Slim to get happy, or get happy to slim

So many people assume being slim will make them happy. This underlying belief perpetuates the search for many who believe that ‘slim equals happy’. But if you’re like me and found being slimmer didn’t equate to being happier… you’re probably feeling unsure of the validity of this idea. Is happiness a by-product of our weight, or is our current weight a reflection of our happiness? What if you could get slimmer by being happier?

I had been overweight since I could remember, the pictures showed a beautiful girl who started getting chubby at 8; she continued to gain weight until she peaked at 99kg. I was never happy, and I found my unhappiness easy to blame on my weight. If I wasn’t so big I could enjoy swimming and sports... If I wasn’t so big I’d have more confidence to make friends or say what I think… If you’ve struggled with your weight, you'll also know that it can feel as though extra weight drains the goodness out of every experience… Or does it? Fast forward 5 years and I had dropped 30kg, and while I was happier with my appearance, that happiness didn’t blanket over my whole life. I felt jaded, I felt ripped-off that after shedding 30kg I was still quite miserable.

A miserable and gorgeous size 12 is nothing compared to a happy and gorgeous size 12.
When Gina's experiences concurred with mine; that every drop in her weight equated to an increase in her happiness, we both concluded the happier we are - the slimmer we become. When we focus our attention on our happiness, and actively seek to expand it, we ultimately slim easily and stay slim effortlessly. Have you met someone who believes their excess weight is the sole cause of their misery; they try so hard to lose it, that they end up gaining?

All of us have at least a portion of happiness in our lives. What if you chose to focus on this? Are you curious to see what would happen if you focused on increasing your happiness? The following 4 steps are suggestions you can use to slim easily by increasing your happiness.

Step 1) Identify the source of your current happiness.

Write down your gratitude list (start with 10 things), and remember what you focus on expands. Focus in regularly on all the reasons why you love your life, why you are blessed to be you, and why you get to feel good every day. For example your gratitude list might include: Beautiful weather, a call from a friend, an unexpected bonus, a good movie, finding a $2 coin, good teeth, weekends with family, rewarding friendships, or delicious food etc.

Step 2) Create a daily practice of focusing on what brings you joy.

Creating a habitual way of focusing on what brings you joy is the easiest way to make sure you get into the swing of it. Challenge yourself to focus on joy for one month. Weigh yourself tomorrow morning, then commit to a daily gratitude practice and see how good your results are.

Application Suggestions: a morning gratitude meditation, morning gratitude walk, singing about what you are grateful for (in the shower/car/around the house), or telling yourself why you’re grateful in your own mind.
I personally write a gratitude list every single day, as I reflect on my blessings I realise how easily I could have forgotten some of them. As I reflect and ponder upon why I’m grateful, myriads of experiences and feelings flow into my mind… A small blessing (there really are no small blessings are there), a kind deed or a special happening that may have gone unrecognised gently rises to the surface as I ask, "What am I grateful for"? Training our minds to focus on our blessings is one of the key habits of happy people (who are most often slim). This practice works universally for anyone willing to apply it. As you actively increase and seek out all of the things that bring you joy, fulfillment, peace and contentment, you’ll be welcoming more into your life.

Step 3) Contribute whatever you can to increase the happiness of others.


You definitely can’t give without receiving; and likewise you can actively turn the tides in your favour and receive more by giving. Remember, ‘what you focus on expands’. Watching others be happy will inadvertently increase your happiness as well.
Application Suggestions: donating/ sharing your time for neighbours/ co-workers/ family/ or friends. Making a genuine donation to a cause you believe in, preparing a meal for a friend or family member. Dropping off baking for someone you love etc will inadvertently increase your happiness too.

Step 4) Use words that uplift yourself and others

Listen to the words you use when you’re talking to others or yourself. The words you choose to use help to form and create the world in which you live. Actively choose words to think and say that will create more happiness for yourself and others. It’s a common mistake to try and decrease the stresses or things we don’t like in our life. But remember what you focus on expands; focus on what is stressing you… even if it’s for the sole purpose of decreasing it, and you may find it actually increases. I suggest a one month trial where you focus on everything you have that you want, that you love, that you enjoy… So many women connect slim with happy. I believe the true correlation is actually; when I’m happy, I’m slim.

Open up & receive True Love

I think we all yearn for a true genuine experience of ‘Love’ with another. There are a million billion expressions of true love; each one patiently awaiting the perfect recipient… I believe true love is always ready, willing and waiting for us to receive and enjoy its splendor. We only need to remove our internal barriers, and live in trust and hope.

Of all of the delightful and desirable experiences in life, none surpass the elevation of what is, ‘True Love’. Within the meaning of this simple phrase holds a sacred feeling we all long to know and express. I’d love to share my definition of true love, and invite you to write down your own special meaning of todays’ blog topic.

True love is the shared experience of being connected, complete, enriched and alive that grows through reciprocation.

True Love is always reciprocated… it’s wanting to spend all your time together, despite knowing you can never get enough. Your heart always knows true love (while your head can struggle to accept it), moments flow, trust, openness and reliability are mutually shared and forgiveness is extended easily.

Unfortunately after so many unsatisfying experiences on the quest for true love… you can begin to feel lost. It can seem easier to give up hope, and simply presume true love doesn’t exist, than to risk opening up to the hurt again. But eventually I believe we all continue to seek it; we are all driven to find our own expression of a love that is true.

If we use our past to try and predict the future then we become stuck in a never ending cycle of re-creating the less than glorious reflections of love… But if we use our past to learn the contrast, or what’s not of ‘true love’, then we allow ourselves to draw nearer to it with each experience. 

So, how do we unconsciously block ourselves from receiving true love: 

·        We get jealous of others in love

It’s so important to honor the love you see in others, pay attention to how they feel together… Allow yourself to feel that feeling when you see others in love.

·        We try to ‘figure out’ how to find our true love

We only try to figure out where love is when we doubt that it will come to us. Live in faith and trust that true love is coming to you.

·        We worry we aren’t good enough for our true love

Focusing on why you won’t/can’t receive love will repel love further away. Exactly as we are right now, we are worthy of the gift of true love.

·        We treat ourselves unlovingly

Expecting another to love us when we are being unloving to ourselves is like trying to swim without getting wet.

·        We wait for love (stop living and enjoying life)

When we live in desperation for love, we are feeding the fear that it will not come and actively distance ourselves from receiving it.

·        We talk about what we’ll do if we don’t find our true love

Once again imagining a future based on our fear creates a future fulfilling our fears

·        We try to make someone our ‘True Love’

True love cannot be forced, cajoled, fooled, manipulated, delayed, procrastinated, or avoided… it will come at the perfect time and is a gift that can only be received not manufactured.

Q: True love sounds too ‘fairy tale’ for me… I doubt there is any true love for me out there. 

A: It’s true that some people don’t enjoy the notion of true love, and if that’s not what you want then that’s a great thing to know about yourself. The case most often is that the true skeptics are almost always the true love die hard romantics who keep their inner most longings tucked away.

Q: What if I don’t feel ready to meet my true love?

A: Then that is great to know, remember the universe is always in perfect synchronicity. If you’re not ready, then your true love will be getting ready for you too. Trust the pause is allowing you both to develop and grow until the perfect time comes for you to meet.

Q: What if the man/woman I think is my true love, doesn’t feel the same way towards me

A: He/She is a sign post to help you acknowledge the traits and attributes you know will belong to your true love. Thank him/her and continue to open up to receive your true love. True love is always reciprocated; you will both love one another more than you ever thought was possible.

Q: What if I attract someone who is not my idea of true love?

A: Great, this is contrast, they are sent to you to help you continue to refine your idea of what your true love is for you. Get the learning and move on to receive your true love.

Affirmation Suggestions: to support you to open up and receive true love:

·        My heart will guide me to my true love

·        I trust in perfect divine timing bringing us together at exactly the right time

·        I open myself to receive true love

·        I breath in love, I exhale peace

·        I romance myself, and I fall in love with me

‘Lasting Motivation’ The real holy grail…

I’m incredibly curious, I believe that successful strategies are only ever a few minor tweaks away. After years of being stuck in a ballooning body (peaking at 99kg/ a size 20), I now find joy and excitement in contemplating what small adjustments could easily shift me toward my goals. 

Of course it wasn’t always this way for me. I would ignore my failures, and suppress any awareness of my mistakes and be trapped and tricked into perpetuate them over and over again. Yes, I was ‘insane’… I did the same thing over and over and yet expected a different result – every time... Now after receiving the body, life, husband, family, business and career of my dreams… I have an insatiable appetite for uncovering the slight adjustments that make all the difference to helping myself and others to achieve our goals.

There are two ways that we all motivate ourselves. One burns us out and leaves us falling short of the mark… and the other is enduring and sustainable… After 8yrs of experience in weight-loss, having helped hundreds of others to lose weight, having shifted 30kg myself and having stayed slim for over 6 years… I’ve been blessed to identify a trend that is replayed over and over by countless thousands...

It’s trying to make change for others. Trying to take action or make change for your partner, children, lover, parent, Doctor etc. External motivation is changing for someone else. It starts out feeling pretty good… we get heaps done, fly around like a rocket, accomplish some fast wins… start feeling really proud of ourselves and then THUD, you wind up crashing and burning… You come down in a heap, and no matter how you fight it you can’t overcome the fatigue and exhaustion. External Motivation is simply unsustainable! 

Motivation simply means ‘why we do what we do’. It’s a powerful feeling. It prompts us to take action, it’s the feeling that we really want to do something or make change. But we need to remember that there are two styles of motivation. External motivation, which is hot and fiery and Internal motivation; which is feeling prompted to take action for your own self-interest. It’s about doing something because you care about you; because you want yourself to be happy, because you know how much calmer/joyous/simple or enriched your life will be if you choose to take this action/ make change. 

Seems pretty simple right… Try to do it for others and your steam will run out fast… You’ll lack sufficient follow through to create any lasting results. Or do it for yourself and stay consistent, and sure enough in time the results show up and you enjoy the process so much that you still keep going. Obviously right now, your probably realizing that internal motivation is the holy grail of lasting change. 

 

So ask yourself right now, what do I truly want most right now? Disregard any supposed limitation… If you could receive anything you truly desired what would it be? Write it down/ say it out loud now:

My deepest desire is: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Great, well done. Now I want you to write down the 3 most powerful internal (you-focused) reasons why you want this (Reasons why it will directly benefit you personally):

1)

2)

3)

Now, how are you feeling? Can you feel that surge of power and energy inside, the light that has gone on, you have a sense of purpose and intention. This is what we are made for; to acknowledge our deepest desires, and to know why we truly want them, and then to go out and do whatever needs to be done to receive it/them/that.

Week 5, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

This week has been a bit up and down, I've had some really, really good days and some really really bad days.  Today for example, was one of those bad days.  I was all on my own at home, had no study or work to do so had a great lazy day just watching movies and doing nothing of value.  I went to the supermarket and got myself a few treats, which ideally should last the week, except, they haven't.  I wasn't hungry, but I was bored, there was no one to witness me being a piggy and there is something about tim tams that i just can't say no to.  So that's the whole pack gone, along with heaps more food that I wasn't hungry for, or craving, it was just there and for some reason self control and reasoning didn't kick in.  But now the guilt has kicked in, knowing i've let myself down and I'm actually feeling pretty sick since all that food too!  But I also need to remind myself that tomorrow is another day, and there is no point dwelling on today.  It's been a good reminder - the guilt and sick feeling really isn't worth gorging myself.

I know my cues, I know when I'm hungry and when I can stop eating, I just need to remember to acknowledge that instead of ignoring it.

Unfortunately, I have put on 200g this week but this little reminder to pay attention to my feelings has been beneficial!

Lilly
 

This has been mostly a good week however, there's been some anxiety and a feeling of not fitting in. I have found that I am applying reframing to many situations, but not really my food. This is because food is becoming more and more neutral.  Instead of feeling bad about something, remedying by eating too much and then focussing all my negativity and guilt on my weight and ‘eating problems’ I have begun to be conscious of my emotions and separately conscious of eating, even if I choose to have a little too much. I have spent years and years speaking harshly to myself for overeating rather than being kind to myself because I feel down about something and for once in my life, my emotions and my food are mostly separated. Of course I have fallen over a couple of times and tried to drown this week’s issues with food, but there is no despair or helplessness in this. In fact, I have never felt happier and more in control. Even when I feel impatient and down about the time that it will take to reach my ideal weight, I can look and see that I am already about ¼ of the way there. I am feeling more and more freedom with food and it is literally liberating me in all aspects of my life. 

101 yay!

Week 4, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

I would say this has been a good week.  I'm feeling much more in touch with myself, in terms of my hunger and emotions.  I've been trying really hard to focus on my hunger and satiety this week, and it's worked!  I've definitely eaten less this week, and when I've had the feelings of 'I just want to eat' I have managed to put them aside and distract myself with other things until I am actually hungry, which for me, is a pretty big deal!

I've had all the so called 'bad foods' that I tried to avoid before, but just in smaller quantities than I may have indulged in previously, and for instance last night got thai takeaways for dinner only to find I didn't need much of it to feel satisfied, so put the rest in the fridge and finished it for lunch today, when before I would have eaten it all, just because it was there. 

I'm feeling a lot more positive about the process, just hoping I can really stay on track and watch the weight fall off!

This week, I have lost another 600g :-) I'm now 76.9kg

Lilly

I am really beginning to feel free. I am not perfect in following the 3 principles, but I no longer beat myself up; my success each day does not rely on an accounting of how ‘good’ I was and how hard I worked out. It’s actually been 3 weeks since I participated in structured exercise, 3 weeks since I monitored my every choice regarding food. It is lovely to simply realise you are hungry and simply eat something delicious.

Regarding my emotional eating, I am beginning a new process this week. I have heard some wonderful things said about how new lives, new opportunities and great joy involve a great deal of risk and faith. Right now, I can only see one step in front of me. It’s a challenge for such a control freak, and I sometimes turn to food to feel that sense of control. It’s like having a best friend. She says she knows what I need. She’s been so embracing, warm and comfortable, but now she holds me back. She’s fearful and doesn’t want me to change. 

 

This week, I am saying goodbye to my destructive best friend: my ‘fat chick’ alter ego. She needs to move out.

I've just moved, and haven't had access to any scales this week... So it will be interesting to see what my results are next week. 

Week 3, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle:

This week I was sent a copy of 'Shift Your Mindset' by Lysa and Gina, and I do think it has helped to get me back on track.  Although I definitely cannot honestly say I have trusted my instincts all the time in terms of eating my this week, it has been a definite improvement from last week.

I find that I am catching myself out sometimes - like I will be walking to the cupboard for a second or third biscuit and suddenly hear in my head 'Hey, I'm not hungry anymore - I should just have it later when I am hungry'.  Although this hasn't worked to deter me from the fridge every time, it has worked more of the time than it usually does!  So this is progress! I think I have become much better at only eating when I am hungry, it's the stopping when I'm satisfied that has become more of an issue!  I'm still struggling to see that whatever food is in front of me is not going anywhere, and I could have it later, but I am definitely acknowledging the fact now, and saying this to myself so that I can at least resist for awhile longer than usual!  

The next few weeks will be interesting - university has finished for the semester and I won't be in the usual routine while studying for exams, so I'm hoping I don't fall into old habits and don't think of food as a distraction / procrastination technique!  I'm going to work really hard to focus on stopping when I am full, and maintaining the smaller portion sizes because I do think that this really helps me psychologically.  I've never really been one for seconds but finishing what is on my plate (when my eyes were always too big for my stomach) left me stuffing myself to the brim.  

This week, I am pleased to announce that I have lost another 300g - so I am down to 77.5.  Not a big loss, but a loss all the same!

Lilly:

The 3 principles are simple and straightforward but they require a massive shift in thinking. I realised this during the week that I’d left dieting behind when 2 friends wanted to tell me how many calories they had consumed that day and my reaction was to stare at them as if they were crazy.

However, it became evident to me there are two mental aspects still holding me back. What’s with my emotional attachment to the scale? And why do I still willingly choose to overeat or justify food, especially junk food, when I’m not feeling like it? 

Deep down, I’ve forgotten reality. I’ve adopted a ‘greediness’ approach to life without a job, but it doesn’t make sense. How does eating more now help me for later, when I’m hungry and have no food? It means I spend more money purchasing food. I’m no Einstein but that seems illogical. 

However, on a pleasing note, this week as ‘weigh day’ approached I noticed that the numbers didn’t matter to me anymore. That felt very liberating.

One down, one to go. 

103

Week 2, Intuitive Eating Challenge for Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

This week has been a trying week - for some reason I still can't get my head around only eating when I'm hungry!  I have a  terrible fear of missing out when it comes to food, no matter whether I am hungry, or have already eaten enough in that particular sitting, I find it extremely difficult to say 'no'. 

This week I have been trying to go a little smaller in my portion sizes, because I know I often struggle to finish my meals - my eyes are constantly bigger than my stomach but just can't seem to leave anything on my plate!  I figure at least this way, if I have less on my plate and can't leave anything, it's better than having a larger meal to try to complete!  I have discovered that I don't tend to be hungry in the mornings - so don't really have breakfast unless it's a small snack. I can wait until mid-morning quite easily so am really trying to focus on obeying my body.

Unfortunately, this week my weight has stayed the same (but at least it didn't go up!) but at least I know where I have gone wrong.  STOP emotional eating!  My new mantra has to be - (insert food item I am craving here) is not going anywhere if you don't eat it right now!  I am not hungry that often, so I need to pay attention and listen to my body in all it's glory.

Looking forward to re-focussing this week and paying attention to my body!

Weight: 77.8kg

  

Lilly

This week was quite difficult and I felt as if I completely lost my connection to myself and food. Suddenly hunger and satiety were foreign to me. I was placed in unfamiliar situations and I found myself giving in to old habits. Sometimes I am amazed at how I can just mindlessly give up responsibility for my choices. My first excuse for overeating was that the blog was making my journey public and thus putting pressure on me. Second excuse? I’m sick. I need to eat all these things to help fight off the cold. I feel so bad, I can’t even tell if I’m hungry. 

Why do I lie to myself? Basically, my issue was, and always is that I don’t trust myself and I don’t trust the world or God to help me in difficult situations. Yet, the truth is, and I have seen it happen before, we are all given to know exactly what to do and when to do it. As it is always repeated to me: you need to let go. This week will be about trusting myself and God (the universe, if you prefer) completely.

Weight: 103.5

Intuitive Eating Challenge for Guest Bloggers Isabelle & Lilly

Isabelle

My first big realisation of this week is that I am a chronic emotional eater.  I always have to eat everything on my plate, always have eyes bigger than my stomach and eat at times I’m just not hungry, but ‘want’ food.  I push myself to the feeling of uncomfortably full, instead of stopping when I’ve had enough – it’s like I feel as though I will be missing out if I don’t eat it now.

This week I have been focussing on only eating when I am hungry, however this hasn’t always worked to plan.  The most difficult times I found were family meal times - it's hard when you're sitting around the table for dinner to say, 'No thanks, I'm not hungry!'

I’m often thinking that I ‘might get hungry later’, however I need to learn that being hungry for a couple of hours isn’t the worst thing in the world.  On the upside, this week I have been eating what I like, instead of trying to be good, which has been nice! Although the Burger King I had for dinner on Saturday night made me feel pretty vile, so I won’t be having that again in a hurry!  It’s nice to begin to understand what makes me feel good and what makes me feel rubbish, so I need to make note of these things and not put myself through it again!  Onwards and upwards, looking forward to next week!

My start weight at the beginning of this week was 78.2kg and today is 77.8kg - 400g loss.

Lilly in London

Since moving to the UK, I haven’t been surrounded by food in the same way I was in Sydney. I live with other young people instead of family now so the fridge usually borders on empty. I don’t know where all the great places are to eat and there’s a definite lack of variety here and I’m not working, so there’s no scheduled food breaks where I feel obliged to eat.

Hunger seems to be this annoying little knock to my brain. I tend to be a very cerebral person, judging hunger from the time, the distance since my last meal and the deliciousness potential of the food. But here, I’m getting the ravenous feeling. Last night was wonderful. I ate a creamy pasta, garlic bread, a chocolate sundae and a hot chocolate. And yet this morning, I’m ravenous again! Eating when I’m hungry has been interesting; I’ve found my body to be very demanding. All this because I am letting it call the shots and not me!

It’s been a perfect time to experiment with what my body is telling me. And I’ve been noticing that I am hungry, it seems, ALL THE TIME. I wake up hungry. I eat breakfast. I start to job hunt and before I know it, the distracting emptiness is in my stomach again. I have lunch and then suddenly it seems I need something again. And sometimes I even feel hungry going to bed. I haven’t always been able to obey my hunger- in that I’ve gone home first to eat due to cost, but I don’t remember being this hungry in Sydney. I guess food was in my face there, and I was not listening to my body.

My start weight at the beginning of this week was 104kg and today is 103.5kg - 500g loss.

Tragedies, trials, and tough times...

               None of us seem to be able to escape them. Sometimes just one experience can affect us for a lifetime, while some just find that the difficulties in between life’s sun shiny days are getting more and more frequent…  We’ve all had experiences we wish we could have avoided; that we wish never came our way… There are times I wished the earth would have opened up and swallowed me whole; it probably would’ve been less painful. 

              

               Alas there is no immunity. And while we sometimes get the fleeting feeling that our own plight pales in comparison to the challenges of another… It’s way too big of a stretch to honestly say that we could feel blessed to be in our situation... I often felt deep down (in a way you can’t even tell yourself) that no one had it harder than me… That life had made a mistake choosing me to be the bearer of this unwelcomed experience.  Sometimes when I was listening to someone talk about their current difficulties I would almost felt like stealing the show… stepping out onto stage, squinting into the bright lights, signaling the background music and telling my own sore tale… OK so maybe I was a bit little dramatic back then… lol Maybe I am a bit dramatic now…

             

But now I know that we’ve all experienced things, we once believed were impossible to endure. Hemingway shares “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.” Looking back on your own challenges from the past could you think of ways that it has made you stronger…

   

My 18 year struggle with food and weight has given me my purpose, mission and passion. Without my own struggle I wouldn’t have learned so much about myself. Overcoming those unproductive behaviors has given me freedom! Was it worth it – Absolutely! Did I think so at the time… Hell NO! The further I get from that time… the more I’m able appreciate it ♥ I love this quote from Iyanla Vanzant, "Sometimes you have to lose everything in order to gain yourself." And thanks heavens I have me ♥ So whatever your current situation, know that it can make you stronger, it could be a future blessing for you or maybe it’s just to help you find yourself!

I’ll leave you with this one from Byron Katie,  “Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do."

What is Authenticty?

Living true to who we really are allows us to live from a place of real power. We have more presence, focus and awareness to give ourselves fully to every moment. Authentic can be defined as genuine; real; not false. So, what does ‘genuine’ mean? Being genuine is being free from pretense or hypocrisy; it’s being sincere. Being authentic is living true to who you really are. It’s dropping the façade, dropping the pretense and being your genuine real self.

And sure, you may be thinking… “How can I be who I really am all the time?” Sure enough, being our real authentic genuine self may not always be comfortable or convenient. We are not saying that you need to be 100% you all of the time from the very start. There may be circumstances that do require you to play a role, and tone down or play up elements of yourself that will support that situation.

Once upon a time, we all were authentic - all the time. As little children we loved who we were and felt joy living true to our real authentic self. But life (family, friends, school, church, society ect) taught us that not everyone is always going to support or approve of all that we naturally are… So we began adjusting ourselves. Pushing down parts of ourselves that didn’t win us approval, putting on a safer face to make someone else happy or more comfortable around us. 

So, the real problem here is that some of us have been doing inauthenticity for so long… that you may have forgotten who you really are and what being who you really are feels like? It’s easy to believe that our façade is who we really are. If you’re not dropping the social mask/facade even amongst your closest friends and family, it could be a sign that you need to re-connect with your real self again… Start by focusing on finding that fabulous inner you. She’s there, always has been. And Gina and I have noticed how that inner true self is always trying to get our attention and help us to re-connect. Living more from that place as often as we can is the first step to claiming back our genuine authentic self.

The fun thing is that being who you really are is actually effortless, relaxing, easy and it feels liberating. Our authentic self has a gentle child-like ease to it that’s a cinch to shift into. Once you’ve been there and you feel how great it is, you’ll want to spend more and more time living from that place. The freedom of knowing that as adults, we get to choose who we spend our time with is another supportive bonus. If there are people who don’t support you living and being authentic… then you get to reduce your contact with them as much as you like. It’s freeing and liberating to give yourself permission to be your fabulous, real authentic self. Woo Hoo! Nothing feels as good as living from your genuine self. You start to realize how unhappy it makes you to try and pretend that you’re anyone else. And you feel less and less desire to spend time with anyone who doesn’t love and accept you for being you. When we live authentically in the moment we are conscious; being free to choose what to think, feel, say and do whatever most supports us in each moment. Living authentically allows us to consciously choose to create the body, life and happiness you deserve. 

Go on, just be you and see what difference it makes in your life!

Trusting your Body

As I sit here and feel my baby girl move around inside me, I marvel at the miracle of what my body is capable of; without conscious orchestration from me, it has created a life!

How often do we really celebrate the magnificence of our body, let alone even spend a moment contemplating it?

Many of our natural bodily functions happen effortlessly, such as breathing, our heart beating, the digestion of our food. We teach intuitive eating as a means to reconnect with the innate wisdom our bodies possess. When we trust that our bodies are trying to guide us, and then learn to listen to what they are saying, weight loss and wellness can come easily.  

So where do you start if you’ve spent a lifetime ignoring and disconnecting from your body, believing it is untrustworthy or broken in some way?

Here are some suggestions of how our clients have begun to trust their bodies and move closer to total health, wellness and happiness:

·         Go to bed when you’re tired, no book, no TV, no distractions…sink into a peaceful slumber.

·         Ask yourself when you’re hungry “What do I truly feel like eating? Sweet, savoury, crunchy or salty, feel the difference when you really ‘hit the spot’.

·         Be completely present while you eat, savour the taste, the texture, the smell of your food.

·         Get close to nature, bare feet on the grass, walk in the fresh air, soak up some sunshine.

·         Have a bath, bubbles, candles, soothing music, the works!

·         Get a massage, facial or foot rub.

·         Express those pent up emotions, cry when you’re sad, laugh out loud when something is funny, shout into your pillow in anger if you feel disrespected, or sing at the top of your lungs when you feel joyous.

How many times do you ignore your intuitive promptings in a day because you’re too busy or you choose to make something (or someone) else more important? Choose to do one thing today that supports your body and makes you feel good.

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live”.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe