This question was asked of me a few days ago. It took me a moment to answer because, it's so far off my radar. How normal it's become to eat this way. I just don't eat sugar of any kind except for a bit of hot chocolate and the occasional glass of red wine. I noticed today that my belt..which I was so excited to buckle in the fifth and final position..is actually about two inches past that point.
Things have been so incredibly positive in my life lately and the lesson I've learned is that, you don't lose weight to be happy but that the opposite is true. I'm writing, I've published my first book and the second is due out in August. I'm working on a second novel, I've outlined a third. I have become involved as a leader on a huge women's personal growth website that is being launched in the next few weeks and the television reporter thing is going well.
Oh and I'm producing and co-hosting a radio show for artists that will be launched.
I've got a healthy and happy family and my inlaws are visiting. Now I know what you are thinking but that's a good thing. My father in law painted the entire main floor of the house that I would have had to finish and mother in law is taking over the spring cleaning..which means I have time to do all these wonderful things that are being sent to me.
Oh and I scored financing for a refrigerator for my kids' school's nutrition program!
I've had to give up a few things to make time for it all but letting go is a part of life. When things are done, they are.
Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure I've lost more weight. I don't step on scales so I don't know. I feel great and my size ten jeans fit...one more size down and I will fit all my current clothes and that should be around 35 lbs(guessing).
Happy days everybody!
Remember this affirmation: Happiness brings success, not the other way around!
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Today I am joining the local gym! It's a self-serve type place, just small but perfect for this little town. With the weather being so unpredictable and then when it's been nice, the kids were sick, I decided that I'll pay my $40 and go at my convenience.
I'm feeling decidedly weak and out of shape and a few pounds have crept on making my size ten jeans tight again.
I've decide to use the Body For Life Workout. It's intense, short and easy to follow. For years I followed Body for Life and it worked well and kept me fit for a long time.
I'll also run on the treadmill because I'm simply not getting out there now!
The best thing about this gym is that it's open 24 hours so I can go any time. No excuses now!
Does anyone have any favourite exercises, gym tips etc.? I'll be mostly on my own so any tips for a new weight trainer would be fantastic!
Affirmation: Hard work becomes easy to perform when you stop making excuses for not doing it! I will do the work!
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Learning to accept and enjoy where you are at right now is invaluable to your journey towards healthy eating attitudes.
I've been doing really well in this area. It's difficult. You work hard and you've lost 20, 30, 40 pounds and you catch sight of yourself in the mirror and see exactly the same thing you did at the start, maybe a slimmer version but the same flaws, the same stretchmarks, the same belly flab, it's all the same but smaller.
Accepting that in this moment this is the body you have is paramount to moving forward. Many people give up in these moments, telling themselves that it doesn't matter, you'll never be where you want to be or the journey is too long and hard. But it is at this point you need to make peace with your body. It's OK to take a break from whatever you've been doing and coast along, being happy with the way you look and feel, freeing yourself from the desire to be elsewhere. The next moment always follows this moment and moving forward can only be done from this moment.
Spending time in acceptance and peace with your own body will go a long way towards removing the stress of the moment and defeating the eating habits that follow many of us when we are faced with stress. This is the moment we are often led into drastic measures such as crazy diets that harm us and take away from our newly found way towards optimal health.
Journal your feelings, feel them as valid and true for you and then go forward with a knowing that you are perfect for this moment and in this moment. Our bodies will change one way or the other with time and you can make the decision to carry on with the healthy mind and healthy habits that are leading towards your future goal. You and you alone inhabit the body so learn to love it for all its miracles and all its flaws and you'll have success.
Affirmation: My body is exactly as it should be in the moment. Perfect and strong.
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Fasting sucks! Actually, it's not that bad, but it's really strange. I thought this was an easy way out, the easiest way to fast, I can pretty much eat what I want all day as long as it's whole and healthy and today instead of the chili again(which was delicious by the way) I thought I would make my very favourite Honey Baked Lentils. I discovered this dish at the Mothering Magazine forums where I am a moderator. One of my co-moderators created it and it's one of the favourites and well known throughout the community.
Now, remember my post about sugar addiction? Well several days before the fast I decided to give up sugar. So my evenings were consumed with the desire for a sweet treat however now, here I sit craving for honey-baked lentils. I haven't eaten since 5:30 pm, early as sunset wasn't until 6:32pm today. But the kids had soccer so what do you do? It's after 10pm and under normal circumstances I would have eaten a load of snacks by now. I'll get through. I'm having a nice cup of my usual bedtime tea.
On the spiritual side of things I did some yoga this morning. I use the Yogamazing podcasts that you can get free at the iTunes store and did about 20 minutes of a cleansing flow. It was really nice however my computer froze near the end so it sort of interrupted the final part however it was beautiful. I walked twice, the first time I listened to an audiobook as I walked and the second time I made sure I was fully engaged with the children. We walked to soccer and that was a practice in patience.
Patience. Yes, that seems to be a quality I'm lacking these past few days. I am noticing some irritability. The problem with being an emotional eater and using food as a crutch is that when you no longer have the crutch you have to deal with the emotions. That's why I feel it's imperative that any changes in diet should be accompanied by a change in all aspects of life. If you are happier and joyful in other ways you will not need to find happiness and joy in a cookie(or a bag of cookes, because one cookie doesn't do the damage, it's the accumulation of years of cookies).
As I go along, five more days of this practice in discipline and mindfulness, I'm hoping that this will be a catalyst to further growth in all areas, including diminishing the negative thoughts about food that I've been entrenched in all these years.
Namaste
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Last night I had a yoga class. This morning I did sun salutations. It's an amazing practice. During yoga we had a short discussion about holistic medicine vs. western medicine which treats disease and focuses on one aspect without taking into consideration the whole person.
The example was a study of Vitamin D. It said that children born in September tended to have stronger bones because their mothers often had more natural vitamin d having gone through summer and gotten vitamin D from the sun. This makes sense, unless you use sunscreen which then blocks the vitamin D. The holistic approach would be to make sure that everybody has a way of achieving the benefits of the sun no matter what time of year. The western way would be to recommend supplementation of the diet with vitamin D for everybody across the board although some might not necessarily need it. And to use sunscreen to block the sun's rays and then add artificial vitamin D.
I'm all about the holistic approach. I believe all systems of the body work in coordination with the others and that all elements of the person, mind, body and spirit also work with each other and to maintain a balance of these aspects of a person, if we are working to fix something, everything must be considered.
I consider weight loss to be a perfect example of where the focus is on one thing, the body. But a person who is out of balance in one area is also likely out of balance in another. I know that most people who are feeling the emotional results of an unhealthy body need to focus on the emotional aspects at the same time they focus on the physical. Fixing the physical will not fix the emotional because often it's the other way around, the emotional aspect is the cause and the physical issues are a manifestation of spiritual and emotional imbalance.
So the fix is to allign yourself so that you are working on all of the aspects of you at the same time. I'm doing yoga for the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the practice. I'm looking for a sport to participate in because my spirit enjoys physical play. I like to run for meditative reasons as well as physical. Everything is connected.
So to go into a weight loss program where the focus is almost entirely physical, eat less, move more(good advice yet they don't stand alone) is not likely to work. There needs to be a complete holistic approach that shifts the paradigm from working on a specific problem to working on the whole human.
Affirmation: I am a whole person. My body needs strengthening as does my mind and spirit. As I work on all three together I feel all things balancing and trust that the healthy coordination of all of the systems and aspects of me will be the best approach to my imbalanced eating.
For free yoga classes join Yoga Today
Namaste 
We have had a lot of rain in the past two days but this morning dawns bright and sunny and warm. As I pulled out of my driveway to drive my daughter to school I couldn't help but be amazed at the miracle that has happened! The grass is a rich green suddenly, in two days, it has transformed from a drab beige carpet with a few green sprinkles to full blown green shag. The leaves on the trees suddenly have burst open and are starting to fill up the gaps between the grey branches to make shelter for the birds that are chirping loudly in the morning outside my bedroom window.
I've made some observations over the years about our relationship to water. I have been to many diet support groups and what seems overwhelmingly common is that something has happened culturally to interfere with our taste for water. We don't "like" it. Yet, like the green grass that needs it to spring forth from dormancy, water is our very life source.
Yesterday on the radio there was a discussion on diet and a very good point was made by the commentators. We apparently get 90% more calories from liquid sources than we did 50 years ago. Back then orange juice was a weekend morning treat and milk was only taken with meals, not as a daily thirst quencher. But then along came sugared flavours for water(Kool aid, Tang etc.), fun yes, but absolutely devastating to the teeth of the children who consumed them and their weight as well. From that there was a progression from the occasional pop as a treat to people consuming soda pop in place of water. When people decided to let go of sugary drinks they switched to "diet" soda. All of this resulted in a preference to have much of our water flavoured and/or bubbly or both. Or we justify juice because it has vitamins but to excess it's just as devastating. It has interfered with our taste for water and interfered with our health.
The radio show also made the point that liquid calories do not satisfy the hunger as solid food does so you become hungrier faster. So it's a double whammy, less pure water, diminished preference for pure, clear water, and more calories.
I have almost completely switched to pure water. I do drink a carbonated plain water occasionally with slices of lime for a treat, coffee in the morning and I also occasionally will have orange juice or milk(once or twice a month). I haven't given up anything but what I'm regaining is a taste for water again.
I think it's imperative to work at regaining the love for the taste of pure clear water. I think we need to attach positivity to it again and rewrite the messages that are symbolic of our preference for the sugary tasting drinks and apply them to our life source, water!
I wonder how many of us would throw cola on our front lawn to make it grow? I think we'd be concerned the acid would burn the grass, yet we throw this kind of thing into our bodies regularly.
Start enjoying water daily. Don't suffer through, make it a habit, a delicious habit. Talk yourself into it, identify yourself as a water lover and make it true!
Affirmation: I love to drink pure, clear, life-giving water. It is necessary and good and I appreciate every drop in my mind as my body appreciates every pure droplet it needs to keep me alive and well.
Namaste
Our bodies have an intricate balance of fluids flowing in our bloodstreams and other systems and one of the key elements to this balance is the hormone interplay. Women, in particular, have a cycle that plays havoc with the ability to have a sense of control. I've know this is the week to watch for yet, somehow, when I found myself wandering around the house, looking for something baked to put into my body I didn't make the connection between what I wanted and the impending start of my menses.
I know what I wanted. I wanted something sweet. Baked. I tried chocolate, didn't do it. I tried popcorn, still not it. I would have had a couple of cookies and called it quits however I had nothing in the house. I finally last night, said out loud to my husband, as I was making my nightly tea, "I really want a cookie" and he said "oh, I have some chocolate chip cookies and some cinnamon buns in the truck". OK, sweetheart,love of my life, soul-mate, man of my dreams, a little advice, I'm pmsing here, please don't hold back the cookies! So he(quickly) brought them in, and I had one cookie and two cinnamon buns(tiny ones, don't panic!) and that was it. Craving satisfied. The remaining cinnamon rolls were left for the children and I could not be bothered this morning.
I know from experience that the sugar cravings will subside after today for another three or four weeks and I also know it's better to have exactly what you want, once you've identified it, than to try to satisfy it with other things. They key is to indulge, not overindulge in the treats. In trying to satisfy my cravings I sampled ice cream, smarties, cheese and crackers, popcorn, cheese and crackers again and then eventually, a cup of tea and the sweets I wanted all along satisfied me.
Sometimes it's better to give yourself permission to eat a little of what you really want. I think that depriving yourself completely of the treats, labelling things bad or good, is detrimental to your overall attitude and that impacts your overall health.
Another thought. We are all born with counter will. Counter will is that thing that children have, you see it in 3 year olds a lot, where they will say and do the opposite of what you tell them. Well it doesn't go anywhere. How many of us like to be told what to do? I don't, I've got a well-honed counter will going on. It's immediate. I will do the most kind, wonderful, generous things for people who ask. Tell me to do something and my first instinct is to do the opposite. There is something to be said for presentation.
The same goes for the messages we send ourselves. "Don't eat cookies" immediately triggers counter will. The thought that follows is "I want cookies and I'll do whatever I want".
Yesterday's challenge wasn't counter will for me necessarily, I just didn't have cookies in the house. But often it is and I thought it worth mentioning. In order to avoid the pitfall of counter will, don't send yourself the shouldn't messages regarding food. Give yourself permission to eat whatever you want whenever you want and then find tools to change what you want and when you want it.
So what a switch! What a paradigm shift! In order to set myself up for success to lose weight, I need to have cookies in the house. I just need to only eat them when necessary. I actually practiced that a lot last week. I baked a batch of cookies and the jar was only emptied two days ago. Today I'm baking more. And the truth is, I did eat one occasionally, but not every day, and only one or two. They didn't call to me as the have in the past.
Affirmation: I am learning new, kinder, gentler, accepting messages that allow me to make decisions about food in a normal natural way, accepting that the nature of my body is fluid and that I will have fluctuations in the desire for different foods on different days and I'm learning to be in tune with them.
Namaste
I am excited! Today the sun is shining. We've had rain for many days and I have had no physical exercise at all. I've been chomping at the bit. My main exercise is walking and I don't own a treadmill, something to be remedied next fall, however for now it's outside. I walk with my children in a double jogging stroller and I run every other day. I have started the couch to 5k program again and then the weather got nasty setting me back. I've seen lots of runners out in all sorts of nastiness but they've got great gear. Me, I don't have a good running jacket or even a hat that fits. I have a very large head! So it is my intention to invest in a treadmill next year so I don't have to start over yet again in the spring.
Today I will walk for at least an hour. It's quite a workout with the two kids, the dog and even the cat in the wagon sometimes. We're a funny sight.
I have not listened to the hypnosis download for a few days but I'm not noticing that I'm slipping back into terrible habits. My jeans feel a bit loose but that's all I have to go on and I'm trying not to obsess too much on that part of it. I have to trust that all will be as it should be. It's still frustrating not to fit my clothes yet.
I got in bed yet and tried to think of an affirmation for the night to sleep on but I couldn't come up with words. All I remember was a feeling of well being and optimism at the thought of being fit and slim and at peace with food and that feeling drifted me off to sleep. So now, today it's easy to come up with the affirmation.
Affirmation: I feel at peace in the knowledge that I am on my way to health, well being and fitness.
And before I go, check this out! Hypnotransformations is having a giveaway to celebrate her 200th Etsy sale! It's easy to enter and you could win your own hypnosis weightloss download or another if you prefer!
Namaste
In researching the non-diet methods of coming to a positive relationship with food I've come across two methods which seem to be effective in reprogramming the subconscious thoughts that lead to failure within diet. The two methods, both of which have been mentioned as valuable tools by Dr. Bruce Lipton in his book The Biology of Belief are EFT and Hypnosis. I've signed up for a newsletter to learn more about EFT but I thought I would try hypnosis first since it's a familiar methodology.
I started looking for hypnotherapists and found that they were very expensive. I've searched the Internet and I've asked friends. I hadn't made a decision on which cd to buy when someone commented on my blog here yesterday and yes, of course, she had a hypnosis blog and an etsy store where she sold her own Cd's and even better for me mp3 downloads! My iPod is my best friend so I immediately ordered a download from her.
Her voice on the mp3 is wonderfully soothing and I cannot wait to listen to it and use it the way it's meant to be used.
I've added a link to the store on my sidebar. I do not get any profit from this store I just wanted people who are on this journey to have access to as many tools as possible!
Affirmation: I will use all the tools available to continue to know that I can have a healthy and fit life and a healthy relationship with food.
Last night I ate Cheetos. I didn't count, I didn't plan, I just ate them. They were good. No guilt today but a long walk for balance and because the sun is shining finally!
I love junk food. It tastes good. It feels good to eat it and I do get the "munchies" on occasion. I'm going to indulge in that sometimes. I think it's about balance. There is no bad, no good, just balance.
I have been sleeping so well lately. I'm drinking a "bedtime" tea and it's been fantastic. And the more sleep I get the better I deal with life and use other tools rather than food to cope.
Have I mentioned my in laws are here? Yes. And they brought blueberry pie into my home. So I ate some. With wine. So what? It was good. I'll live. Remember, I'm not on a diet!
I'm getting better at being less obsessive and angry about the temptations and the people who jeopardise what I try to do. I'm the one who chose to eat or not eat the blueberry pie. I keep the sweets to a minimum in the house for the simple reason that they are not super-healthy but they are super-delicious so I am not going to beat myself up over eating some of it.
Affirmation: First the balance, then the success. Maybe the balance is the success! Sorting this out is what will lead to a normal attitude about food and reprogram the thoughts I've taken as truths in the past.
Stuffed! I bet that's how most of us ended yesterday. I did and then spent the better part of the evening wondering why? Why did I, after all my affirmations and and promises to myself not to, do this yet again?
One thing I concluded was that the reason I overate my dinner was that it snuck up on me, suddenly I was stuffed! Then I continued to eat because I've been programmed to clean my plate and I justified it with the idea that because I only had vegetables, steamed and cooked fresh that it was ok. Then because it was Easter I had the special treats, a chocolate egg, two glasses of wine, the usual.
After much deliberation I realised something. This is normal behaviour. It's not something that should be done regularly but occasionally, on special occasions, even the skinny overeat. Why should the large not get to partake of the same amounts of food and wine simply because they metabolize it differently? Why should I feel guilty?
So I decided not to. There are times to celebrate with wine and food and let go of the guilt associations served unfairly to us by the diet industry and a society of people who think this is our fault, that we're this way because we've failed when it's the diet industry, the fashion industry and a fat-phobic society that have led us to his unhealthy obsession with food and the subsequent consequences of it.
So today, a low-sugar day for me, so that I can strike a balance between enjoying the food I eat and watching the nutrition I consume so as to attain optimum health
and wellness, I will let go of yesterday, take the lesson learned and add it to my arsenol of weapons against the programming of my subconscious!
Affirmation: I have a healthy attitude towards food, knowing that occasional indulgences are normal and I am able to strike a balance as I am guided towards a healthy relationship with food.
I have started using affirmations but usually nothing set, just letting them come. But I thought I would write a simple positive thought affirmation for you, my readers, similar to what I repeat to my self daily and at night.
I am happy. I am healthy. I have a healthy body. I have a healthy attitude towards food. I no longer crave food. I eat want I want, when I want and it is right. I drink what I want when I want and it is right. I usually only want good nourishing food. I feel happy, I feel healthy, my body feels healthy!
Then I bask in the feeling of the truths I am telling myself. I FEEL the information soaking in. I don't work at it, I allow it. I let it wash over me and feel joy. When I feel that joy, I sit in that space until I fall asleep.
Don't memorize the affirmation above, it is true only for me. Compose your own or better yet just let it come every night. I find it helps to start with a set affirmation but then add on what is relevant in the moment.
As an aside, my clothes are looser, I feel fantastic and I know this will work. That is an affirmation in and of itself!
First of all, why, if the diet industry is a multi billion dollar industry, why doesn't it work? I have an answer. If it worked, there wouldn't be a multi billion dollar diet industry. There is no incentive for anyone who sells or promotes weight loss to have people keep the weight off so the answer cannot, does not lie in the diet industry.
So what's left? The medical industry? Nope, because they'll likely tell you that you should go on a diet. Try Jenny Craig, try Weight Watchers, try whatever works for you. Except, nothing works.
So is that it? Are we doomed? Is this such a difficult thing that it's very rare that anyone ever succeeds?
I think, that's what they want us to think. I think there is an answer but it's not out there anywhere, it's inside of us, everyone of us, if we let go of all the thoughts that prevent us from succeeding.
I'm going to give you some examples of thoughts I have that have defeated me in the past.
1. I can't give up sugar, I'd feel deprived
2. I have to give up sugar, I'm addicted to it
3. I always have cravings for carbs after dinner
4. I always have cravings for carbs before my period
5. I always lose traction on any diet around the 6 week mark.
6. Only 5% lose it all and keep it off, surely the odds are against me
7. My family is obese
8. I need to eat large amounts of highly nutritious food
9. I have to write everything down to lose weight
10. I have to workout every day for 1 hour to lose weight.
So one by one I'm debunking these thoughts for myself.
I've come up with a counter thought to undo the negative thought.
1. I can give up sugar.
2. I don't have to give up sugar to lose weight, but I can if I want to \
3. I don't have cravings for carbs after dinner anymore
4. I never have cravings for carbs before my period anymore
5. I never lose traction maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle
6. Says who? The diet industry, the medical profession? Billions of dollars and they still can't get us to lose weight and keep it off, their credibility is shot.
7. I'm not my family, I am me.
8. I need to eat nutritious food until I'm comfortably full and satisfied. Large portions are not necessary
9. I can write down whatever I want to or not write anything down
10. It is good to take part in activity that satisfies my soul and strengthens my body.
So those are just 10 thoughts that flit in and out of my mind that are negative. Some are my own doubts but some are planted by the diet industry itself in an attempt to lure me in to buying this or that product.
I've no problem with programs like Weight Watchers or other organisations as long as we understand that we may encounter validations of the negative thoughts that hold us back from truly succeeding.
If you believe you will be successful you will be successful. So now, I challenge you, come up with ten thoughts of your own that you believe must happen in order for you to be successful and then put a positive spin on them or debunct them if you can, particularly if they are defeating you.
I'm my own guinea pig here and I'll be working on changing the thoughts in my head that have held me back. We'll see how it goes. I want to be here two years from now, healthier and fitter than ever and I don't think my answer is out there, I think I have the answers for me right here inside my head and yours are inside you. You just have to turn them around, debunct those that can be proven to be untrue and move forward.
In the next post I'm going to go further into actual practical tools to make this work for you. Have your list ready.
So I haven't been writing as much because I've been busy setting up the new template on the blog. It's been a bit of a battle and if you have Internet Explorer 7.0 you might see it looking a bit funny on your screen. It's ok on mine, looks great on earlier versions of explorer and is ok on other internet navigation programs.
I'm trying to remain optimistic that the track I"m on is the right one. I did Yoga on Monday night and she really put me through my paces. I only broke a slight sweat but I've been feeling slight indications in my shoulders and leg muscles that it's a lot more strenous than it seems while you are doing it. My goal is to learn enough to make it a practice on a daily basis although as of yet I've not done anything at home. I have a nice series of Sun Salutations I could be doing in the morning yet somehow my days don't have a nice rhythm or routine to them right now and I keep forgetting.
Space. I think it's very important to have space to do the things you need to do. We have a huge basement area that hasn't been set up for use yet. My husband is currently fixing a Futon that's down there and when my father in law comes next week I hope he makes the space into one we can use more regularly. It's not finished but it's perfect for kids. Then I'm clearing out my living room and reclaiming it for me! A place to do Yoga in the morning. Perfect!
Today the plan is to try a new recipe. It's an eggplant Lasagna with tofu and lots of veggies. I'll post pictures if it turns out well! I'm looking forward to a nice healthy dinner with a large salad however I am having great difficulty locatind decent lettuce. I cannot wait for the summer veggies to be here! Fresh produce, what a wonderful gift!
Have a wonderful, peaceful day and stay in the flow of wellness and well-being. Nourish you body, your mind and your spirit. Move gently, love life and be well.
Namaste
Today I recommit. In fact I think that I need to recommit on a daily basis and a moment by moment basis.
I need to buy food today to make the healthy food that I ran out of yesterday. I need to finally start running now that the rain has stopped. I'm charging my iPod as we speak and as soon as I can get out there I'm going.
I'm starting with some meditation to get me back in the field of wellness and well being. I need to let go of the old habits that have slipped back in the past few days while my guard was down and I need to let go of the disappointment in myself that hinders my progress.
I've started to focus on thinking about what a gift my body is. I get to live in this body for a limited number of years and its wellness, its freedom from pain and the level of energy it has ensures that the spirit that is me can do all it needs to do and become all it needs to become.
I'm in gratitude for the opportunity right now, in this moment to recommit to what I've set out to do for myself. To meet the challenges that are ahead and to live a healthful and happy day.
Namaste
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