Under Pressure

Forgive me for generalizing, but I think a lot of bloggers are crazy. Me included. And I say this in a loving way. The same loving way I call my mom crazy when she asks me if I've ever watched the show Honey Boo Boo. The answer is no. Hell no.

Yes, you guys are crazy. I'm crazy. I mean face it, we are all a little too Type A. We compartmentalize our simple lives into perfect little components, more commonly known as blog posts. We label them, archive them, and link back to them. This is very Type A, aka, crazy behavior.

But my point of this post is to not make every single blogger who reads this hate me. It's to make a statement, that because we all tend to be a little too organized with our lives/blogs we generally put unnecessary pressure on ourselves. 

I can't keep count of how many blog posts I've read in the past year or two about pressure. Pressure to be a faster runner. Pressure to be a perfect mom. Pressure to meet your goals. Pressure to get more comments on a blog posts. Such much darn pressure and it's all self-inflicted and totally unhealthy.

PRESSURE IN BLOGGING

When I wrote my healthy living blog some time ago, I encountered this pressure. I started it as a fun hobby and the more readers I grew, the more nervous I got. How am I going to make sure that I'm pleasing all of them? What if I offend someone? What if my photos are lame?

Finally, I just quit. Boom. No pressure. It was glorious.

When I came back to blogging, I came back with 20/20 vision, realizing that there's this fine line between writing for pleasure and writing just to build your blog and gain an audience...I wasn't about to cross it again. I removed the following:

• need to post every day
• need to document every bit of my life
• need to have x amount of comments for me to think it's a good post
• need to please every reader

And here we are today, a fun hobby. I realize my blog isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. That's okay. I realize that when I don't post all the time and take long breaks that my readership will take a hit...and that's okay. Removing the pressure made it fun again. 

PRESSURE IN HEALTHY EATING

Simultaneously while writing my old blog, I was big into 100% healthy eating. Whole 30 and Paleo. Smoothies. Protein powder. Spinach in everything. It was exhausting. 

Over time - and I mean like in the span of a year and a half - I've removed the pressure of having to eat perfectly 24/7. If I want chips with my turkey sandwich, by golly I am going to eat them. If I want to go to Chick Fil A* for dinner every Friday night with my husband, I will (and well, we do). 

That's not to say I don't eat healthy anymore. I do. But I do it on my own terms. I don't like oatmeal, so I don't eat it. I don't like kale, so I don't eat it. I figured out what healthy foods I do like and I eat those instead. To put it simply, I eat what I want and only when I'm hungry. It's actually a very easy concept, but took a long time to learn. 

But by doing so, I've developed a healthier relationship with food. I just had my annual physical and my doctor said I was picture of health...health came without forcing myself to be a perfect eater. Also, get this: I lost some weight. Say, what?!

*I always hesitate to talk about Chick Fil A on my blog. I 100% support free speech,  but I also 100% support same sex marriage. It's 2013 for goodness sakes. Also, I love spicy chicken sandwiches. 

PRESSURE IN EXERCISE

Again, back in the day, I was into Cross Fit before it became a thing. Twice a week for an hour, I worked out with a trainer doing who knows how many burpees and box jumps and pull ups. At first it was fun to try a new form of exercise and it beat the boredom of the elliptical. But then it became a burden. I used to get super nervous before these workouts. 

Could I beat my previous time? What if I pass out or throw up? What if I have a DNF? What if I let my team down?

Suddenly, Cross Fit became a huge pressure for me. Pressure to perform and beat my old scores every single time. And I began to resent it. So I stopped cold turkey. 

Now, I workout when I feel like it. I base intensity on how I feel. Having knee trouble was certainly not welcomed, but it did teach me to slow down and just enjoy moving again. 

I tend to read while on the treadmill or elliptical now and I don't really consider it exercise anymore - it's me time that I crave. I find that you don't need to motivate yourself when you take away the pressure to always outdo yourself or your peers. 

Let me step down from my soapbox and say that I don't have all the answers here. This is just me and my new way of healthy living, pressure-free. You might love eating kale and beets and you might love Cross Fit and burpees (so you really are crazy). You might love writing for your blog every day or multiple times a day. The point of this post is to make sure that you are writing things/eating things/and doing workouts you truly enjoy  - minus the desire to be perfect. Because that's the unhealthiest thing of all. 

So yes, we bloggers are a crazy group of people, but we don't have to be. Whenever you feel yourself facing negativity from your blog, your food, your workouts, (or your career - another post for another time), step back and look at the bigger picture. Things will seem a lot more clearer from back there. 

The word pressure appears 22 times in this post. Feel free to punch me in the face.

Where do you feel the most pressure (23 times) in your life? Where does that come from?