I'm Back!

So, I've returned from my hiatus of a few weeks. I'm nice and relaxed and stress free after the cruise, but now it's back to reality - where your room isn't cleaned twice a day and all your meals aren't provided for you, where you can't just hop into the spa with a daiquiri every afternoon!

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Oh well. I read a good book on the cruise called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson. There were so many practical tips in there for living a peaceful, stress-free life but there were a few things that hit home with me the most.

- "Wherever you go, there you are," as they say. If you're a person that is always wanting what you don't have and postponing happiness until you get or achieve certain things, chances are that when you get those things you still won't be satisfied and you will want something else. You will still have the grass-is-greener mentality. We have to learn to be happy RIGHT NOW, just the way things are; be able to draw happiness from our day to day lives - the journey itself. And the thing is, you never know what's going to happen to you tomorrow. Your life could be taken from you without warning and I want to know that I'm living my life like it's the last day I'll have to live it. Just really appreciating everything I have.

- Sometimes, life just isn't fair. People don't always act the way we want them to, respond the way we want them to, life doesn't always go according to plan. That's just the nature of life itself. You gotta roll with the punches, I guess. Just take life as it comes in an accepting way. And don't sweat the small stuff.

There were so many other important things to learn from reading that book so definitely go and get a copy. It brings much needed perspective and is a good book to be able to have a flick through when life is throwing you a curve ball - or you're just feeling in a shitty mood.

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A good thing to remember is that there is no one way of eating (or living, for that matter) that works for everyone. A lot of people have found remarkable success with the paleo diet, yet others need to be more restrictive due to food intolerances. Some people find that being vegetarian or vegan works for them. Others eat whatever they feel like and try to pay attention to when they are satisfied so they don't overeat. Some people swear by "clean eating" or the raw food diet. Well, if it works for them, good on them. While I think everyone in the whole world would be a lot better off without wheat and vegetable oils in their diets, what people choose to do with the rest of their diet is up to them, and up to their body really.

I've realised today that, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" At the moment, I feel really good with a lot of energy (unless I have too much sugar or chocolate, then I get a headache and lethargic) so I don't think there's a need, at the moment at least, to try to cut out dairy. I mean, at the moment my Hashimoto's doesn't seem to be affecting me - I imagine it like a latent beast and one day I may find that my thyroid hormones aren't functioning as optimally as they should and maybe that would be a day that I would need to consider other options. But hopefully that day won't have to come as I think not having gluten, grains and vegetable oils gets rid of the major sources of inflammation in the body. Like I said, you just have to take each day as it comes.

It has been hard to get back into my normal routine after being on the cruise, as I was so used to just eating desserts all day with abandon and not worrying about it. Today I bought a whole block of white chocolate and after eating two rows, managed to get myself to stop. I wrapped the rest of it up in foil, in 2-square individual servings. I'm hoping that will help me to consume only one serving per day (or at a time). I've also been thinking I need to plan ahead more with food, and have broader snack and breakfast and lunch ideas. I'd like to have more vegetables in my diet. I'm going to make some nut and seed crackers to have with guacamole - I'll post pics after. Devilled eggs are another good option for a portable snack to take to work. 

Back to Basics

I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been so busy. I just quit my second job though so I should have 11 hours more spare time every week :)

I've just started reading Linda Bacon's book "Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about your Weight" and so far it's been enlightening. She has a similar philosophy to Dr Rick Kausman.

From reading the first chapter or so I have enjoyed her emphasis on how the body is so good at self regulating and we should trust it and let it do it's thing, essentially. How do we do that? Well, I haven't got to part 2 yet but I'm assuming it will be along the lines of listening to our bodies, eating when we are hungry, eating what we feel like, and stopping when full.

I actually had to remind myself about how there's no point trying to follow some sort of eating plan set out in a magazine or whatever because it's just going against our natural instincts. I want to be able to just eat from day to day without needing to write it down or keep track of it in a book. That's the ultimate goal I guess - to be able to just eat naturally/normally without worrying about it or feeling guilty. To know instinctively whether you feel like eating or not and trusting yourself to act in accordance with that.

Today I walked past someone eating from a fruit platter and I just thought straight away, "Mmm, I could go some of that!" I haven't eaten much fruit lately and it was my body's way of telling me it needed more - I didn't need some magazine or health professional to tell me to eat 2 pieces of fruit per day. Furthermore, I've been feeling lately that my muscles are a bit weak and I want to increase my strength purely for day to day tasks and general fitness. See - I didn't need someone to tell me all the health benefits there are to exercise and how I'll feel more energised bla bla bla - I just felt myself that I wanted and needed to do it.

To be honest the thought of just eating day to day and not writing it down or keeping track of it scares me slightly. What if I overeat and don't realise? But that's illogical - as long as I'm not constantly getting feelings of being overfull or lethargic then I'm probably doing just fine.

I just want to let go of it all. All the constant thoughts about food and weight. I'm going to trust in myself and my body and hope for the best.

Putting Away the Scales.

I reread the first few chapters of "If not dieting...then what?" last night and it reminded me of a few things.

First, that restricting what you eat actually makes you binge and crave food more. All the more reason not to fall for the lure of fad dieting, and not to engage with friends or co-workers who say things like "Oh I can't eat this chocolate cake, I'm being good," etc.

Secondly I've forgotten lately to listen to when my body is hungry (listen metaphorically). I'm going to make a huge effort to focus on that for the next few days, and try to only eat when I'm between 2 and 5 on the empty-full scale.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I've decided it's time to put away the scales once and for all. I had gotten quite obsessive, weighing myself every morning and sometimes at other times of the day. When I lost a couple hundred grams I felt amazing but whenever I'd gone up slightly it really brought me down, even though I tried not to let it to and I knew it was stupid. Sometimes that was the trigger for feeling a bit down, to then having a not-so-great day in terms of eating awareness, to just feeling crap overall, and then going into an off focus period.

I think reducing off focus periods is one of the most important things we need to do so to reduce the risk I am going to stop weighing myself so obsessively. Instead I will record changes in feelings, energy, how my tummy feels inside, and how my clothes fit to indicate how I am going. Maybe once every month or two could be a good amount - or just whenever I go to the doctor for a checkup.

Actually, in less than 2 weeks I am going travelling in the UK and Europe with a friend for 5 and a half weeks! So I guess now is a good time to stop weighing myself because I won't have any opportunity while I'm overseas anyway.

Which brings me to the idea of my next post - how I will cope when overseas with maintaining my non dieting principles and healthy vales. Until next time!

Back from the land of the lost...

It's been a few days since I posted, mainly because I was going through an off focus period. I've discovered somewhat of a pattern with myself. I go for two or three weeks doing quite well, eating with awareness, staying active, feeling very positive and energetic. Then something, such as a low mood or something disappointing happening, will cause me to fall off the wagon, so to speak. That usually lasts four or five days until something triggers me to realise again what my values are and get me back in the right frame of mind. So I guess for me it's a bit of a "two steps forward, one step back" thing...but that is still moving forward one step at a time! I was given this quote by my friend Janelle:

"No one completely eliminates all their 'unhelpful habits'. The reality is most of us will repeat them again and again, as we travel along the path of self-improvement. Whilst there are countless articles and books where the authors claim that it takes, 21 or 28 or 35 or 42 days to establish new habits there is no scientific data to back these figures. They may sound good, but it is doubtful if they have any validity. So when setting out to replace unhelpful habits with more helpful ones, let's be realistic and acknowledge we are fallible human beings - and particularly when under stress, we are more likely to fall back into our old patterns of behaviour. And when that happens, there's no point in beating yourselves up (If beating up was a good way to get rid of 'bad habits' we should all be perfect, human beings by now shouldn't we? At those times when we relapse, we need to accept our disappointment, show ourselves some compassion, reconnect with our values and start again (and again and again and again.)"   Russ Harris 2008


I have found this quote really helpful and I especially like the line "particularly when under stress, we are more likely to fall back into our old patterns of behaviour". When I thought about this, it really made sense because if we are stressed about something we focus more of our energy on that and have less time for our other things. I guess our brains just follow the path of least resistance and go back to the old habits because we don't have time to think about it. 


I mean, despite the fact that you would think that "not dieting" is easy (and it is at times, it seems so simple and right), it is still hard because the reasons we eat when we aren't hungry are many and varied, and tied to emotional and psychological issues which I guess we have to force ourselves to face. 


So I am not going to bother beating myself up because clearly it doesn't help. The only thing I disagree with from the quote is the idea of "starting again and again and again". Actually, I think we are just on a constant journey and when bad things happen we are just overcoming an obstacle in the path. To me the thought of starting over and over is tiresome and depressing so I prefer to think that, I don't know, maybe I veered off the beaten path and took a scenic detour, and now I'm back on the main path again - and further ahead than I was before!

What are my healthy values and beliefs?

When I discovered the non-dieting way back in April, I saw the light. It was such an epiphany for me, a change in outlook and a realisation of why I was having so much trouble. Now, after reading Dr Rick's book, learning from that and my subsequent experiences, I live by the following:

• Listen to your body and eat what you feel like. Gradually you'll realise that most of the time you will want healthy food.
• Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're satisfied.
• Don't ever deprive yourself.
• Be aware of your non hungry eating and the reasons for it.
• Be active in whatever way is possible and enjoyable to you: any activity is good
• Speak gently to yourself!
• Acknowledge all small successes and changes in behaviour because they are the building blocks to lifelong changes in behaviour
• Chuck out the guilt

Of course a lot of that is described and explained in more detail and makes a lot more sense in Dr Rick Kausman's book (which I can't recommend enough!) 

I am not perfect and I go off focus now and again; I'm still on my journey but I am getting there and these values and beliefs are making my life better and happier and healthier.