Tag Sheila Granger

Something I’ve been asked a lot recently is “are you worried about the coronavirus?”

Worried? Nope.

Mindful? Yes.

Here’s why…

Worry pretends to be useful — but it never is.

Worry causes us to stockpile ridiculous amounts of loo roll.

Worry causes us to sleep terribly, so we reach for sugary foods the next day as a pick-me-up.

Worry causes our bodies to flood with stress hormones which leads to comfort eating.

Worry is a trickster.

It tricks us by pretending to be useful. But it isn’t.

I feel you.

There’s so much going on out there that we could worry about—media articles, politicians, the stock market, job losses—that we can’t control.

Worry distracts us from what we can control.

We need to come back to what you can control.

Like…

choosing how we show up energetically in our lockdown bubble (remember, the children follow our lead)

choosing to savour chocolate (not eat the whole bar)

it’s a choice.

And it starts with recognising when worry is tricking you.

If you’re ready to swap worry with confidence and take control of comfort eating, why not join us in the free Facebook group ‘Peace With Food’.

Has the world’s fear and panic started to inject itself into your covid-19 self-isolation bubble?

If it has, I feel you.

I’ll be honest.

Even though I’m a weight loss hypnotherapist, my eating habits – my healthy eating habits – went out the window there for a couple of days.

#COMFORTFOOD

And, I’ve been sneaking some extra “comfort food” treats into my shopping basket too.

Mostly wine and chocolate. Forget about loo roll!!! Wine and chocolate for me!!!

Now, my tip for this week is an oldy but a goody.

This tip never goes out of fashion, especially trying times, like these ones.

The tip is this…

BE KIND.

Be kind to the person at the supermarket who thinks food limits don’t apply to them.

Be kind to the kids who’re bickering because they’ve been cooped up all day.

Right now, even if it doesn’t seem like it, everyone is doing the best they can.

And that includes you, darling.

Be kind, be compassionate, go gently.

It’s the only way through this.

Now if you’re struggling with stress eating or the coronavirus has you slipping into helpful patterns of overeating – I’d like to support you.

I’m running a 5-day Thriving During Lockdown online retreat.

It’s FREE.

It’s online.

And it’ll give you the support and the tools you need to control your emotional eating, feel good about yourself, and stay healthy, happy….sane… through the ‘lockdown’ and beyond.

I look forward to supporting you through this.

And until then, be kind. x

Nothing takes the spring out of our step more quickly than a critical comment made by the wrong person at the wrong time.

How ironic then that the meanest person that we will ever encounter is the one living in our own heads!

You guessed it; today we’re talking about how to tame your inner critic.

The inner mean girl leads to weight gain…

Many clients share that day after day they crucify themselves with de-motivating, nit-picking, meanness.

Which sadly, leads to emotional eating, overeating, comfort eating as a form of numbing the pain.

Hello, vending machine and that third helping of chocolate cake.

Well, don’t we?!

Speaking to you as a reformed emotional eater, you need to start having a meaningful conversation with your inner critic.

Taking control…

Taming your inner critic is something we explore in detail in the Lighten up programme.

But the first step, and something you can do today, is to recognise that are NOT the conversation that is going on in your mind.

This is a light-bulb moment for many women.  To realise that just because there’s a conversation going on in your head –you don’t have to participate in the conversation nor even listen to it.

Awareness is key

The next time your head fills with disapproving voices, I encourage you to have the awareness. Recognise what’s going on.

“Okay, I’m beating myself up, I’m being mean and disapproving of myself.” So that’s the awareness.

And then, simply say, “next, please”.

“Next, please!”

Just because there’s a voice in your head doesn’t mean you have to listen to its pontifications!!!

You wouldn’t bother listening to a music track you don’t enjoy, so why listen to a voice in your head that you don’t enjoy?

So just like you would with that music track. Press fast forwards, or mentally say ‘next please,’ and you’ll be amazed at how that thought shifts away.

Yes, this practice.

And yes, this takes patience.

But it works!

If you’d like more mindset tips for feeling confident around food, I’d love you to join me in my free Facebook group called Peace With Food.

If there was a simple everyday activity you were doing at home — which was potentially setting your daughter up for future weight issues — you’d want to know about it, wouldn’t you?

You need to STOP doing this in front of your daughters

If you’re a mum, I strongly encourage you to throw away your scales.

(Or, if you really,y really, reeeeeeally feel you need to weigh yourself, only weigh yourself when your kids can’t see you).

Why would I toss my scales?

Sure, it sounds harmless, like a small thing but think about it.

When your child sees you on the scales and hears you despairing due to number on the scale what message are you reinforcing?

You’re teaching the idea that the number is mega IMPORTANT.

You’re teaching that she has to look to that number for validation of her loveliness and good enoughness.

And chances are she too will become a slave to that number before she’s even out of her primary school uniform.

Little eyes watch everything

Your daughter is watching everything you do — even if she pretends she isn’t!

We need to teach our children to trust their bodies – to nourish them and listen to them – not be a slave to the number on the scale.

So please, toss the scales.

If you’d like to learn more encouraging and helpful ways to measure progress — which you can share with your daughter, you might be interested in Lighten Up. It’s my six-week online Virtual Gastric Hypnosis programme. Doors open in April. Head on over to Lighten Up for more information.

Isn’t the virtual gastric band only for larger people?

It’s a question I’m asked all the time.

I have to admit, that was my assumption too when I trained as a clinical hypnotherapist nearly 10 years ago.

I assumed I’d be working with larger lasses.

With Gastric Band Surgery you require a specific BMI.

And that’s simply because the gastric band surgery was developed for people who are considered technically morbidly obese.

With Virtual Gastric Band …

The beautiful thing about the VIRTUAL gastric band is that it’s effective whether you’re carrying a lot more weight than you’d like to be carrying.

Or, whether you fit your skinny jeans but you’re tired of the food obsessions, the cravings and the sugar addiction, for example.

So the VGB is open to you irrespective of your physical size. It’s more about where you’re at emotionally and mentally.

The virtual gastric band resets so much of the craziness we’ve learned about food and our bodies – irrespective of what your current shape and size is.

If you’re looking for long-term sustainable weight loss, the virtual gastric band hypnosis can help.

C’mon over to Lighten Up.