So what did everyone think of the Glee message last night? While the episode as a whole was kind of boring, I did think it had a good message on body image. In case you missed it, Mercades, when joined the Cherios with Kurt, was told to lose ten pounds in a week. Apparently all the other cherios drink this “clense” that Cheer coach Sue created. It showed them in the cafeteria eating little or nothing, trying to be thin, to fit in, etc.
In the end, after failed attempts at losing the weight, the cherios go to do their routine in front of the whole school. Of course, singing must be involved, so instead of the cheer routine, Mercades belts out the song “Beautiful” a la Christiana Aguliera. She then invites the whole school to come stand up and join in the singing. While it was slightly cheesy (but hey, we are talking about GLEE) it was a great message. SO many girls, esp. those in those vunerable high school years (never mind the actors are in their mid 20’s…) struggle with this. So many girls sit in the cafeteria and push food around their plate pretending to eat, or some actually do eat, then rush to the bathroom immediately after. This frustrates me and makes me angry and sad all at the same time. The pressure we put on girls to be thin is ridiculous. The focus should be on being healthy, or on being toned, not on being skinny.
Sure it’s great to have goals, I have goals myself, but I would never push myself to the point of letting it overtake me mentally. I just, 20 minutes ago, ate a Wendy’s cheeseburger! *gasp* I know that’s a big no no in the clean eating blog world, but guess what? I am home sick, not feeling well at all, didn’t want to cook, and dang it, I wanted a cheeseburger!! Do I have one everyday? No, I haven’t had one from Wendy’s in years, but it IS ok to eat girls!!! It IS ok to splurge, and have dessert, and take a week off from running, and not be so obsessed with working out that you do it while sick, or injured, or mentally tired. I know way to many people who have eating disorders, obsessive exersice problems, and body image issues. DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP OVER IT! If you are not happy with the way you ate, didn’t eat, exercised, etc. today, it’s ok! Start over tomorrow! It is a new day and a new beginning. 🙂

Ok. Totally sorry to get on a soapbox but it hits close to home for me…

QOTD: Have you ever had body image/food issues or helped someone through them? How did they respond?