Thoughts on the cinnamon bun

In Sweden we celebrate the “cinnamon bun day” in the start of autumn. It’s a day that is marked in the calendar and cafés usually have a cinnamon bun plus coffee deal and workplaces offers them in the to their employees on the fika break. It’s a good time. Mostly. 

I, like a lot of girls and women today, have struggled with disordered eating. That is why it makes me sad to hear the tone this day. The messages spread by a lot of people on social media is that this is a day to “treat yourself” and that it is ”okay” to eat when really, it’s just a day in the calendar marked for a bun. Remember that a certain type of food is not limited to or ”only allowed” on a certain day. The choice is always yours, of course and you’re not obliged to do one way or the other.

There is also the concern and obsession of being healthy. My disordered eating was masked with an excessive focus on working out and eating ”well” which made it hard to notice and I usually got praise for my lifestyle and people were impressed by my character rather than being concerned. I can understand that since eating ”well” and ”working out” is generally seen as good things. But, when I hear that people ”likes a light lunch”, doesn’t like sweets or have excluded a food type from their diet or always turn down social activities since they need to work out it gives me such a bad feeling. 

It can be a very sensitive topic and I’ve also been on the end of seeing a friend becoming skinner, quieter and grey without having a clue on what to say or what to do. But I will never just stand there again. It can be such a simple thing, just say that you’ve noted a change in your friend and are wondering how things are. It’s a start.

When I write this the cinnamon bun day is long overdue. But you can still have one if you want.