Category Physical

How often do you tell yourself you need to “lose the weight before you find your  life?”

It’s a very, very common form of self-sabotage, especially for us women.

Now the way it works is this.

“When I’m slimmer, I’ll

…go to my school reunion…find the courage to ask for that promotion…I’ll have the energy to play with my grandkids….go to the beach… leave the lights on ….

So you, darling.

Where are you putting your life on hold until “I’m slimmer”?

And in the meantime, you’re waiting. You’re waiting, and you’re waiting some more.

All the while you’re waiting, you’re bored, you’re stressed, you’re frustrated.

That’s right! It’s not a salad that we snack on when we’re bored or frustrated!

Can you see that waiting for the slimmer you, is the perfect way to stay stuck in your life?

What if you stopped waiting and just started doing?

What if you decided that you don’t need to be slim to ask for that promotion, to go to the beach, to go to your school reunion, to play with your grandkids, to spice it up in the bedroom?

All of a sudden, your life is full, your soul is nourished, and you don’t need your mouth to be full get that dose of pleasure.

After a while, you notice that you’re getting closer and closer to being your happy shape and size—because you’ve stopped waiting and you’ve started doing.

So get started today.

Pick one thing you’ve been waiting on and go start doing it.

I hope you found that useful and I look forward to seeing you next with another making peace with food tip.

How often do you buy foods for the ‘grandkids’ … and as soon as you get home, you demolish what you bought for the grandkids, yourself?

It’s okay. You’re human!

What I want you to start doing is stack the deck in your favour.

Here’s exactly what I mean.

If you’re at the grocery store and you are faced with biscuits or chocolates or crisps – whatever it is that you KNOW you will eat the entire package of – then don’t buy them.

Don’t buy them.

Don’t buy them.

Leave the biscuits, the crisps and the chocolates on the shelf. It’s okay, somebody else will buy them. They will have a happy home with someone else.

Why sabotage yourself?

Why “test yourself”?

So stack the deck in your favour.

Leave the foods that you know you’ll be triggered, leave them in the grocery store.

Instead, support yourself.

Why make things HARDER on yourself than they need to be?

This week’s tip is less of a tip and more of a nudge in the bum with regard to your health and wellbeing.

You see, I recently had some emergency dental work done.

Seriously not fun. (In the mouth or in the wallet!!!!)

But here’s the thing….

The emergency dental work was not a surprise.

I’d had tooth pain for months. But I kept soldiering on, I just kept on going, ignoring the pain – because that’s what we women do isn’t it.

We just keep on, keeping on.

So this is my nudge in your bum.

Where are you procrastinating on your health?

Where are you sweeping your health needs under the carpet?

Maybe you’re telling yourself that you can’t financially afford to get the treatment you know you need – and yet you know darn well that if one of your children required the exact same treatment, you’d pay for it in an instant.

Perhaps you’re telling yourself you don’t have the time to take off work, that it’s too hard to schedule.

But let me tell you this – when the medical emergency arises, your schedule will be completely blown out of the water, and you’ll be wishing you’d taken action earlier.

So – let me ask you again – where is it that you’ve been delaying putting your own needs first?

Maybe for you, it’s a nagging tooth pain. Is it a recurring back pain? Is there an annual examination you know you’re late on?

What is it that you need to go and get sorted before it gets any worse?

Perhaps you’ve noticed a shortness of breath as you climb the stairs? Maybe you have a nagging fear that your doctor is going to diagnose you as being borderline diabetic?

What is it that your body is telling you that you are ignoring?

I get it. Sometimes good health can feel expensive either financially or time-wise.

But here’s the truth: without our health, there is no wealth. Our health is our wealth.

My very expensive dentist bill and rescheduling several days worth of clients, all could’ve been avoided if I’d dealt with the situation.

Less soldiering on and more looking after yourself!

So please, let this be your wakeup call. If you need permission to put yourself first and to start taking care of your needs…let me give you permission today.

This week’s making peace with food tip is all about moving your body.

If the very thought of getting off the sofa, and slipping into something Lycra is enough to make you retreat back to the sofa, this tip is for you!

A recent study has shown that overweight women take 2,000 fewer steps per day than their happy-weight counterparts.

That number is worth repeating…

… 2,000 steps is what separates people who are happy with their shape and size vs those who are not.

Like to know the distance of 2,000 steps?

Four city blocks! How encouraging is that number?

Four city blocks stand between you and your happy shape and size.

We’re not talking about extreme exercise here.

We’re not even talking about having to buy a special Lyrca outfit!!!

We’re simply talking about good old-fashioned, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other walking.

And there’s no need to do all the steps all in one go.

For example, attempting to to do a 5km hill walk after a long period of zero movement is an excellent way to make yourself retreat back to the sofa.

So start well within your capacity, make your goal so tiddler small super small that you can’t help but achieve it.

Your body will thank you for it.

I hope you found that helpful. I look forward to seeing you next week with another Making Peace with Food tip.

Today’s tip is about one of the most common mistakes we women make when we decide to drop a dress size.

It’s the “I Want It RIGHT NOW” syndrome.

We, humans, are funny creatures. Despite having thought about losing weight for months, maybe even years, now that we’ve actually decided to take action – well, we want it r.i.g.h.t. T.H.I.S m.i.n.u.t.e!

We’re impatient. We’re needy. We’re afraid.

Sadly, having the rushrushrush mindset will hobble you, before you even start your new regime.

For example, we go from having avoided all forms of exercise for months, to exercising like a crazy woman several times a day.

Or, we go from regularly overindulging at the dinner table on any, and everything to drinking dull-as-dishwater diet shakes that promise “5kgs lost while you sleep”.

Mad at ourselves

Sounds crazy but this ‘rushing’ is just another word for fear. When we’re impatient for results, we’re often mad at ourselves.

We’re mad for not “starting sooner”.

We’re mad for being “my age” and still struggling with this weight thing.

We’re mad for not having no willpower or having “lost time” in the past on failed diets.

We feel like we have to “catch up” because there’s no time to waste.

When we rush our results, the process becomes joyless – something to be endured – it’s painful and unsustainable. Who wants that?

Result = three months later you’re even heavier than before……..and even madder than last time.

So if you have decided that dropping a dress size is what you want – do yourself a favour – and give yourself the gift of time. Do it slowly. Focus on the process, not the result.

Go gently.

Go patiently.

Go kindly.

The weight didn’t arrive overnight. It will not shift overnight.

But if you allow yourself the gift of time and keep on keeping on, you will become the shape and size you choose to be.