Your Body Will Forgive You. Just Ask.
May 16th, 2013 Tags: body confidence, diet, forgive your body, forgiveness, make peace with your body, Weight LossPosted in Forgiveness | No Comments »
If you’ve struggled with your weight for a long time, it may feel hard to love, or even like, your body. When you feel at war with your body in this way, releasing weight feels much more difficult than it needs to be.
Anger, shame, and self-hatred add an emotional heaviness to what may already feel daunting. While the weight release journey holds challenges in the best of situations, these challenges lessen when you develop a more loving and respectful relationship with your body.
You don’t have to wait until you reach your goal weight to make peace with your body. You can experience peace now and when you do, your journey (and your body) lightens. Read the rest of this entry »
Do You Want to Lose Weight…or Release Weight?
May 14th, 2013 Tags: body confidence, diet, lose weight, self-talk, Weight LossPosted in Self-Talk | 4 Comments »
I’m often asked why I say “release” weight rather than “lose” weight.
See for yourself:
Get quiet. Close your eyes.
Say to yourself a few times:
“I want to lose weight.”
Notice the sensations in your body.
Clear that away and then say to yourself:
“I want to release weight.”
Again, notice what that feels like. Open your eyes.
What did you notice?
Please share your experience below!
Let Go of Fear to Release Weight with Confidence
April 10th, 2013 Tags: diet, dieting, self-talk, Weight LossPosted in Self-Talk | 2 Comments »
Are you afraid you’ll never reach your weight loss goal?
Do you fear you won’t maintain your weight once you do?
If you can relate, take heart. Learn to free yourself from fear’s grip so you confidently move forward with poise and grace.
For many people, fear is an uncomfortable, yet familiar companion along their weight loss journey. Fear undermines your belief in yourself and stops you from having the life and body you want. You can renew your confidence and learn to give fear no power by replacing fear-based thoughts with thoughts of strength and determination. Read the rest of this entry »
How I Stopped Gaining Weight On Vacation
February 27th, 2013 Tags: buffets, inspiration, self-talk, vacation weight gain, Weight LossPosted in Weight Loss | No Comments »
“To keep the body in good health is a duty.
Otherwise we shall not be able
to keep our mind strong and clear.”
Buddha
I just spent three awe inspiring weeks traveling in Southeast Asia. My friend Dianne, knowing I gained weight on another lengthy vacation six years ago, asked if I did this time.
I confidently replied, “Ultimately, no, I didn’t. I started gaining weight right away because I was eating more than I normally do with the endless buffets available. But then I remembered to practice what I preach. I made a conscious effort to turn things around. And I did.”
It felt good to walk my talk, especially in such a food and exercise challenging situation. I share below the mind-set shifts I made to stay grounded. Whether to maintain your weight, release excess weight, or stop gaining, I hope this inspires you to keep your mind and body a treasured priority, no matter what circumstances surround you. Read the rest of this entry »
Inspire Your Weight Loss Journey With a Vision Board
January 21st, 2013 Posted in Inspiring Tips | 2 Comments »
What changes do you want to see in your life for 2013? What goals and intentions do you have for your health and well being? Do you know you can begin to create those changes now simply by finding images that represent what you want? Create a vision board to focus your mind and train your brain to move in the direction of your desires.
A vision board is simply a collage of pictures, words and symbols that represents the life experiences you want. It’s also called a goal or dream board, or treasure map.
Imagination Creates
Everything in your life begins with an image in your conscious or subconscious mind. A vision board harnesses this imaging power in a deliberate way. As a manifestation tool, it activates the law of attraction, a spiritual law that says we attract experiences into our life that match the energy of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
Focus Your Mind
From a psychological perspective, a vision board works by stimulating the reticular activation system, or RAS, which is an information filtering system in your brain. Once you hold an image in your mind, you program your RAS to search for it among all the information coming to you from the world. For example, have you noticed that when you decide on the kind of car you want, you begin to see it everywhere? That’s why.
By making a vision board for health and weight loss, you essentially program your RAS to draw to your attention what you need to reach your goals. Read the rest of this entry »
A New Year’s Ritual for Release and Renewal
December 27th, 2012 Posted in Inspiring Tips | 10 Comments »
Here’s my favorite New Year’s ritual. It’s my trusted path to release the old and embrace the new.
I invite you to take time this week to reflect on this past year and the changes you want to make going forward. Use this not only to inspire your weight release journey, but for all areas of your life.
I feel empowered when I do this writing exercise, as if I’m calling forth the powers of the Universe to support me. I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.
Get yourself cozy and comfortable with pen and paper. There’s something about writing by hand that keeps you more connected with your heart energy, but if you prefer using your computer or tablet, by all means do so. Give yourself quiet, undisturbed time. Add a cup of soothing tea and a candle to set a reflective mood.
Complete the three parts of this practice in the following order: Read the rest of this entry »
5 Tips to Thrive This Holiday Season
November 12th, 2012 Tags: holiday stress, holidays, stress, stress management, tips, Weight LossPosted in Inspiring Tips | 4 Comments »
The true spirit of the holiday season is meant to fill you with appreciation and love. Instead, it is sometimes fraught with the emotional and financial stress of excessive holiday shopping, additional time draining responsibilities, and added food challenges with the abundance of sweets and special meals.
No need to let holiday stress derail your weight loss plans. Here are five tips to stay focused on what matters most so you can enjoy the season while remaining true to your journey. Read the rest of this entry »
Your Object of Inspiration
November 12th, 2012 Tags: diet, holidays, inspiration, stress, stress management, Weight LossPosted in Inspiring Tips | 2 Comments »
As a steady and gentle reminder to remain focused on your weight release goals, find a meaningful object to inspire you and help you feel grounded. For example, a bracelet with a special phrase or symbol, an affirmation card kept in your purse, or a religious or spiritual symbol to fit in your pocket.
I keep many inspiring objects around me and here is one of my favorites. I love stones. I especially love this one and had a hole drilled in it years ago so I could use it as a pendant. Every time I attend a spiritual retreat or workshop, I intentionally wear this so it absorbs the uplifting energy of what I learn. I find it soothing and grounding to simply rub and feel it’s smooth surface. When I’m tense, I make a point to hold it and take a deep breath.
Take a special object you already own, or set your intention to find just the right one and trust the Universe to bring it your way. Keep it accessible as an object of inspiration, strength and as an anchor to ground you. Use this to help you stay focused on your weight release goals especially during those food challenges unique to the holiday season.
What will you use as your object of inspiration? Please share below!
Ho’ oponopono for Emotional Eating
October 15th, 2012 Tags: emotional eating, forgiveness, Ho' oponopono, weght lossPosted in Ho' oponopono | 10 Comments »
Healthy nutrition and exercise, while obviously important, sometimes aren’t enough to control those forces within that cause emotional eating. This is because emotional eating isn’t only about making peace with food and your body.
It’s about making peace with your feelings.
All addictions result from a difficulty experiencing and moving through painful feelings. While there are differing opinions about whether you can be physically addicted to certain foods, it’s generally accepted that emotional eating reflects a psychological addiction. Food becomes the means to avoid, deny or otherwise cope with painful emotions.
When you experience a trigger that causes you to turn to food, chances are that trigger brought to the surface deeper feelings that already were inside you. For example, after a tense phone call with a family member you calm your anger with a heaping bowl of ice cream. While the phone call itself may have been difficult, it most likely brought to the surface other times you experienced similar anger. Otherwise, you would let it go more easily.
In this example, you will continue to be easily triggered, and perhaps keep turning to food for comfort, until the energy of anger is released from inside you.
When you release painful emotions at their deepest level, external triggers in your life no longer have power over you.
A Spiritual Approach
The Hawaiian problem solving and healing practice of Ho’ oponopono is a process of forgiveness and release. It helps you connect with your inner Divinity. By releasing the heaviness of toxic emotions you more easily hear Divine inspiration guiding you to your highest good. When used for emotional eating, it helps ground and calm you. It also helps release the deeper roots of your overwhelming feelings that trigger you to turn to food.
Your Inner Child
From a psychological perspective, subconscious memories of painful childhood experiences continue to be activated today unless they are resolved and released. Your inner child holds the memories of these past painful experiences. With emotional eating, the intense urge to eat reflects the pain of your inner child calling out for your love and attention. Ho’ oponopono helps neutralize and release those painful energies carried by your inner child.
Four Simple Phrases
The basic Ho’ oponopono process uses four beautiful phrases. These words have a high energetic vibration. They are spiritually uplifting and calming. Direct these words to your inner child to offer comfort for painful feelings held within. By speaking to your inner child, you’re also communicating to the Divine within you.
“I’m sorry.”
“Please forgive me. ”
“I love you.”
“Thank you.”
Ho’ oponopono and Emotional Eating
You can use the Ho’oponopono process as a stress management tool when you feel triggered to overeat. It also serves to neutralize and release painful emotions at their deepest level.
Simply repeat the four phrases above or use the following exercise which adapts the process to emotional eating. Or, use them in combination.
- Begin by focusing on your breathing.
- Then, silently direct these words to your inner child who is carrying the weight of your painful emotions:
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were carrying so much pain.”
“Please forgive me for whatever is going on inside of me that is causing me to overeat.” (or, “to feel this way.”)
“I love you.”
“Thank you for being here for me.”
- Repeat as often as necessary until you experience a sense of relief or inner peace.
You can use this process in several ways:
- Repeat the four phrases as a calming mantra throughout the day.
- Use either version to soothe and ground yourself when overwhelmed and about to use food to cope.
- If you are upset with yourself for overeating, use this to help release any guilt and shame.
The Ho’ oponopono process offers a spiritually meaningful tool to release negative energies of painful emotions at a very deep level. Practice this regularly and you’ll discover an inner peace that not only helps you with emotional eating and releasing weight, but with all areas of your life as well.
How do you think Ho’ oponopono can help you in your weight release journey?
Please post your comment below. I’d love to hear from you!
Trigger Foods: Should You Keep Them in Your Home?
September 17th, 2012 Tags: diet, lose weight, release weight, trigger foods, Weight LossPosted in Weight Loss | 18 Comments »
If you want to release weight, chances are you have a “love/hate” relationship with certain foods. How you manage your relationship with these foods either helps you release weight more easily or creates constant struggle.
A common challenge is whether to keep certain foods at home, or avoid buying them. There’s no right or wrong way to handle this. The important thing, however, is to make a thoughtful, conscious choice about what feels best for you.
Read the rest of this entry »