Treat yourself well.

What does it mean to be kind to yourself? What does it mean to love yourself? What does it mean that you are enough?

 

Be content to be yourself. Relax, knowing that you are enough right now. Go ahead and do absolutely nothing - and you will still be enough. You are enough without DOING.

You are unique and special being yourself. Go ahead, stay as you are, take a break from continually trying to be better at things - and you will still be enough. It's not necessary for you to be more than you are right now. You are enough without IMPROVEMENTS.

You are an amazingly put together work of art. You are exactly who you were meant to be. You can be comfortable looking after yourself with no negative feelings. Go ahead, rest and take time out for yourself - and you will still be enough. It's not necessary to be uncomfortable about looking after your miraculously designed body. You are enough without REASONS.

You are extraordinary. You are perfect right now. It's not necessary to exhaust yourself tying to make up for lost time and things gone. Today was meant to be lived and enjoyed by you now. Take a deep breath and make peace with yourself. You are enough without PERFECTION.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF AND LOVE YOURSELF -- YOU ARE ENOUGH RIGHT NOW AS YOU ARE.

WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING, WITHOUT ANY REASONS OR IMPROVEMENTS - YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE RIGHT NOW.

What is mindful eating?

I am interrupting my fun times with the alphabet to present to you my current thoughts. I can do these things -- because it's my blog!! LOL.

I have recently taken some times out to evaluate this whole maintaining weight business because it is seriously hard work! It really should not be so HARD!! I don't want to have to struggle along with maintenance for the rest of my life -- so I have decided to go about it in a different way. Being a creature of routine and habit this is going to be a major challenge. However -- I like challenges!! Bring it on! :-D

There are 2 ways to go about this whole weight loss business -- the self-controlled, restrictive, tough approach (which I have used successfully and have won much of the fight - take THAT 50kg!!). Or there is this other way, which takes the fight out of it and has you focusing on enjoying food, taking care of your body being kind to yourself. Now -- as mind blowingly foreign as this sounds to me I am weary enough of the fight to attempt something as crazy as this sounds. So, as is my way -- once I have decided to do something, I set about researching it and seeing how I can do it best and succeed at it!! Hahaha!! (Something which will hopefully change in this process of learning how to be kind to myself.) BUT in the meantime -- I thought you could all benefit from my research!! LOL.

So - what is mindful eating:

Mindful eating involves a nonjudgmental awareness of your body. It means that you need to pay attention to the moment when you eat -- pay attention to what is happening in your brain and your body. Think about how you feel before and during eating and it has you concentrating on the food while you are eating it using all your senses. It has you exploring how you feel while eating both emotionally and also physically, so you are aware of why you are eating. You become aware of feeling physically hungry and you can feel when you are getting full.

Mindful eating promotes balance, choice, wisdom and acceptance of what is - it may be something that you may not like about yourself, however with this approach it's about calmly acknowledging the fact and looking at it with curiosity rather than judgement. With practice, mindful eating can have you free from reactive, habitual patterns of thinking, feeling and acting. It encourages you to choose food that it nourishing to your body, and it encourages the enjoyment of all aspects of food through an awareness using all your senses. A person who eats mindfully looks at the immediate choices and direct experiences associated with eating food and not to the distant health outcome of having eaten it -- but at the same time they are aware of and reflect on the effects caused by unmindful eating. This reflecting is not a time where they beat themselves up - but a non-judgemental observation which can be used to help them make wise decisions in the future.

Today’s experiment in eating involves becoming aware of that reflexive urge to plow through your meal like Cookie Monster on a shortbread bender. Resist it. Leave the fork on the table. Chew slowly. Stop talking. Tune in to the texture of the pasta, the flavor of the cheese, the bright color of the sauce in the bowl, the aroma of the rising steam.

Continue this way throughout the course of a meal, and you’ll experience the third-eye-opening pleasures and frustrations of a practice known as mindful eating.

The concept has roots in Buddhist teachings. Just as there are forms of meditation that involve sitting, breathing, standing and walking, many Buddhist teachers encourage their students to meditate with food, expanding consciousness by paying close attention to the sensation and purpose of each morsel. In one common exercise, a student is given three raisins, or a tangerine, to spend 10 or 20 minutes gazing at, musing on, holding and patiently masticating.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/dining/mindful-eating-as-food-for-thought.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

When you are eating mindfully you are eating slowly and relishing each bite. It's not about giving anything up -- it's about experiencing food more intensely and getting lots of pleasure from it.

C is for CANT

Most of the time people use this word when they should not. Most of the time people use the word cant they really should be saying "wont" or "don't want to". There are a few times where cant may be true but it may be more helpful to say "I don't know how to yet" .. At least with this last statement something can be done about it if you are willing.

Cant is such a negative, reactive word - it is so final! It does not allow for any learning or any attempts to do things another way to make something happen.

Start calling it what it really is, and speaking more helpfully to yourself.

So many people say they cant do something when they have not even given it a go! In the very saying of those words they are then stripped of the power to give it a go and learn! Next time you find yourself thinking you cant do something -- stop yourself and ask if you actually want to do it. If the answer is yes, ask yourself what is stopping you from giving it a go. Are you afraid of failing? Is it more a case of you not knowing how to do it? You may not be able to dance -- but you can go and get lessons!! Why not? It would be very rare that there would be something you cannot do if you put your mind to it.

Using the word cant is just an excuse - get rid of it and speak a different way to yourself. With the right mindset, positive attitude, and a clear vision of what you want to accomplish, the only thing that is holding you back is yourself!! How you approach an opportunity, and the result of it, is solely based on you and your attitude -- get a positive one!! You will have SO many more opportunities in life if you just get rid of that one word and replace it with the truth.