Focus – Tune into your body

I hope you had a great day .... I did, but I'm glad it's getting toward the end of the week!

So here I go. Do you feel tired of being overweight but not sure where to start? Do you shove food in regardless of whether you are hungry or not? Do you struggle with fitting into the majority of your wardrobe but can't bring yourself to the point where you HAVE to go shopping for new clothes as

1. It's expensive and
2. It's demoralizing?

When I felt like this, I knew that I had to eat better, it's just that all of the "diets" looked like rabbit food.  How was I to adapt from my beautiful filling dinners of big bowls of spaghetti bolognaise (BIG bowls!) with a side of almost one whole garlic bread, and a glass or two of red wine, followed by a mammoth serving size of dessert? (which followed my bout of "trying to be good, eat a salad sandwich for lunch and nothing else for hours!)

It's hard to make such a dramatic change, and I wouldn't recommend it - the fact that it's so foreign means that you can't sustain it, and then you end up feeling worse - and so the negative spiral downwards continues!

How about we approach it from a positive angle? From a self-love angle? Like - I'm going to start thinking about my own needs more? Like I'm going to start taking care of me more - to help me be a more positive person?  Sounds good? 

Well, my aforementioned friend is starting an experiment with me, and I actually emailed her this information on Sunday night. She was feeling down, yet inspired, so I wanted to help!

So here is the deal. I don't want you to think of any of this as you are doing it to lose weight.
 
At the moment I just want you to make observations about how you feel when you eat certain foods

• when you eat them
• immediately after
• within a few hours
• then next day (for gauging your night time meal)
• it's effect on your digestive system and whether it is slow, quick, well-formed or loose (sorry it's so graphic, but it is important info - don't worry - you don't need to tell me!)
• whether your tongue is white and claggy in the morning when you wake up, or if it is pink and free of white coating

You might find it effective to write down what you ate, and then write observations down also.
 
I want you to particularly pay attention to how you feel after eating

• white bread (or related products like rolls, pizza, burgers, pasta)
• sweet foods (cakes/biscuits/muffins/muesli bars/orange juice)
• deep fried foods (especially hot chips)
• breakfast cereals
• processed salted deli meats or from packets at supermarket (e.g. ham, chicken, prosciutto, bacon, roast beef, pastrami, kabana, hot dog sausages, any sausages)

Last but not least -

• any protein foods that don't contain sugar (eggs, chicken, beef, cottage cheese, milk, cream cheese, natural yogurt)
• salad vegetables

For example - my observations about white bread and me - my mind is initially really clear, but within 5-10 minutes, I've crashed and I feel really foggy and tired, and I have to go to the loo!
This sounds really full on, but it doesn't have to be! Just eat what you normally eat and see how you feel. Write it down if you have a tendency to forget!

See if you feel

• satisfied or bloated or empty? 
• clear or foggy mind?
• calm or hyped?

I found that I was very detached from my body and treating it as my own "pleasure machine" without listening to how my body actually received it and if it liked it or not (if you know what I mean? that is - gave a positive or negative reaction)

I found that I ate regardless of how it reacted which is pretty disrespectful to my body when you think of it - if it was our pet or our car we wouldn't give them food or fuel that their systems reject or react negatively to, as we would feel guilty and upset for them, yet we disrespect ourselves in that way without even thinking twice as food has such a HUGE emotional attachment for us!

So for now, just start listening to your body again, and start the process of tuning in to what it is trying to tell you. 


Enjoy your journey.