An easy answer to why I avoid processed sugars, gluten, and dairy (for the most part) would be that I want to look good, but that wouldn't be entirely true. Eating healthy, for me, is about treating my body with respect. It's not about a number on a scale or on the tag of my jeans, it's about putting good things into my body.
But I'm not a slave to diet and exercise. I'm also 21 and if I want to eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's half baked on a Saturday night while watching Parks and Rec then I'm going to eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's half baked on a Saturday night while watching Park and Rec, damn it
. It's about finding a balance between enjoying life and treating yourself right. For me, I eat healthy 90% of the time so that I can eat that pint of Ben and Jerry's or that entire Shakespeare's Pizza without guilt.
It doesn't mean saying yes all the time though. I say no more often times than not. Often times after I decline ice cream or tell my friend I have to go to bed because I have an early workout in the morning, they will say something to the effect of "Why? You're not fat!" but that's not the point.
If my paramount concern in life was whether or not I was skinny I would be wasting my life. In the words of the great J.K. Rowling "Is "fat" really the worst thing a human being can be? Is 'fat' worse than 'vindictive', 'jealous', 'shallow', 'vain', or 'cruel'. Not to me."
So in short I eat healthy because I love myself. It sounds corny, but my choice to eat kale for breakfast is because I respect my body and what it needs to thrive. But by loving myself I allow myself the freedom to eat cake at my brother's wedding and wine at Christmas. And most of all I try to improve the things that actually reflect on what really makes me me. My character. I try to be happy, make other people happy, and respect other people because, at the end of the day, nobody is going to care what size jeans I wear.
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