A new leg of the journey

Many of you have been following my story for some time. If so, this may be review for you, but for those of you new to my blog, I’m going to give a brief bit of history.

A number of years ago I decided that I needed to get healthy and lose weight. I had great success with Weight Watchers, and the pounds came off quickly. I held that weight off for two years until I had a bout with depression and I put it back on. Since then there’s been constant swings between choosing to be healthy and just giving up. While I’m not packing on the pound anymore, I’m now weighing a bit more than is probably actually healthy. 

Slow Down

The world around us is caught up in being busy. These days, when I ask people how they’re doing, I’m as likely to hear them say, “busy” as I am to hear them say the obligatory “fine.” It’s a world that is fast paced. We need cars to get us from point A to point B. We get frustrated at the traffic when it slows us down. We eat breakfast as we run out the door, forgetting to take time to recognize that yes, we are eating, and yes, it actually tastes like something. We opt for fast food for the midday meal, because there just isn’t enough time to make ourselves lunch in the morning. And by the time the evening comes around, we need to get dinner on the table quick before we rush out the door again for another activity, or before our favourite television show comes on.

All of this movement keeps us feeling exhausted. It also encourages us to pay less attention to what we eat, and as a result we eat the wrong things. As food is fuel for our body, this then fails to give us the proper energy we need to maintain our health and lives. Just like your car won’t run well on apple juice, so when you give your body the wrong fuel, it can’t run properly either. This is something I fall prey to all the time. Wrong food = sluggish me. Wrong food = not wanting to hit the gym because I just don’t have any energy left. 

My boyfriend and I (yes, I have a boyfriend, my how things have changed!) have been commenting for the past few months about how we’re both out of shape and it wouldn’t hurt us to hit he gym and do more healthy activities. I am always the one who adds in that we should also start looking at what we’re eating and the quantities of it that we’re eating, to which he agrees. 

Here’s the thing, you need to get past talk. You can talk until the world ends, but if it isn’t followed by actions, there will be no results. So, yesterday, after work, despite desiring to walk past the gym, I walked into the gym. I stretched myself, but didn’t punish myself. You know what? It felt great.

But when I got home, I looked in my fridge and my healthy options for eating were paltry. All my greens had gone bad and I was left with only a few carrots. This is what happens in my busy life– I forget to grocery shop and so eat out. Part of getting into healthy eating is getting in control of your food. When you cook your food, you know what’s in it. Even the healthiest looking items at a restaurant can be deceiving. 

Cooking at home can be fun. I love to cook. I love creating delicious meals that I can be proud of, that are healthy, and that my body can use. But to make time to cook at home, I need to slow down because cooking does take time. Even a quick meal takes time. Also, then there is sitting down to eat. Food is meant to be enjoyed– by sight, smell, and flavour. All of that enjoyment takes time and deliberation. Make your plate look pretty. Set down your fork between bites. Chew with awareness. 

If you’re like me, and running out the door in the morning because you hit the snooze button one too many times, then be intentional about making yourself a quick and easy breakfast and lunch the night before. It’ll take a bit of time to put it together, but at least you won’t be finding you bought a burger for lunch the next day because you were hungry enough that you decided not to care. 

Take a look at your life. Is it too busy for you to enjoy the simple things? Where could you cut back? For me that meant getting rid of my TV. Without it distracting me, I’ve been able to get so much more living done! For relaxation I choose a book, but also set myself a number of chapters to read. If you have a TV and don’t want to give it up, put a time limit on it for yourself. 

And because I know that we all have our busy days, here are a few quick and easy meal suggestions to get you started:

Breakfast:

Large Flake Oatmeal with fresh apple and cinnamon (Large flake has significantly higher nutritional value than instant/quick cooking)

Poached Egg on thin sliced toast (I like Country Hills Little Big Bread)

Yogurt with Fresh Fruit and 1/4 cup low-sugar granola

Lunch:

Rye Crackers, Sliced Turkey Breast, 1 oz of your favourite quality cheese, veggie sticks

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup (broth based) with a side salad

High fibre burrito with lots of veggies, salsa, and chicken breast

Dinner:

Poor Man’s Taco Salad (i.e. meatless)

Grilled chicken breast with steamed carrots and lemony quinoa

Cajun fish fillets with oven roasted sweet potato

For some of you, these ideas will be enough to get you off to the races. Others of you may want specific recipes. In the coming weeks, recipes will come! For now, check out some of my earlier blog posts for some great meal ideas.

Time Marches On

These days it seems like I’m constantly running out the door. There are places to go, people to see, and longer hours at work than there used to be. I haven’t been to the gym in months, and am simply not as healthy physically now, as I have been in the past. However, mentally, I’m doing much better than I was when I was working out and carefully tracking what I ate. For me, that time became an obsession. There was no point in my day when I wasn’t thinking about food, what I would eat next, and how I’d have to work out to burn off those calories. I remember having days where I’d be walking home from work and I’d start crying, because all I would be doing was mentally obsessing over what I would eat for dinner, rather thank enjoying my 3km walk home.
It’s now been a few years, but I still have vivid memories of that time, and I don’t want to return there– not mentally. So now, the challenge for me is to live a healthy life without obsessing over it. What does that look like? What does it take to be happy? I know from personal experience that simply losing weight doesn’t make one happy. You still are who you are. There are definitely benefits to being healthier. I was able to enjoy hikes that I probably couldn’t do easily now, and I fit into the airline’s economy seats with ease.
It’s important to remember that balance is the key to a healthy life. It’s said time and time again, but my skull seems to be thicker than most others, and that message is taking its time settling in.
One of my first steps on getting healthy has little to do with changing poor eating habits or getting to the gym. In fact, my first step focuses more on the mental and spiritual than the physical. If your mind isn’t in the right place, no new habits you adopt are going to stick. Let’s face it, will power only takes you so far before you crash and burn. You need to be mentally prepared before you can successfully make a long term change.
For me, step one is doing a one-month media fast. I’ve discovered that watching TV and movies tend to breed discontent in my life. I look at the beautiful characters on TV with their fascinating lives, and often forget that what I’m watching is fiction. It’s not real! Of course I know it’s fiction, but there is still some part of me that yearns for a life that is more glamorous than mine. It leads me to forget the brilliant ways in which I lead a blessed life, and causes me to focus on what I don’t have.
Living healthy doesn’t just come down to food and drink, or making it to the gym. It isn’t just about burning calories. This week, sit down and take a hard look at your life. Where do mental changes have to occur before you can make real, positive change in your life?

Compulsive Eating and Getting Help

Changes are looming in my future. I am not a patient person, but in this case, I find myself biding my time and twiddling my thumbs until I find out if this change is to become reality. When changes start coming down the pipe, it’s easy to forget about the things that are currently important, and instead focus on what may be in the future. The thing is, what happens a day, a week, or a month from now, shouldn’t keep you from using today to do what needs to be done today.

As a single woman I her 20s, I know how frustratingly difficult it can be to live healthy, making sure you get the exercise you need, mental stimulation, spiritual support, and making proper decisions in regards to eating food.

It took me about a decade to become a vegetarian and to really find my niche there, occasionally allowing myself to become a social carnivore—eating meat only in certain group settings.

But being a vegetarian doesn’t mean that I’m healthy. In fact, I am often ingesting food that is anything but. Heck, some of my vegan friends mow down on Oreos on a regular basis. Vegan? Yes. Healthy? No. For me, things like chocolate call to me, and I often find myself wondering how I lost an entire evening to sugar.

I keep on vowing to make changes, and I’m sure they’re happening little by little, but sometimes it’s easy to cease to see those changes, and focus only on failure. For example, I’ve drastically reduced my use of artificial sugars and soda consumption. That’s a victory for me. But when I take a look at how far I have to go towards where I want to be, and how often I indulge in self-sabotage, it’s easy to get down on myself.

Clearly making changes in a drastic way doesn’t work for me. Baby steps will still get you to your goal. It just takes a little longer. So, for the next year I’m going to focus on changing my diet and habits in monthly stages. One good, new habit per month.  I’ll track that habit, and even invite you to join me as I make a go of this thing. Month one: acknowledge my compulsive eating trends and find a support group to help me with making a healthy change.

I’m great at making plans, this is practice at follow-through. It’s easy to say the words, not so easy to follow them up with action.

For me, I’ve noticed that food consumption and poor choices have more to do with the emotional and spiritual realm than it does with lack of nutritional education. In fact, I would say that I have at least my Master’s in dieting, if not my PhD. Following food plans only works as long as your one of those people who eat for nutrition’s sake, or are working towards a bigger goal—like running a marathon. But for most of us who struggle with food, it’s more about taming the ugly monster that rears its ugly head when we’re bored, lonely, celebrating, miserable, sick, exciting….really, choose your emotion, or choose all of them. For many people including myself, food is a coping mechanism. Time for me to face up to that fact (again) and work towards finding new coping mechanisms.

First step, acknowledge that food is about so much more than food. I’m enrolling in OA—overeaters anonymous—which recognizes that it’s not just about following a food plan, but sees the spiritual aspect as well. It’s like AA for gluttons. Well, guilty as charged. Add on a slow metabolism, and it’s a struggle that is apparent for the world to see. So, I am going to cancel my optometrist appointment this Wednesday after work and reschedule, because I’ve waited long enough to deal with my compulsive eating. It’s time.

The No-Sugar Challenge, Take 2

I am a sugar junkie. Cookie Monster and I are tight. I love frozen yogurt, ice cream, icing, rhubarb crisp, and candied cashews. While there is nothing inherently wrong about loving these things, it’s no so great when they become a regular part of one’s diet.

One of my friend’s status update on Facebook one night was, “Cake for dinner! Yum.” The next morning? “Cake for breakfast! Yum.” Directly under the status update was a post from one of her friends, “Come on, you’re better than that.” It made me take pause and look at my own life. I haven’t had anyone say those words to me in a long time, “Come on, you’re better than that.” But how often don’t I need to hear them? Too often when I stress about weight loss or food choices, I’m met with sympathy and understanding. The typical refrains are, “I know, it’s hard for all of us.” or “Don’t worry, tomorrow is a new day.” Yes, tomorrow is a new day, and if I say that everyday and then eat a litre of ice cream, I will still grow to be the size of a house. Tomorrow is a new day, but today, right now, is what I have control over. Time to stop making bad choices.

For me, sugar is a trigger food. I eat sugar, and I crave more of everything. It’s a scientific fact that sugar triggers cravings. We live in a sugar laden society. This past week I went to the local food fest and saw all sorts of indulgences– maple bacon, ice cream stuffed crepes with caramel sauce, deep fried mars bars, sweet ginger chicken, frozen yogurt, bubble tea. Notice what these things all have in common? They’re all laden with sugar! And lets not forget the beer gardens and the wine tent. All sugar. It’s to the point where we have made sugar one of our food groups. At no other time in history has the consumption of refined sugars and carbohydrates been so prevalent, Why then do  we wonder that obesity is becoming such a problem?

And don’t trick yourself, all those artificial sweeteners, while not laden with calories, are laden with man-made chemicals to that make them taste sweet. Sadly, these sweeteners trick the body so well, that they too trigger sugar cravings. So while your soda may have zero calories, those chips that you’re craving to pair with it, certainly don’t. And once you’re done, you will crave more, until you look at the bag and think, “Hey, where did all those chips go?” 

So today is the day that I start my no-sugar challenge again. Yes, I could opt for smarter sweetener chocies like Agave (doesn’t cause cravings), or Stevia (a natural, low calorie plant-based extract). But really, why even keep those in my diet? Are they necessary? And if I’m not craving sugar, than why would I eat it?

I’ve tried the no-sugar challenge before, and it was a bit of a trick, and I think I only lasted three days. I’m going to include bananas in the list of things not to eat, because while they are fruit, with nutritional value, they’re also nature’s equivalent to a candy bar.  I’m cutting all refined sugars, as well as artificial sweeteners. No more trips to the bakery!  And this also includes all forms of alcohol– that should be interesting seeing as I work at a brewery. 

So here’s to day one of seven. When I make it to seven, we’ll up the ante to 14. And when I make it to 14, I’ll go for 21.

It’s time for me to put sugar in its place, and that isn’t in my body.

If you’re inspired by this post, I invite you to join me. Maybe for you, sugar isn’t a factor, but what about fatty or salty items? Maybe you need to watch your sodium intake, or lay off that fried food. Let me know what you’re committing to, and we’ll keep each other accountable. Success my friends, lays in community. It always has, and always will.

Suburban Obesity

Today I hopped in my friend’s car and zoomed out to the suburbs to meet a lady about a bike. And no, that’s not code for something. I really miss biking and need a replacement one for the one that got stolen. I arrived in the land of cookie-cutter houses and an overabundance of affluence early, and so stopped at a local store to pick up some groceries. If the sprawling property and house sizes hadn’t already made me feel uncomfortable in their opulence, my trip to the store made me feel absolutely sick. It was like stepping into obesityville. I lie to you not, 90% of the people in the store were not only overweight, but obese. This small city on the edge of the big city is eating itself to death. People have become so entitled that the big house and big yard aren’t enough. Now it’s being followed up with big bodies. After all, bigger is better, right? Wait. No. I have this crazy feeling that there is something wrong with that statement.

Obesity is the disease of the privileged  Many in our culture drive to work, sit at a desk, then sit in their car on the way home from work, and spend the evening noshing in front of the tv while, you guessed it, sitting on the couch or in their recliner. Obesity and slothfulness go hand in hand. And to be frank, it’s disturbing.

For some, their metabolisms simply work slow. For me, I can eat the same amounts as my friends and gain while they maintain. I can exercise and it doesn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve come to the conclusion that no amount of my griping about how life isn’t fair, is going to make me lose weight. It’s true, life isn’t fair. Suck it up princess. Eat less, exercise more. That is the grand secret to weight loss. Is it easy? Not in a culture that is built around food, that’s for sure. But it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon. Instead, those of us who are on the heavier side need to realize that our weight is up to us. We are the ones who stick the food in our mouths. We are the ones who would rather watch another episode of Grey’s than hit up the gym or go for a swim. Then we wondering why we don’t look like all the beautiful, slim people on TV. Why? Well, we know why. Getting your body to look like that and stay that way takes hard work and intentionality. So now, instead of booting up Netflix, I’m going to take the dog for a walk. For snack, I’ll reach for fruit before processed foods. And I will reduce my portion sizes. Plate sizes have increased by 3″ in the past forty years, That’s a 25% increase. No surprise then that our bodies have also probably increased by the much. 

People, it’s time to wake up! Don’t let the screen keep you from living your dream.

(Note: My BMI falls into the overweight category, but I’m working at it one day at a time. Don’t tell me I don’t know what it’s like. I do. I too used to be obese. But at the end of the day, that’s not who I am inside, and I want to make sure my outside reflects the real me.)

A Very Berry Smoothie

The other day I ran into a neighbour while I was out downtown. She too is on a journey towards leading a healthier lifestyle. We chatted for a few minutes about strategies and best practices. She told me that she has a go-to smoothie recipe for her breakfast each morning. Intrigued, I asked her to share. She was delighted to, saying it was fresh and invigorating. Once she gave me the list of ingredients I was a bit sceptical, however I’ll try almost anything once. I thanked her and we both went on our way.

This morning, I got up, drank some water, took the dog for a nice long walk, and came home craving a smoothie. I dug up the recipe my friend had given me and started slicing and dicing my produce into chunks for the blender. The list included apple, celery, cucumber, cantaloupe, fresh ginger root, carrot, and some spinach. I had forgotten to get spinach, so I simply omitted it. I added a scoop of protein powder to the mix, along with some water and whizzed it up. Excited, I grabbed a big glass and poured myself some. I took one sip and had to restrain myself from tossing the lot of it. I must use very fresh ginger, because the taste was overwhelming. I added more water to even out the ginger taste. But even without the bite of the ginger, there was a gritty after texture, and the flavour was, to be frank, less than stellar.

Our culture has somewhere fallen prey to the lie that healthy eating can’t be good eating. And it is a lie. I make smoothies all the time that have great mouth feel, taste, and a healthy for me too. The other evening I was watching a show on TV and one of the characters was doing a detox, and she grimaced with every sip of the smoothie she took. The message? To be healthy, you gotta suck it up, because what you eat and drink is going to be nasty.

Quite frankly, I think the smoothie I made would be better off split into two salads—one fruit and one veggie. Then, both would have been delicious. But the slop I had in my blender was fit for the pigs. But, being the frugal person I am, I couldn’t let all that produce go to waste, so I poured it into two ice cube trays and set it in the freezer. Next time I make frozen yogurt, I’ll chuck in a few of the ice cubes. The taste of the frozen yogurt should cover up the flavour of the smoothie, and I’ll get an extra nutritional boost out of it.

But now, for a basic smoothie recipe that won’t leave you gagging:

1 cup frozen mixed berries

½ cup cranberry juice

½ cup milk or non-dairy alternative

1 scoop of your favourite protein powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whiz up in a blender or food processor until smooth. Sweeten to taste.

2 servings of fruit, one of protein, and one of dairy (or at least half)

Done and done. 

Set Your Space for Success

Prepping Your Space for Weight Loss Success

 

Many people think that their weight loss failures in the past have been due to a lack of determination and will power. Have you ever said to yourself, “I want to lose weight, but I just can’t do it. I’ll never be one of those thin people.” I know that those are words I’ve spoken to myself, and while I could go into a huge post on why those two sentences are total bunk and focus on the wrong things, today, I’m heading in a different direction.

In order to be successful at weight loss, you need to set yourself up for success. You don’t make it to the NHL because you want to. You don’t pen a literary award winner because you think it’s a nice idea. Anyone who has ever had success in any realm of life, has done so by putting down a foundation they can build their success upon. They’ve taken many steps to get to their goals; their first steps of setting themselves up for success, ensure it’s a reality down the road.

In the world of healthy living and weight loss, there are a few areas in which we need to examine our current state of being, and what it should become if we want to shed that weight and live a healthier lifestyle. One of the first, and most important considerations is your space.

Home is a haven, or at least it should be. You come home from a long day at work, and sit down to your favourite relaxation technique, be it reading a book and sipping a cup of tea, like my mother, or jack-hammering out the cement pad behind that house, like my father.  It’s a place of safety and harmony. Temptations and cares of the day go out the window, as you cross that threshold.

Is your home a food haven? Does your kitchen tempt you towards gluttony and indulgence, or does it inspire you towards healthy eating?

Take some time to examine your cupboards, fridge, and freezer. Take a look through and ask, where am I doing well? Where is change needed?

Do some purging this week. If it’s highly processed, downright unhealthy, or some other form of nastiness, chuck it. If you can’t get yourself to garbage food, and it’s still unopened, consider donating it to your local food bank or shelter. Also, watch for your trigger foods. Trigger foods are those foods that set you off on a binge. For some it’s chips, for me, it’s peanut butter and ice cream. The best way to avoid temptation is to simply not have it in the house. Because at the end of a long day, that trigger food will be calling your name and before you know it, you’ll be eating Nutella by the spoonful. And by the time your brain kicks in and realizes what you’re doing, it’ll be too late. Then you’ll just berate yourself until the cows come home, and  liable to say, “Well, I’ve screwed it up anyways. Might as well screw it up some more.” Umm…no. Remember. Tomorrow may be another day, but we all have weak moments, and rather than trashing the whole day, start again as soon as you can. Get yourself in a good space.  Move on. But even better, purge your pantry. Then you can’t binge on that Nutella in the first place.

Be careful of the tricksy foods that make you think they’re healthy, whether because they’re low calorie, or because it sounds like it should be healthy. Examples included the highly processed 100 calorie snack packs, low-sugar yogurts that are sweetened with Splenda or asparatame, pop in general, fruit juice (very high sugar, consume with caution) instant oatmeal, and many forms of granola( which are loaded with sugar and fat). Remember, just because the packaging makes it look healthy, that doesn’t mean it is.

Here’s to a week of healthy eating and good choices!

Homemade Frappe. Adios Starbucks.

Last week I was staring at the lukewarm coffee left at the bottom of my coffee pot, after I’d downed my morning’s caffeine fix. It seemed like a shame to throw it down the drain, but at the same time, what do you do with half a cup or a cup of coffee? You know, that cup that no one takes at a gathering because they don’t want to be rude and finish it off, or because they want to avoid the dregs?

Lately, I’ve been looking at my lifestyle, looking for places to cut the spending, to live more responsibly. Where it comes to my coffee habit, I spend entirely too much money and calories at local coffee houses. Heck, my favourite one knows me by name. Now, I’m all for supporting local, but that stuff gets expensive! Three dollars for an Americano? Really? And then a tip on top of that? You do know that most of your baristas come backed with a B.A. in Philosophy or English and have to pay off their student loans, right? And I know enough about coffee not to be able to stomach the cheap stuff. Drinking Tim Horton’s is like sacrilege. And Starbucks? Why not just burn those beans a little more for me, then it’ll taste even more like char. But I digress.

During the summer, I’m a sucker for those cold iced frappes. And add a bit of chocolate to it? I’m in heaven. But once again, it’s easy to spend five bucks on your drink.

As I started at that last bit of coffee in my coffee pot, inspiration struck. I grabbed out a ice cube tray and poured in the coffee. Then I threw it in the freezer. This morning, I was craving a pre-lunch snack, and was also feeling a little warm. So, I didn’t what any specialty coffee loving person would do. I pulled half a dozen cubes from the freezer, threw them in my food processor with 2 tbsp reduced sugar chocolate milk mix, and added half a cup Silk Coconut Milk. On the whole I find that Silk’s milk alternative run a little too thick for my liking, but in something like a frappe, it works a charm.

After whizzing that together for a minute or so, I had a lovely morning mix, that cost me cents, not dollars. And the best part is, I didn’t have to say, “I’ll have a tall, almond milk, half sweet, skinny, no whip, mocha frappe please.” 

How did I let this happen AGAIN?

This morning I stood and looked at myself in the mirror. I poked the pudge around my middle. A slight frown appeared on my face, my eyebrows scrunched together in dismay. How did I come to this again? It’s not even like this is the first time around! I’ve tried losing weight for years, and finally a few years back, I lost it and kept it off for two years. Now, as I look in the mirror, all I see is the old pudgy me. And I feel disappointed in myself. I want to be so much more than this. I want to be so much more than someone who is controlled by food.

Here’s the rub. I know what to do and how to do it, but getting from head knowledge to action has been too much of a jump for me to make in the past six months. Now, I am finally starting to get to that point where I say, “Enough is enough. If you want it, do it. If not, quit complaining.” The truth is, I do want it. But do I want it enough?

Last night the downstairs tenant invited me down for tea and rhubarb crisp. It sounded enticing, so despite the fact that I’d already munched my way through my entire day, I went do and had a healthy portion anyways. After one bite, I knew that this crisp was less than memorable, and yet, rather than setting it off to the side, I cleared my small bowl of all food remnants. Why? Because it was there. I wasn’t hungry, it didn’t taste excellent, and yet I still ate the whole thing. Alright. Time for a change.

So here I sit this morning, typing at my computer. I’ve had a healthy breakfast—one of the only meals of the day where I find this simple to do—and now begin to contemplate what I really want out of life.

For many people, they struggle with getting enough exercise, whether it be outside, or getting to the gym. For me, that’s not such a struggle. I sure could use some weight training and a bit of cardio, but I walk at least 5km a day, simply to and from work. Other days its much further. I also enjoy biking. But I’m sick of lugging around all this extra weight  on my frame. It’s absurdly hard on my body—my heart, my joints, my lungs. 

For me, the real change needs to happen in portion control. Most of my food choices are healthy, I simply eat too much. Along with my desire to stop eating so much and get back into a healthy weight while maintaining a healthy state of mind, are a few other things that have also fallen by the wayside.

I used to write. Anyone who has been following this blog for the past few months knows that lately my writing has been sporadic at best, non-existant at worst.

I used to take time to serve others. Now I volunteer only once every other week.

I used to take time in the morning for meditation and reflections. That’s gone the way of the dodo.

So there are a few things that I’m looking at changing in my life. However, before change can come, I need to know what I am working towards. So without further ado, another list. Yes, I love lists, and I make a lot of them. So here she is:

 

Changes I am Working Towards:

 

1)      Weight-loss/Healthy Eating while maintaining a Healthy Mindset

1. Current weight 190.8 (on a 5’11 frame). Goal weight: 160.
2. First 5% = 1.5 lbs – Did you know that even a five percent weight loss has significant health benefits for your body? And 1.5 lbs? I can do that!
3. Reduce my fat, sodium, and refined sugar consumption
4. Keep a food journal, so that I can tell what I’m eating and where the empty calories lie
5. Make food-free zones in my house—like my bedroom.
6. Commit to distraction free eating. Eat with intentionality, focus on your food. You’ll leave the table feeling satisfied, rather than wondering where all your food went.
7. Eat slower. I am a scarfer by nature. My entire family eats quickly. By slowing my food intake, I will give my body time to register when I am full.
8. Stop eating when I’m full
9. Don’t eat out of stress or boredom. Stress= drink tea or water. Boredom= find something to do.

2)      Return to Morning Meditation

1. For me this means a return to doing my devotions and reading my Bible on a regular basis—it takes me out of my head and makes me realize that there is more to this world than just my tiny little sphere, my little mental space. It also inspires me to make a positive influence in this world. Goodness knows it needs more of that.
2. Relaxation—I am notorious for being unable to just sit and be. But I think it’s a good practice. Let go of the cares of the day, forgive, reflect, clear your mind. Move on.

3)      Write!

1. Despite the fact that I’ve be remiss from my writing as of late, I really do love to write. Even now, I am looking at the clock and saying, “Where did the time go?” Writing is a great release for me, and a way to connect with those I have never met and may never meet. It is a way to find common ground in a world that seems fractured. It is a way to parse through thoughts and then get feedback. To write or not to write? It’s not really a question.

 

If you find yourself wanting to start your own journey, I encourage you to first sit down and contemplate what you’re working towards. Then set yourself small goals. Work towards them one by one. It’s much easier to handle tasks that are broken down into pieces. What may seem like climbing a mountain, is really a matter of just being willing to start putting one foot in front of the other. And the view from the top? Astounding.