Status Report

Nothing ever goes away

until it teaches us what we need to know.

                                                              -Pema Chadron

 

 

The first few weeks of the New Year have gone by in a flash. I have been really busy with work and trying to squeeze in some last minute fun with the fam before my kiddos headed back to school. But now that they are back in school I am ready to spend more time with you and this crazy journey.

 

First up, I just want to tell you all how much I have been enjoying my "A Year Without Scales" challenge. I know that I am getting smaller, not because the number on the scale is changing (I haven't been on the scale since the end of December), but because my clothes are looser! Pants that used to give me a lovely "muffin top" now rest nicely on my hips. My shirts are baggier and I have so much more energy. 

 

It has been hard not to climb on the scale after noticing those small changes, but I have resisted so far. I don't think I have lost enough that anyone will really notice yet, but I'm still truckin' and so hopefully soon. 

 

I have been reading a wonderful book by Deepak Chopra called "What are you hungry for?". The whole premise of the book is to ask yourself what you are truly hungry for. If you are filling a hole in your heart with food there is no way that you will ever be satisfied. If you are eating because you are bored, again you will not find the satisfaction that you need in the food you are eating. So now, before I eat I scan my body to make sure that I am really eating for fuel instead of eating just to eat and I'm also stopping before I become too full.

 

I have also been making small changes that will lead me to my ultimate goal. But with these changes I am also giving myself some wiggle room. A friend posted a FABULOUS article that has really stuck with me. It was all about how resolutions set us up for failure from the very beginning. The author talks about his own goals and he states that had they been resolutions he would have pushed himself past the breaking point and ultimately would have failed. With resolutions we either "do" or we "don't" and as soon as we "don't" we throw our hands up in the air and give up. By having an ultimate goal in mind and working towards that goal every day it isn't so black and white. 

 

I've broken my changes down to small weekly tweeks in my routine. During the first week of the New Year I gave up caffeinated soda (cold turkey). Last week I was more mindful of my eating. This week I am getting back into a good yoga routine. With all of the craziness that has been going on at work, it has been hard to squeeze it in, but now that I'm not drinking caffeinated soda I am waking up on my own around 5 or 6 every morning which gives me more than enough time to squeeze in some yoga. 

 

With these tweeks I know that at any time I may not be perfect with them, but just because I am not perfect today doesn't mean I won't be perfect tomorrow, and with the big picture in mind, one non-perfect day doesn't need to derail my progress. 

 

Lastly, I have a clear picture in my mind of who I will be at the end of 2014. I heard an interesting piece on NPR not too long ago that spoke to how our brains receive messages. One of the hardest things to remember is that our brain speaks a foreign language. The person who was interviewed described being stranded in a foreign land and needing to find a restroom. If you don't speak the language you could ask someone over and over where the bathroom was and you may never find what you are looking for, but sketch a quick picture of a toilet and you would quickly be pointed in the right direction. So instead of saying words to your brain about how you want to change your life get a clear picture of how you look, act and feel in that new life and you brain can be your biggest ally.