Skinny Love
With our magazines filled with stick
thin girls and movies featuring beautiful and thin women, it’s no question why
so many girls have such strong body image issues. We compare, idolize and
obsess. Some obsess so much they take drastic, deathly risks to fit in that
size 0 dress. From juicing for weeks, to skipping meals daily, it seems that
people will do anything to have their hip bones stick out and their thighs not
touch. I feel that being sexy is about being healthy, not scrawny. The women
who don’t change their eating habits to be stick skinny, but to be healthy and
nutritious are the ones we should admire, and that’s exactly what this post is
about.
Meet Ally
Ally Bruner, a native of Mandeville,
La, is someone we should all be looking up to because of her dedication to a
healthy lifestyle. Over the past 9 months, Ally has focused on eating clean and
has lost 17 pounds. I sat down with Ally and asked her all about her journey
and how she did it.
Interview with Ally
Al: Why and when
did you decide to change your eating habits?
Ally Bruner: I decided to change my eating habits right after Mardi
Gras in February to originally hope to lose a few before Spring Break of
2013. I wanted to change my habits
because I knew I was living an unhealthy lifestyle that involved pizza, fried
food, beer, etc. I knew it was time for
a change when I got home from Mardi Gras and realized how many unhealthy things
I had consumed throughout the week without a care in the world.
Al: How did you
do it?
AB: I did it in baby steps.
I started by slowly eating in smaller portions and creating more self-control
for myself. Whenever I found that I was
having a bad food craving for something I clearly did not need, I would
constantly remind myself of the end result.
I wanted my self-confidence back.
I downloaded an app called "My Fitness Pal" on my phone that
helps you track your calories every day.
I followed it each day and after about two weeks, I began seeing changes
in my body. Once I started seeing
results, everything became a thousand times easier.
Al: You look
different! Do you feel different, too? How so?
AB: I feel so different from what I used to be/what I used to
look like. I feel so accomplished
already and my journey is still not over.
I feel more confident than I have in years, and it feels amazing.
Al: Where are
you at in your transformation process? What else do you plan on doing?
AB: I would say that I am now more aware than ever of what
food I am consuming and how healthy it is for your body. I do splurge every once in a while, but not
at all like I used to. I have made my
body adjust to healthier foods over the process and it makes me feel healthier
all together. Even though I have come
along way, I still plan on continuing to live a healthier lifestyle by eating
the foods that I love, but in moderation.
Al: What is some
advice to give to girls who want to lose weight, but take the starvation route?
AB: The most important thing you can do for yourself is take
care of you body. Your body needs proper
nourishment in order for you to live a healthy life. When I hear of girls
taking routes that involve starvation, binging, over-exercising, etc., I can't
help but think how much harm is being done to them. Most of these girls don't even have a clue
because they are so determined to lose a crazy amount of weight in a short
amount of time. When you actually lose
weight by eating healthy and exercising over an extended time, the weight will
actually STAY off! When women resort to
starvation and/or over exercising, this actually slows down your
metabolism. This means that you may lose
weight more quickly initially, but eventually your body will go into starvation
mode and begin storing fat because it knows that it can't get this fat from
food. In the long run, your metabolism
will slow down altogether resulting in less weight loss. It is an extremely unhealthy route for your
body that many women don't understand/care about. Why wouldn't you want to look skinny AND
healthy?
