Mediterranean Lifestyle. My time to change.
This week was filled with life choices, life changes, and decisions. As this is my very first post I wanted to break down how and why I have chosen this format. Also - if you have not already - go read my post under “Who We Are” for a little more context about me and the purpose of these posts. About three weeks ago I made the decision to go full on Mediterranean, not just the diet, but the lifestyle. As I continue to learn more about the Mediterranean lifestyle, I have learned that it is often taken as merely a diet and nothing more. This could NOT be further from what it is.
I am no expert as I mentioned I am only three weeks into this new lifestyle I have decided to adopt. The diet portion of the lifestyle is only but a small portion of the entire lifestyle. Below you will find the 8 components of the Mediterranean Lifestyle that I have chosen to adopt and follow. Now let me break down what each of these mean to me + my feelings toward them because they can mean something different for each person.
BE OUTSIDE – This is part of the lifestyle that I find to be the easiest. I love being outside, whether it’s a walk around the neighborhood or a super intense trail run on a mountain. Either way – being outside really helps me regulate my mood and doubles as keeping me active (not that I need another reason to be active).
MOVE AROUND – I don’t think I need to explain myself here, but I will anyway. One of my major challenges is “moving around” a bit too much and not taking the dedicated or needed time to relax. I do love to move around and to me this is part of the lifestyle that I want to continue to do but finding balance with it is going to be my challenge.
HAVE CONVERSATION – To me this component is vital and absolutely a lost art in the times and in the United States in general. I have found myself countless times making a meal, plopping down at the table, flipping my iPad on YouTube, and watching intently as I look down minutes later and realize my food is gone. Having conversation during meals is such a vital and overlooked metric for health as many people use that time to ingest some sort of media content. I think the important part to this is to enjoy your company and add to your community. Neglecting that precious time in the day where maybe all your roommates are home or finally your entire family can sit down for a meal is a time missed. Being in that moment and having those conversations is something that can benefit your everyday.
FILL YOUR CUP – Here is where the fun comes in. Be creative and bold in this section because it can pass you by so quickly each day. This is also one that looks completely different for each person. Think about it this way – most people look forward to the weekend or the next vacation and meander their way through the week in order to fill their cup on the weekend. Now you can for sure take this literally and grab your favorite bottle of wine and fill that cup up, but this is something that can be anything – and that is where the fun lies. It could be enjoying a nice little cup of your favorite ice cream. Watching an episode of your crime show you couldn’t wait to watch. Or finally grabbing those lulu shorts that keep popping up on your timeline. Whatever it is, the idea is to truly treat yourself each day and to not allow the days to run together without enjoying each one.
FOOD – I could go on for days about the endless health benefits of Mediterranean foods, or how delicious they are but I would rather just show you. I decided each week I am going to somehow give you some sort of food content. It may be Instagram posts/reals – maybe I start a YouTube channel – or just list a banger of a meal on here. Either way – stay tuned because Mediterranean food is undefeated.
BE GENEROUS – Just do it. Think about it like filling your cup each day – it can be something so small or something big. Who cares. The point is to be a better human because today there are so many negatives, and we all have a shot each day to be generous. Be kind. Be loving. After all the idea behind this lifestyle, this brand, and this blog is to live a balanced life which is a give and take between yourself and others.
RELAX – I struggle here. To be frank, when I think about relaxing, I think about how my WHOOP (fitness tracker) is not going to rack up my burnt calories if I am relaxing. This is obviously an issue. I’ll explain. My twisted idea of relaxing is that it should only be while I am sleeping because at any other time in the day, I could be doing something that will burn calories and God forbid that I sit down for a moment and allow my precious calorie burning minutes go to waste. This is going to be one I need to really focus on doing because – as mentioned – I am running my body into the ground by ignoring this very important component of life. My relationships also suffer from this because I would rather not go see a movie with friends or go out of town for something fun because it means I would be sitting down. That may be a little too much insight into my twisted mind on health and nutrition, but it is what it is and being honest is the point of ALL of this.
BE HUNGRY – I like this one. This can be a double-edged sword in my life. I take pride in the fact that I have that entrepreneurial spirit and drive, but it also comes at a cost. Last Sunday my pastor talked about how being hungry is contagious to those around you. Whether it be your hunger to serve God or your hunger to be the best in your industry. We all know those people that breathe hunger, and it is motivating and inspiring to be around. None the less, being hungry for that entrepreneurial way of life in my own life is tough. This is where comparison creeps in for me. I knew and know going down this route of avoiding the 9-5 and wanting to be my own boss is a process. There is no guided path or timeline on success. It is all relative to your own journey and goals. During that process (which I am smack dab in the middle of) it gets lonely, people fade, and you will struggle as I am going through now). Don’t let me discourage your hunger for whatever it may be, because being hungry and ambitious is a valuable trait you don’t want to let go of. I never want to lose that hunger. I also can't keep letting that hunger ruin friendships or relationships, get in the way of my own health, or stop be from having joy.
Now, more context. The past 2 years of my life have been quite challenging and not in a way I am used to. I like being challenged. I like being stimulated and put in positions where I must figure things out. But I have never been through anything like that last two years. I struggled in many areas. I struggled in comparison. I struggled in the unknown. I struggled in relationships.
Life came hard and fast and my response was essentially a coping mechanism to try and gain some sort of control in my life. The truth is I had never been faced with the challenge of control, and not having it really threw me into a person that I had never been nor wanted to be.
My way I coped and tried to regain control in my life was through an obsession around food, nutrition, and exercise. Now to many this may seem like a good thing, being obsessed with working out and eating clean but as it did start out as that, a positive thing I mean, it quickly became detrimental to my health and wellbeing. It became the only thing in my life – my one and only priority. I put my workout schedule, time in the gym, and eating habits above everything. I put it above all my relationships, any social commitments, joy, relaxation, and my spiritual commitment to God.
In turn my relationships fell apart, my joy was dependent on whether I burned enough calories that day or ate as little as possible that day. Honestly, writing that down makes me realize in this moment how lost I was and well still a little bit am.
Yes, I have decided to change but this journey is just beginning baby. I am starting this blog because I want to keep myself accountable for the changes I decided to make. The other reason is to be as open, vulnerable, and honest with whoever decides to read this in the hopes that I can shed some light on an issue that I am finding out is happening to loads of people all over. My hope is to inspire or help in any way I can by sharing my week every single week.
Every day is a chance to improve, and I want to put it out into the world that I am deciding now to change, grow, find balance, and do EVERYTHING I can to dig myself out of this horrid hole that I put myself into. So, buckle up because it may get raw, a little bit revealing, and honest but getting out of this hole and possibly dragging someone else up with me is the reason why.