Hello all. Just a quick check in before the dryer goes off. Doing ok with my eating, been real busy at work(which is a good thing), no days off except Sundays. Have a blessed day.
I overheard a conversation in the dressing rooms next to mine:
Woman 1: I want my body baaaaaack!
Woman 2: Me too Mom! After the kids, "things" never went back to the way they were. I've deprived myself, tortured myself at the gym, and even begged my doctor for a pill!
Woman 1: I know honey - but I hate to tell you, it isn't going to get any easier as you get older.
Who "has" your body?
I couldn't get that phrase out of my head...I want my body back!
Where did it go? Who has it? Why did you give it away? Whose body do you have now? How does your body feel about being unwanted?
That too-familiar phrase, I want my body back, captures a common challenge you may identify with: Feeling so disconnected from your body that you don't claim it anymore, and instead, wish for a body you "had" in the past - ironically, a body that you probably didn't want at the time either!
Why does this happen? And what would I have told these women if I'd had the nerve?
How you "lost" your body in the first place
There are many changes that occur naturally over time that affect the shape, size, and function of your body: maturation, giving birth, aging, stress, illnesses or injuries, changes in the environment, activity, diet, and your interests--to name just a few. Fortunately, your body has the amazing ability to morph and adapt to these constantly changing forces; after all, you're alive and reading this now, aren't you?
The problem with this natural process begins when, instead of allowing your body to guide you back to it's optimal state, you head down the wrong path: disparaging self-talk and restrictive dieting. (How do you know if your diet is restrictive? Check out the list in my Huffington Post article, Diets are Like Antacids.)
Since diets don't work long term, the eat-repent-repeat cycle ensues, further disconnecting you from the body that was doing exactly what it was supposed to do: adapt to change.
Reclaim your body!
I resisted the urge to call out over the dressing room wall:
Stop! Don't talk about your body that way! It's right there and it can hear you! And stop subjecting it to cruel and unusual punishment for defending itself!
There is another way! Even if you don't know how to do it yet, or it sounds too easy (or too hard), or you don't believe it could work for you, there IS another way! You AND your body deserve it!
Later I wondered if I should have just said it anyway. I know it would have been rude - but what if I they were willing to listen? I could have saved them both many more years of pain and unhappiness.
But you're not in the dressing room next door and I will not hold back this time. Maybe you'll think I'm rude or maybe you're just not ready to hear it, but I'll take my chances in the hopes that it will save you more of the same.
STOP. Take your body back and treat it with the respect it deserves. Let us help you learn how to...
Listen to your internal cues of hunger and satisfaction instead of trying to follow strict or arbitrary rules about your eating.
Stop yoyo dieting and choose from all foods freely to balance eating for nourishment and eating for enjoyment.
Eat what you really love without guilt - instead of depriving yourself or bingeing.
Eat mindfully to nourish your body, mind, and spirit instead of eating unconsciously or obsessing over every bite of food.
Discover physical activity that you enjoy because it gives you energy, stress relief, and an active metabolism - instead of exercising to punish yourself for eating or to earn the right to eat.
Become aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions and how they affect you instead of judging yourself because you didn’t follow a program rigidly.
Create a self-care buffer zone and meet your true needs instead of eating too much or neglecting yourself.
I tired to diet again last Fri. Didn't last one day. Had a birthday party here for my GD and they served pizza. So tried again yesterday with the same outcome. I had a great day nevertheless. We went out again for my DS birthday and I didn't order. It cost $6 but it was worth it. I ate salad and garlic bread and a few bites of what others didn't want. Came home feeling great!!!
I tired to diet again last Fri. Didn't last one day. Had a birthday party here for my GD and they served pizza. So tried again yesterday with the same outcome. I had a great day nevertheless. We went out again for my DS birthday and I didn't order. It cost $6 but it was worth it. I ate salad and garlic bread and a few bites of what others didn't want. Came home feeling great!!!
I am becoming interested in intuitive eating. I was looking at different books on amazon, and I notice that the third edition of the book Intuitive Eating will be released in August. It is totally revised. I have it on preorder.
Do you have any favorite books you can recommend? There are so many out there with non-dieting methods.
I was reading the first page of this thread, a guest post by someone named Skwigg. It is just so wonderful, I am going to print it out. Like her, I've tried/read every diet/nutrition plan out there. I know intuitive eating is for me, but I also know due to health issues I do have to eat healthy, so I'll be striking an interesting balance as time goes on. I also know that intuitive eating will be very hard for me. But I just can't go on another diet.
CC, thank you for the list. I've also found Paul McKenna's I Can Make You Thin which seems very simple and straightforward with its advice. The Overfed Head does look good.
I'm looking forward to the revised Intuitive Eating in August. I went on the website and might join for the forum. The book got very nice reviews on amazon.
I'm looking forward to the revised Intuitive Eating in August. I went on the website and might join for the forum. The book got very nice reviews on amazon.
