Personal Accountability vs Patience (Finding Balance) ⚖️💛

When I was younger, I used to do a lot of physical activity. I didn’t even think about it, for me it was just something that “happened”. I used to dance, and I used to love it, so going to dance classes for five hours a day, five days a week was something that I simply enjoyed doing. This resulted in me being very in shape, without really having to think about what I ate. After years, I stopped dancing because it was interfering with my school schedule, yet I never really developed an intentional relationship with food.

Growing up I used to struggle a lot with food, mostly because I was so used to eating whatever I wanted that I didn’t realize that since my routine had changed, so did my body’s needs. I started to gain weight and it’s been a struggle in my life ever since.

I moved to London by myself in October 2021 and being on my own has taught me a lot about cooking for myself, what and how I feel, and about patience towards my process. When we’re younger, our metabolism and calorie-burning dynamics are completely different than the ones we handle as adults. Both what it needs and how long it takes to process it changes. So, here’s our topic today, what is personal accountability when it comes to food and how do we balance it with patience?

To me, personal accountability when it comes to food is knowing that your body has changed and so has its needs. It’s getting to know what you need and when you need it, knowing what foods are better for you and which ones you can’t handle. It is knowing that even though you’d like to eat nothing but cheese forever (and who doesn’t, really?) you still must incorporate hearty, fibrous, nutrition-packed food into your body to keep it working properly. Hold yourself accountable because you’re the one who has everything and anything to lose from this. How do you want to feel in 10-20 years? Answer that question and start.

Now, the other side of this coin is patience. Know that you’re bound to make mistakes, to ask too much of yourself, to want a break and forget about the goal. All these things are completely normal and acceptable, it’s not ‘falling off the wagon”. Finding what is too much for you is progress, figuring out what your nonnegotiables are is great for your relationship with yourself.

So, to cut the story short. Ask what you want from yourself, but also understand that you’re a flawed wonderful person on the journey of figuring yourself out.

Enjoy this process, Fighter!

Love,

Mónika