Posts Tagged ‘kitchen’
Who loves ya, baby?
One early morning while sucking down my coffee like it was oxygen, I looked out of my kitchen window, down into the courtyard of the apartment building across the way. I noticed a man placing a box with a small plant into the sunlight. At first, I assumed he was doing some gardening. But then noticed he left the box in the sunlight and had walked away. Upon further examination (AKA “not minding my own business and staring out the window”), I saw that the small plant was actually a beautifully maintained Bonsai Tree.
A few days later, I saw the same man once again placing the box with the Bonsai into the sunlight, then leaving it there for a couple hours. I now deducted that after allowing it to soak up some Vitamin D, this man then takes his carefully cared for plant back into his home. (Who says I couldn’t run a detective agency?)
Seeing this man take care of his Bonsai Tree (which is clearly thriving) from time to time warms my heart—and it’s a sight I look forward to seeing when I’m lucky enough to notice this ritual in motion. Whether witnessing the man placing the tree into the sunlight or even just seeing the tree already in its spot fills my heart with joy. This man’s beautiful ritual reminds me of the level of care I need to make sure I’m giving to myself. And this is also the same level of care you might want to be giving to yourself, as well.
When we care for something, it thrives. This can be seen in my neighbor’s Bonsai Tree or even in the happiness level of my dog, Latte. It’s therefore important that we give the same kind of love and care to ourselves—as well as our health-minded goals. This might initially seem like common sense. But often, when we discuss our goals with others, we frame things in the negative: “I haven’t been able to do this” or “I am such a loser when it comes to that.”
When people I know tell me they need to lose weight, I can often detect a degree of self-loathing in their tone. I can relate—knowing how much I hated myself when I weighed over 450 pounds.
This disdain for ourselves is an approach we’ve been taught is beneficial and will likely facilitate change. The thinking being, “You hate how you look, so do something about it.” But after learning to love myself at any size (both before and after I took off 250 pounds of excess weight), I am grateful to pass along what I’ve learned. If we actually love and care for ourselves — even as we are now in this very moment (no matter how many pounds overweight or how far from any goal)—we become more likely to encounter faster success.
If you know a good friend or family member that’s facing a challenge, you want to help them. But if it’s someone you have distaste for, you don’t really care if they succeed in their quest or not. Well, time for you to think of yourself in a more affectionate way and afford yourself the very same degree of care that my neighbor gives his Bonsai Tree or that I give my dog.
Do something kind for yourself today—throughout this day and everyday. And remind yourself why you’re a supermodel (which, for the record, you are). Suddenly, if you’re wanting to lose weight or reach any goal you’ve set out for yourself (health-related or otherwise), you’re doing it because you care, not because you’re disgusted. That’s going to make the journey a lot more pleasant and, I imagine, a lot more successful.
Just like my neighbor’s Bonsai Tree, it’s time for you to position yourself in the warm sunlight of tender loving care—and thrive.
Photo Source: Non Profit Self-Care
Snack attack
What’s worse? Cheating on your diet? Or not enjoying it when you do?
Okay, first of all, let’s drop the word “cheating” from our lexicon. Dieting isn’t about being “on” or “off.” This is real life. And whether being careful about our food intake to lose excess weight or doing it to maintain the weight we’ve already lost (and don’t want back), there are going to be times that we have a cookie or some other kind of treat — whether planned or not. (For more on this, see my recent post on the topic of being “on” and “off” of a diet.)
The question then becomes, are we really enjoying the treat? And I mean really-really. Too often, those of us with a dieter’s mentality will devour a decadent food without enjoying the actual consumption of it. It’s as if we go into some altered mental state while chewing the cookie or whatever the said offender-to-our-diet is (or was — burp!).
I remember back in the day, when I was attempting (over and over again) to lose 250+ pounds of excess weight. While trying every kind of diet out there (usually on a Monday or Tuesday and then again the beginning of the following week), I would often catch myself standing at the kitchen counter, chewing the remnants of my treat (AKA “cheat“) and realize I hadn’t even enjoyed the full experience. I was eating as if I was a caged animal that had broken into the kitchen (“the forbidden zone” as it were) and snuck a treat before being caught. When a better tactic would have been to take the cookie, chocolate bar — or whatever — and put it on a plate, then sit down and enjoy every last decadent morsel of deliciousness.
Do you understand the difference between these two scenarios? One is about ravenous eating before getting caught (or, perhaps, catching ourselves) and one is about true enjoyment. And no, it’s not “wrong” to enjoy a treat even when you’re on a diet of one kind or another. Life is about moderation. So if you’re going to treat yourself, do so in the healthiest mental state possible. This could equate to meeting a friend at an ice cream parlor to split a sundae, getting a freshly baked cookie at the mall and sitting down near the fountain to enjoy it while people watching or even (gasp!) picking up a delicious looking apple at a farmer’s market and then enjoying it with a few teaspoons of all-natural peanut butter.
Yes, that’s right, healthy snacking should be as enjoyable as the more decadent kind of snacking. But no matter which type you’re doing, you really should be enjoying the whole experience and not eating like a vampire that’s afraid of dawn’s first light. It’s this kind of eating (scared, fast, unconscious) that’s one of the likely reasons we’ve ended up at the undesirable end of the scale in the first place.
So next time you have a craving, take a breath. Decide if you’re really hungry and then if you really want the treat. And if it’s really worth it. Assuming it’s a “Go,” then make the actual eating of the treat a metered and enjoyable experience. Really savor every moment as much as you’re savoring every morsel. Then, when it’s over, take another breath. There. Now you’re eating (and treating) like a “normal” person. And that’s what you are. Normal. Whether you have some excess weight you want to lose or not.
(And remember you can always feel free to go for a walk after the snack to burn off some of those decadent calories.)
Snacking should never be about guilt, anxiety or desperation. Put the full range of enjoyment back into snacking and see how much it can help your overall eating plan and goals.
Oh, and if you need someone to split that ice cream sundae with, I’m definitely available.
Photo Source: watchfit.com
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