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.

C is for COURAGE

Life requires courage. Courage has got to do with the ability to confront things that scare the crap out of you -- but act as though you are not afraid. It is what picks you up and dusts you off, and sets you on your path to becoming the best version of yourself. If there was no perceived risk then we would never have any need of courage!!

Without courage we can have no real self-esteem, pride or power. Without courage we would never push ourselves beyond where we feel comfortable; therefore -- we would never grow! We would never learn what we are truly capable of and therefore we miss out on developing to our full potential.

Courage is empowering. It's a choice to stand and fight -- when it would be much easier to give up.

Courage enables you to try new things or do things a different way -- courage enables us to get uncomfortable and grow!!

Without courage we are merely a victim of our own circumstances. If we want things to be different we actually need to do things differently NOW!! We have the power to gather our courage and get uncomfortable -- we have the power to do things differently!!

Courage determines what we do, or do NOT do, with our lives.

C is for CHANGE.

CHANGE: To make the future course of something different from what it is or what it would be if it was left alone.

CHANGE: To transform something into something different. A passing of one phase into another.

Change and courage kind of go hand in hand. One is required for the other. But this post will focus on change. Change is necessary for growth to happen. Without change - nothing changes! LOL! ie. No growth!! If you want your future to look different than what you are doing now - things need to change.

Change and growth both take time. You can’t become an expert in a day, or completely shed all your old bad habits in a week. However, you should be always moving forwards!! Persistence will be needed to get to where you want to be! If you never give up -- keep on changing and persevering and you will get to where you want to go! This is true for whatever area in life you want to change in.

Change and growth can be scary!! You need to recognize if you are feeling discomfort, boredom, confusion, fear or worry about the idea of changing something. Think about your reasons for wanting it and find something which is going to motivate you enough to push through it!! You have to want the change badly enough to overcome the discomfort, boredom, confusion, embarrassment, and worry that pops up to stop you along the way. How badly you want it and the intensity of your desire to change is going to determine whether you actually get there or not.

If you want to be successful, grow and move forward in life -- in whatever area you are thinking of... change is a necessity!

C is for CALORIE

A calorie is a unit of food energy. 1 calorie = 4.2 kilojoules. This unit of measurement allows us to talk about how much energy a food contains and how much energy is used for our bodies to function and burned up during exercise.

How much energy there is in food is determined by how much carbohydrates, fats and protein there is in it! Fats and alcohol are the most energy dense food.

1g fat = 9 cal

1g alcohol = 7 cal

1g carbohydrate = 4 cal

1g protein = 4 cal

When we regularly eat more energy than our body needs, the excess is stored inside fat cells. Obviously if we eat less energy than we need -- we lose fat cells!! To lose 1kg in a week a person needs their energy balance to be 7000 cal in debit. How many calories a person uses per day depends on their age, gender, body composition, and activity levels.

Couple of interesting facts!

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

The average deep fried mars bar contains almost 1,000 calories – that could be most of your daily allowance, if you’re a small female.

12WBT Blog Hop #1

12WBT Blog Hop #1.

I am Kelly. In 2010 I lost almost 50kg. In 2011 I maintained my weight and became a personal trainer!
I am excited to be helping others become the best version of themselves!!
I am looking forward to this round of the 12WBT -- learning more about myself and continuing to cement my ability to maintain my weight long term!

An insight into what made me begin the journey.

http://falldown7timesgetup8justdontgiveup.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/me-and-my-weight-emotional-eating.html

http://www.katesaysstuff.com/