It's not what you eat but what you think!

One of the first quotes by Wayne Dyer to inspire me was 'Change the Way You Look at Things and the Way You Look at things Changes'. A Simple concept although not always easy to implement.  Even when facing challenges that we feel we can do nothing about, we can still bring about an inner peace by thinking about the challenge differently.

When facing difficult challenges I can easily fall into unhealthy or excessive eating and likewise when I overcome these challenges my healthy eating resumes. The key for me is to be Conscious of this, Conscious of the thinking that leads to the negative habits.  Not with a view to denying them but to embracing them. Only then through this Conscious Acceptance can I  leg them go.

Shed negative thinking and shed weight at the same time

I recently moved home from the remoteness of the Alpujarras to the city of Granada and a friend asked me 'how did you feel when you packed up and left?' I didn't have to think about the answer because it was so noticible for me, noticeable in my body - I felt lighter, as if I had shed pounds.  In fact I had to check myself a few times, check that I hadn't left the house naked!

I know that when we move house we can do it hoping we leave our 'baggage' behind, often finding after a short while that our problems and difficulties have surfaced again. What I have realised is that my old home WAS the baggage. The location, the remoteness, the lack of stimulation was all baggage and holding me back.

Do you love your body?

My body at last, I claim you!

I live here!

I am not some discarnate spirit using just any vehicle to get around….

for so many years I rejected my body because it isn’t perfect

according to the standards of my culture.

I have been unfaithful to it, letting other’s opinions turn me against it,

allowing others to use it without love, without tenderness…

Because I myself rejected my body I didn’t protect it,

didn’t demand that it be treated like the precious gift that it is…                                

My body, the temple of my soul deserves better from me.

I reclaim this body…

This body is a miracle; it is the first gift of the Creator to me – my birthday present.

I take this body to have and to hold, in sickness and in health,

to honour, love and cherish until death do us part.

I am a woman reclaiming my body”

 - Janet F- Quinn

To fully reclaim our body and free us up to make more conscious and healthy choices in relation to how we treat it, we need to understand our thoughts and how they relate to our relationship with food.

What I’m talking about here is not just what we put into are bodies but why?
What is the thought or belief that leads us to treat our bodies the way we do or don’t do?
And what feelings and behaviours are triggered by these thoughts?

Awareness of this will not only support your choices but also aid motivation and persistence to achieve your goals.

So here's a journal question - What do you need to change, do differently, give up, or introduce to 'reclaim your body'?

To discuss this more and find out how the Conscious Eating Coach can support you further e-mail jacqui@artoflivingcoaching.co.uk

Choice

Choice based on what we already know will always result in what we know, so if you want something new and different you need to know something new.

How this translates to conscious eating is that if you want to change your habits permanently then you need to understandand them - where they come from, how they manifest in your life and what triggers them - when you understand that you will know something new and be able to make different choices.

Does Eating Healthy Mean Deprivation?

In a simple word answer NO!

Depriving yourself of your favorite foods will only lead to cravings and binging. If you allow yourself a little of what you want when you have the desire then you are more likely to satisfy the desire and less likely to eat to excess.

Eating healthily is a part of self care and Self Care means being kind to yourself and finding a balance.

Would you continually deny a child ice-cream in the midst of summer?

Would you let them have one every time they ask (every hour!)

Just think how you would respond to a child and treat yourself the same way.

Buen proveche!

Summer Eating

With summer upon us I wonder how conscious people are of the different needs of our body.

For example a group of guests at the retreat centre i'm currently working at went for a long walk last Thursday AFTERNOON with temperatures in the mid to high 20's C /around 80F and with little shade. Most guests took only a small bottle of water to last the 3 hour hike and consequently, when they arrived back they were dropping like flies - two in fact had obvious signs of dehydration and heat stroke.

I am already up to a minumum of 2 litres of water per day and as the heat continues to rise i'm sure that will rise to about 4 litres. I also notice that my desire for cold fresh salads and juices increases and I have very little appetite for simple carbs like potatos, bread and pasta.

Why don't you spend a little time, sitting and listening and journaling around how your body changes it's needs and appetite as the weather changes?

Treats - does it have to be food?

We had a conversation on one of my telecourses this week around food being used as a 'treat'. And as I was 'googling' an image for this blog, using the search field 'treat' all that came up were images of cakes and chocolates. I find this really interesting.

Why is it that when we think of rewarding or treating ourselves for something well done, it involves food?

As with everything in our life, our habits develop from an early age and the more unconscious our habits are then the more likelihood that the habit is very old...
Can you remember back to your childhood, to when you did something well or behaved in a manner that was judged as good? how were you rewarded? was it with food?

I remember quite often hearing the phrase 'if you're a good girl and be quiet I'll buy you chocolate' 'if you eat up all your dinner then you can have a desert'. Basically I was learning that sweet yummy things like chocolate and cake were 'rewards' for being a 'good little girl' - so it only follows that in my subconscious mind I am going to make this association, it might come up when I feel I have achieved something or even if I feel a failure - as a way of 'cheering me up'.

If you find that you reach for food to deal with your emotions wither positive or negative you might want to explore the childhood habits and family beliefs around this.

When you become aware of using food as a reward or treat I would like to invite you to sit, think and listen to your body for a few minutes before reaching for this food. Give yourself time to think what it is that you would really like as a treat.

Weight Loss Plateau - Is it emotional?

As some of might know I'm always looking for the underlying psychological causes to our health issues and I think a weight loss plateau might also come into this category.

If you are someone who has reached a plateau for a while then maybe there is an emotional block to moving forward.

When I did some work on this for myself some years ago, my explorations revealed that holding on to weight was a form of psychological 'protection' for me. Fat meant being safe, that 'I couldn't be 'got'.', and only by recognizing and acknowledging this was I able to let it go and move on.

So if you think this might apply to you then ask yourself the following questions...

• Why did I put the weight on in the first place?
• How did it serve me? (e.g. helped me cope with a breakup, de-stress etc.)
• If I was to reach my ideal weight, how would my life change?
• What or who might I have to let go of that maybe I'm not ready to?
• Who do I think I'll become when I lose the weight?

If you want to explore these more then e-mail me for your complimentary Conscious Eating coaching session.

5 Tips for moving past the Plateau

1. Persist - just hang on in there! If you're sticking to your regime then it is coming off, just maybe not enough for the scale to see right now.
2. Check for hidden calories, it is surprising how many calories can be hidden in a teaspoon of this or a pinch of that - be honest with yourself.
3. Increase muscle building exercises - Muscle burns fat!
4. Revisit your goals and motivation for losing weight in the first place and ask yourself if maybe you have reached a plateau because that is where you body feels most comfortable.
5. ACCEPT that you are where you are, ACCEPT that your body is resting from weight loss right now, ACCEPT that you are eating for health whether or not you are losing weight, ACCEPT YOURSELF FULLY. Refusal to accept the reality of where you are right now will build into stress and likely be the cause of 'why do I bother' binges.

How to move forward when you reach the Weight Loss Plateau

I've been thinking lately of plateau's - specifically when after a few weeks dieting you hit what appears to be a wall and no matter how much excercise you do or how many calories you cut down to, the weight just doesn't budge.

Everyone on a weight loss diet will at some stage reach a plateau - maybe for a week or two, maybe even longer. Rather than becoming despondent over this - that your 'hard work' seems to not be paying off anymore I would like to invite you to take this opportunity to review and revisit your plan.

Firstly, accept that for the moment your body is resting where it is. Getting annoyed will only increase resistance, make you unhappy and probably contribute to you giving up.
Secondly take a moment to acknowledge what you've achieved to date, not just the pounds lost but the way your clothes feel, the way your body feels - relish in your success to date!

When you've done that you will be in a far more positive place to then take a look at your plan.
So when you do ask yourself the following questions...

• Are your original goals still valid or do you now have different ones?
• Does your original strategy for achieving these goals need to be changed or varied?

Although our bodies work somewhat like machines, unlike machines we cannot guarantee the output and our bodies will work at the pace they want to work, maybe you need to vary your routine, maybe up the exercise, maybe leave off the exercise for a day or two.

If you are considering reducing your calories more, just remember that your bodies need a minimal amount of calories to function and cutting down too much is unhealthy and cause your body to hold on to fat if it thinks it is going to starve.

Too busy to eat healthy

Do you find yourself using this reason for not eating healthy? That you are too busy. That it's easier to grab a sandwich or burger than to sit down with a salad.

I too used to use this reason for many years, I was way too busy in my job and then too tired when i got home however what i can now see is that by eating unhealthy was contributing to my tiredness. And when tired, can we really perform at our best? I now know that this was just an excuse not a reason - I actually just couldn't be bothered to prepare a meal just for me.

And what does 'couldn't be bothered' mean. It means not putting myself or my health first, it means not caring enough about myself. it means considering my job more important than me.

When we look at what's on offer with 'fast foods' today, we really cannot use this as an excuse anymore, there are many prewashed and pre cut salads available, there are many healthier versions of prepared foods. Whilst I am not an advocate any more of such 'tv dinners' as they contain far too much salt, and other unnecessary unhealthy extras, If you really do not have time to prepare your own meal then maybe you could consider some of the alternatives to bread & buns.

It's not so much that YOU are too busy rather than your thoughts are too busy to consider the healthier options.

If you're ready to challenge your beliefs and thoughts around healthy eating so that you can move forward with a diet that reflects who you really are then contact me, the Conscious Eating Coach for a sample session and lets see how much change you can make in your eating simply by changing your thoughts about eating.

Who really knows what foods agree with YOUR body?

I've been thinking some more about the blood group diet and I'm still curious how such a generalisation can be good for everyone. Whilst our blood group might be the same, our life and health experiences are not so how do those get taken into account?
I was speaking to a women a couple of days ago who was praising this diet as it suggested to her not to eat white bread and cows milk. These are actually, products that are commonly known not to be the best for us - white bread because the flour has been processed so much there is no goodness left in it and...well...surely any animal milk is designed to be drunk by the baby of that species and so cows milk surely is designed for drinking by baby cows? what do you think?

The other thing I've been pondering on is the diagnosis by a machine of what one should or shouldn't eat. Some vegetarian friends of mine went to see a local homeopath/naturapath and he used some machine on them which said they need to eat meat and fish. There was no testing of blood or other internal physical condition and so I'm wondering how too this works. How can a machine 'listen' to a body's needs better than the owner of the body?