I still also see lots of “Thinspiration” on pinterest.
We are so lucky. Even thought it came this year, the Farm to Table station rocks. my. world.
I’d love to see a vlog on how to make the protein oats! Also agree with everything you said about “Strong is the new skinny”.
Okay, Rebecca! A vlog is comin’ atcha this weekend.
Amen! I completely agree and am really glad you posted this. Xoxoxo
Great post. YES for the vlog!!
Okay! A vlog you shall receive this weekend.
good point about that phrase! I never really looked at it that way, but you are right that strong is more than just physical. more than looks. it is how we feel inside – strong
Thanks, girls! Amen to that.
Thanks for the workout routine. I’m going to give it a whirl this week!
My pleasure, girlfriend! Let me know what you think.
I kind of agree with that. I liked that expression at first too, but sometimes people take it too far with the weights. It can turn into an obsession. There is a website with an expression that I like even more: “Healthy is the new skinny.” That one I LOVE. If you go to that website, I think they even have shirts and stuff with that expression. I really need one of those.
Life basics is my ALL TIME FAVORITE!!! Makes a great pudding. and so affordable.
hmm, strong is the new skinny? Well i think neither. Strong is WHO we are not WHAT we are, amen!
Love what you said about fitsperation – so true!
Good points… I think I agree with yah.
110% agree with you! At first, I loved the concept. Now, its getting a little overboard. How about just be healthy. It is unrealistic to be too skinny. It is also unrealistic to be super muscular without training a ton. And when you look at the photos of the models posted with those pictures, well first off most are photoshopped, again unrealistic. Its hard to find things nowadays that aren’t controversial. How about healthy is the new skinny. Well, that doesn’t sounds as nice actually does it…Totally agree that strength should come from more than just the physical sense of strong. Great post lady!
It definitely is being overused and can of course have detrimental effects but to honest if you are suffering from an eating disorder, have tendencies or are in recovery their are so many potential triggers that we could spend forever pointing the finger. It is all about knowing ones self, having enough self respect and self esteem to be able to dismiss the potential angst and overwhelming and unobtainable aspirations that quotes like these can inflict. I don’t believe externals pressures such as these are necessarily the cause of eating disorders merely the triggers to what is already brewing inside individuals minds and bodies.
We need to start with the children, educating them and ensuring that they respect and love themselves and their bodies and as you rightly say are strong in both body and mind, strong enough to see past the propaganda that the media will feed to them from the moment they have the ability to actively listen.
Michelle,
What an awesome point! I totally agree – phrases like that exacerbate the disease for sure. Starting young is key – you’re so right. We need more nutrition in elementary schools so children can learn how foods effect their bodies. We can hope!
First, I would love to see a vlog! I actually have that protein powder and I absolutely love it, I want to see how to make your oats
Second, I couldn’t agree with you more about the saying! It was definitely cute and catchy at first, but now it’s doing just what you have explained. A LOT of sites on tumblr are promoting it basically saying that girls should look like that. It’s not right! And I CRINGE at the quote “nothing’s as good as skinny feels” wtf, who thought of that? lol It is ridiculous. Anyway, I totally agree and people should strive to be HEALTHY, not to look a certain way!
Agreed. I would love a vlog
I couldn’t agree with you more, Brittany. Cringe is the PERFECT word to describe our reaction to that stupid phrase. I’m so happy you want to see a vlog! I’ll be making it for tomorrow’s post.
Couldn’t agree more. Strong is beautiful. Skinny is not. I personally really dislike the term. Strong is healthy. Strong is so much more than skinny ever will be. Skinny is not a healthy word in my head. Strong is, though.
Thanks for sharing yours thoughts
And, thanks for the shout out
Definitely made my day! I LOVE YOU!
I agree, Meg! The term skinny was never created to mean anything positive and it’s not a word used by the professional community to describe a healthy person. Why would we want to use it to? You always make me think. I like you.
I agree with everyone on the vlog front – I’ve tried to make chocolate protein pudding oats with another brand of protein powder (my bank account also doesn’t react well to Vega, as tasty as it may be!) but can never get it quite right. I also agree completely with strong being the new skinny. At first I thought it was inspirational until all the photos with that quote started popping up on top of photos of extremely thin and toned women. I’m all for toning and becoming stronger (yay MBB!) but don’t like how it’s becoming some sort of obsessive craze and something new to strive for as “perfection”.
One last thing . . . I totally caught the Bieber fever when Boyfriend came out. I blame it on Angela for playing it in class!
A vlog you shall receive, my love! Thanks for your comments – I totally agree. Hopefully, the obsession will pass sooner than the “skinny” phase did. Also, I’m so happy Angela is playing the Biebs in class. That. Is. Awesome.
Great topic Heather! I just started thinking about this (and actually wrote a post about how I don’t believe fitspiration is healthy) after I’d torn a runner’s picture out of a magazine and put it up in my house as motivation. I think that whether the ideal being perpetuated by the picture is to be super skinny OR to be super strong/athletic/etc, it still makes you feel inferior because you need to change yourself to be more like the image in the picture. I think there is a lot to be said for inspiration (I love me some Nike slogans when I’m prepping for a run) but the imagery and the act of comparing your body to another “ideal” body is a bad trap to fall into!
Amen, Faith! So well said. Your comments are always so poignant. Love ya, girl!
Totally gravitated to your post at the title. I am SO tired of that phrase – especially because it is often paired with very unrealistic bodies! A lot of the girls may not be bone thin but their bodies are those that most people would find unattainable unless you did fitness as your job. Overall, it’s just overused and we need new mantras.
I totally agree with your sentiments, Ericka. It’s just not realistic, to your point. Thanks for your insight, love!
You made a lot of good points here…I personally like the quote, but just like other good quotes I agree that some people have taken it out of context, overused it, and turned its meaning into something it’s not meant to mean…Being “strong” encompasses many things. Yes, we should focus on being physically strong but primarily, we need to focus on being healthy overall. There are limits to everything and “healthy” and “strong” are always going to vary from person to person.
Great point, Danica! Different things are different for different people, and that’s definitely something we should think about…especially when it comes to achieving our own version of strong and healthy.
I think there should be a balance between strong and skinny, but that’s just me.
I would love to see a vlog about how to make the pudding oats! Yum! And I agree with you, anything that becomes an obsession is just not healthy.
Thanks for your thoughts, love. The vlog will be up tomorrow!
I couldn’t agree more, girl! I think people are definitely overusing the whole “strong is the new skinny” idea. Initially, it sounds fantastic. I mean, who doesn’t want to have an alternative to the whole “I need to be stick thin to be happy” mentality. But I agree that people are taking it too far and the original message it was trying to convey is no longer there. Very thought provoking post!
And I’m in love with the Bieb’s new song too. Like absolute total love affair with it. Def number one on my workout playlist and when I’m studying to pump me up and make it the fact that I’m reading my life away suck less..totally works too
Chelsea, I love your comment. Everything you said is so spot on. Aaaand yes – that song is contagious! Can’t get it out of our heads, which is definitely a good thing.
Also, is it weird that I’m finding him somewhat sexy? Oh lord.
i loved reading this post! i definitely think that the whole strong is the new skinny thing has gone way too far. everything on the inside is way more important!
Couldn’t agree more, Julianna. I’m so happy you liked the post.
I’m glad that you mentioned this, Heather, especially since you are in the fitness world. I have instinctively stayed away from the “fit” world since my recovery; I am an exercise lover, don’t get me wrong, but when I exercise, it’s to pursue feelings of strength and energy and endurance, and not to “shape up” or get toned. I don’t like looking at photos of six packs and flexed biceps on blogs, and I think that the emphasis on fitness on some blogs is just as obsessive with the interest in dieting or restriction on others.
For me, the problem with this “fit” talk is that it still seems to present one type of body (a “fit” body) as the ideal body. And it’s these kind of ideals we should be wary of. The only ideal body in my view is a healthy body, and a body that is appreciated and treated with respect by its owner. I may link back!
Gena,
As always, such a thoughtful comment. I totally agree with your thoughts on exercise. We have similar philosophies (shocker!
). It can definitely morph into a whole other obsession, especially for those of us who have suffered from EDs in the past. To your point, there is no “right” body and that mindset is totally destructive. The more we focus on adopting lifestyle choices that make us thrive and feel happy, the better off we are! Feel free to link away!
[...] I go, I wanted to mention a topic that Heather brought up in a recent blog post: the expression “strong is the new [...]
[...] Shaky shoulders workout from For the Love of Kale. It had my shoulders pretty tired by the last set! [...]
I totally agree with your ideas about ‘fitspo’. When I first started using Pinterest I loved pinning pictures of neat recipes, amazing home decor, and yes, pictures of strong-looking girls working out with motivational quotes like “you can be sore tomorrow or sorry – you choose” (which I still think is a motivating way to think of it!). I was really annoyed with the “thinspo” boards and the sheer amount of them – it’s so disheartening. Then after a while, the “fitspo” boards didn’t seem all that different! As someone who used to struggle with eating and still has self image issues, exercising is a way I’ve learned (or am learning) to appreciate my body. Fitspo seems more like idealizing yet another body type instead of striving to be your best self and accepting and loving who you are. It’s certainly not easy, but the ability to do that is definitely the ultimate source of strength.
Hi! I love your blog so much. I’ve been making protein pudding oats a lot lately and I use vega as well. Do you use the protein powder, or the nutritional shake? Just wondering, thanks!!
Thank you, Kendall!!! I use the nutritional shake.
Hi Kendall! Thanks for commenting.
I use the nutritional shake. Love it!
I really like the phrase, but completely agree with you 100% on what it’s become. I see those “fitspo” pins all the time, and a lot of them are the same scarily-skinny girls as in the “thinspo” pictures, but they’re just wearing workout gear. I’m a believer in balancing fitness & dieting with rest & indulgence from time to time…and especially in not comparing yourself to others!
I wrote an entry kind of similar a couple months back- I think we are totally on the same page: http://blondexambition.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/skinny-vs-attractive-vs-healthy/