The awareness I have developed on my yoga mat has carried over into my relationship with food and eating. It's helped me end my battle with food.
For this I am extremely grateful.
Like so many others, I have struggled with eating, weight, dieting, exercising and body image.
Caught in the vicious cycle of "good/bad" thinking, my attempts at deprivation eventually led to binging and feelings of guilt and remorse, some of the exact reasons diets don't work, but this pattern became a way of life with only the particular approach to weight control – Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Fat Flush, Sommersize – changing.
Often we are stuck in old ways of thinking and acting that no longer serve us. When we finally realize this, we can begin to change our behaviors without lots of pain and suffering. My yoga practice has taught me that by sticking with the practice and getting on the mat with regularity, what needs to come into my life will and what needs to be released will be too. As a result, I've found my own recipe for healthy eating and enjoy a much healthier relationship with food and with myself.
When we do one good thing for ourselves, it sets up a vibration change, we begin spiraling upward, destructive desires diminish and suddenly we are motivated to do something nourishing for ourselves. Ben and Jerry stop screaming from the freezer. A desire for something healthy like a crunchy apple or something else creamy and smooth like plain organic yogurt develops.
Will I ever eat ice cream again? Yes. A little emotional eating is normal. Sometimes it's just plain fun to have a yummy ice cream on a hot day or a warm chocolate chip cookie right from the oven. The key is to enjoy these occasional treats without guilt and to be conscious if we begin to turn to food for emotional comfort too often.
If we can learn to be with our feelings and explore them, asking important questions like:
- How do I feel?
- What do I need?
- Who am I feeding… My inner child, my hurt ego, my sad self, my rebellious teenager, my self destructive self?
- How can I support myself with something other than food?
- What am I getting from this food?
- How is it serving me?
- How might I better serve myself?
We can begin to change our chronic patterns and develop new healthy habits, like finding ways to nourish ourselves with things other than food.
*PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® calculated by Simple Nourished Living; Not endorsed by Weight Watchers International, Inc. All recipe ingredients except optional items included in determining nutritional estimates. SmartPoints® values calculated WITHOUT Weight Watchers Zero Points fruits and vegetables using the WW Recipe Builder.
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