"What I tell people is that a day is a day, a meal is a meal, a moment is a moment. Don’t let the fact that you did well at breakfast, or lunch or for one whole day overwhelm you into worrying that you have to live up to some standard you’ve established for yourself. Pat yourself on the back for your healthy behavior and move on to the next moment and then the next moment after that. Leave each meal behind when you leave the table. Start afresh with the next meal. Know what you can do in the moment. Stop thinking about next week, next month, next year. Concentrate on the now, and if you do happen to slip at one meal, pick yourself up and leave it behind. Move on. You have the power to make a different choice the next time. It really is about taking it one moment at a time."
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“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
The Bible instructs us to treat our bodies as temples because they are where the Holy Spirit dwells but to honest if your anything like me I’m sure you have tried your very best to do this but as we are all humans, we fail at many things including this! The good news is we get many opportunities to start fresh over and over again. That being said, there are simple things we can do to work on our health and eating habits in order to do the very best we can to follow God’s commandment.
I know, I know it’s easier said than done but with patience, practice and a bit of will power we can develop better eating habits.
We make thousands of choices everyday, most we probably don’t even realize we are doing because they have become something of a habit but in time habits can be broken.
By working on the way we think and our daily habits, we can begin to focus on changing the way we eat and how we think about and relate to food.
Getting our bodies and minds to sync together isn’t the easiest thing but it can be done. Have you ever heard the saying that it takes 21 days to change or break a habit? Well if you will, apply that same concept to building new habits. If we start to do something everyday eventually it will become part of our normal routine and you won’t even think twice when doing it. Take your current eating habits: do you eat when stressed, lonely, bored, depressed, in front of the T.V. or late at night? Anyone of these situations is a bad habit that can be changed with a little mindfulness.
I have always been told to keep track of when I eat more and then review my eating habits and emotions that came along with it. Of course I thought that keeping track would never work or that it was just a waste of time. Then one day I actually tried it and I found that I eat more when I’m bored and watching T.V. I also tend to eat more on the weekends. By creating a few notes and keeping track of what I ate and when, I was able to get a better understanding of what I needed to do to start making changes. Try making a list of your eating habits and emotions before, during and after the meal. Focus on what time you eat and crave more and how much your eating. Do you eat it all or stop when you feel satisfied? If you don’t have time to do this for a full week then keep track for at least a full day just to get some sort of an idea. This will help you to make changes in your eating habits and in your life.
Here are a few other tips that I will post more on later. Try to incorporate these healthy habits into your diet:
- Moderation, stop before you eat the entire meal. cut everything in half an only eat that, save the rest for tomorrows lunch.
- Variety, try to eat a bit of fruits, veggies, proteins, meats and breads during the day.
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, oh yeah did I mention hydrate? Not only will it help to keep you full but also it will cleanse your body, help your skin and so many other benefits.
- Chew your food fully and take time to taste it!
- Eat without distractions, it takes approximately 15 -25 minutes for our brains to realize that we are full so eat slowly and without being distracted.
Women struggle with weight, self esteem, false body images and so many other aspects that we can become mentally drained and want to just give up!
None of these things are good for us; they do nothing for our souls, for our selves, and for our esteem. These are all self destructive behaviors that can hurt our physiological characteristics and even lower our I.Q’s, in general negative thoughts hurt our overall health. One negative thought normally leads to another, and soon your mind is being bashed with wave after wave of negative thoughts. What happens to a little boat sitting in the middle of an ocean that is being tossed around like a rag doll? Eventually it can be destroyed against such powerful forces! Your body is getting that exact same treatment from the negative thoughts you’re constantly having! You have become your own worst enemy!
Ladies, this is no way to show love for yourself, we have power over the way we think, over how we see life and ultimately staying healthy can be something we all achieve with the right frame of mind! Though we can’t always control certain factors in our lives that affect our health we can learn to control our thoughts. If you believe you can’t do something, then you probably will never even try. I have heard from so many women who claim they couldn’t do something and then when they were forced to or they gave it a try, they end up surprising themselves with their own inner strength and power, power that they never really knew existed!
So how do you turn negative thoughts into positive life altering ones? Good question!
There are many steps that I will help you identify so that you recognize a negative thought right from the start. Soon you will become an expert in checking your thought against the reality of the situation and ultimately learn to readjust them so that our thoughts start to become more balanced. You can create thoughts that enable you to become your own best friend and as your thoughts become more and more positive, your stress levels will lower and your health will improve, these are all forms of cognitive-behavior.
We are super stars, we just need to find that light and let it shine!
