31. October 2009 by Patricia.

A woman who had struggled with yo-yo dieting called me in a panic and asked “How can I love my body?” In exploring this question, she shared that she hated all of her features. Was she willing to focus on each body part and practice loving it? Our conversation reminded me that loving your body is an inside job. When we refuse to listen to our body and seek to control it with rigid diets and exercise programs: Let’s get that body into shape! … we become divorced from our body and our Self.

How can you love your body? Trusting it to communicate its needs and wants?  If we are open to listening, our body will guide us towards healthy eating and supportive exercise. It teaches us to tune with its unique rhythms. Then, instead of being at war with our body, we are more likely to be able to love it. The question is…. Are we willing to trust the wisdom of our body and relinquish “control?”

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24. October 2009 by Patricia.

I was in a funk and didn’t know why. One minute I was doing great and the next… funk! There was no time to sort out thoughts and feelings on the spot, I knew it was deep because I wanted to eat… anything. Feeling overwhelmed? I could not go there. How about accepting the funk and allowing myself to switch off for awhile in front of the T.V.?

The following day I congratulated myself for not using food for comfort. In exploring thoughts and feelings of the previous day, I realized that like a fishing reel spinning out into the middle of a river, I let worry escalate. Nothing was wrong. I had simply allowed myself to have stressful thoughts, “There’s so much to do, I’m never going to be able to get it all done!”

In the clear light of morning I relearned the link between thinking traps and stress!

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17. October 2009 by Patricia.

Bob rushed out of his office when he heard me coughing loudly. I had been sitting at my computer with my eye on a website while sipping my green tea. The next moment my cell phone rang. I shifted my focus to identify the caller, and choked on the tea. I had become totally unaware that I was multitasking. That lack of awareness can be a problem when we eat and read, eat and work, eat and drive, eat and …….. If we seriously want to find a way out of the weight loss/weight gain maze, an initial first step is to become aware of what we do while eating.

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10. October 2009 by Patricia.

Have you wondered whether weight loss success (as you define it) can be sustained for a lifetime?

Here’s how you can tell. Do you feel deprived? Do you rule out eating certain foods, while focused on what you are or are not eating? Are you counting calories? Do you block your body’s hunger signals? If you can answer yes to such questions, chances are your weight loss will be short-lived. However, if you eat when you are hungry, choose foods that satisfy that hunger, stay connected with your body, mind, spirit and emotions, and eat with awareness… the odds favor long-term and sustained weight loss.

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3. October 2009 by Patricia.

Bob and I have a difference of opinion. Bob thinks that the week starts on Sunday as indicated on the calendar. I think it starts on Monday. For many of us with long dieting histories it is important that the week starts on Monday. We could choose to eat what we wanted over the weekend, because on Monday we restarted our diet with a clean slate. Monday became the most hopeful day of my week. By Wednesday I reached a nadir. By Friday I knew that Monday wasn’t too far away and I had another chance at being perfect on my diet.

What a relief to finally be diet free!

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