Wednesday, 11 July 2007

My thoughts on the principles

Tune in
I find tuning in easy now, and have recently learned to tune in to what my body wants as well as what my tastebuds want, leading to brocolli at 10pm one night, and just plain fruit for breakfast.
Stop when you are satisfied
I am generally quite good with this one. I struggled with it last night, but I have been under a lot of strain the last few days and I think I just needed to rebel a bit. I find the signal creeps up on me quite quickly.
Enjoy
I do this one quite well. I think it ties in mostly with tuning in and focusing, but I do try hard only to choose the things I truly want to eat and not be swayed by what others think I should or shouldn't eat.
Eat whatever you want
This one I am mostly good at, but I am aware that sometimes I place subconcious restrictions on myself. This morning it was "I shouldn't eat biscuits for breakfast". Funnily, it was somewhat right as when I properly tuned in I realised I wanted fresh, juicy fruit, but those sort of subconcious restrictions lead me to thinking I want something more than I really do.
Be your own guru
I am learning how to do this and seem to be starting to pick it up. It is this one that I find a real relief. I like trusting myself and standing on my own two feet, making decisions for myself etc. I'm finding it easier to reject "should's" from others and doing well with telling my inner gremlin to STFU
Put it on a plate, sit down and focus
This one is one that I try and do, but can sometimes be difficult. I often find myself daydreaming instead of focusing, and sometimes I still sit down and eat in front of the television or computer, but I am slowly starting to pause while I take a bite and eat, then read/watch tv, then pausing to take another bite and eat and I know gradually I will work up to just eating.
Eat when you are hungry
This one I find quite hard. I don't seem to have much of a hungry signal, it's more an absense of fullness/satiety. Every so often I try to wait as long as possible, but I am not too hard on myself when I do this otherwise I think I might end up binging.
Own your body
I am not good at this at all. I still really struggle with my size (I went from a size 10 to pregnancy to size 18!) and I find it hard to be affectionate towards my body at all. I have managed to bag up all the clothes that are too small for me and I have about 90% of my wardrobe made up of clothes that I like wearing, but that size 18 tag still chokes me and I desperately hate my stomach and sagging breasts.
Move
This one I am awful with. I am very unfit, and I know I need to move my membership from my old gym to my new gym as I have moved house. I love going to the gym, so it's not that, it's just that I am so tired and am dealing with a lot at the moment so it slips down the list. I have signed up to a tai-chi class that starts in September, and I am trying to find a local bellydancing class at a suitable time for me as well, but I'm not actively moving much at the moment.
Support yourself
This one I am the worst with. I never ask for help except for in a roundabout "I'm feeling awful" whine to my husband. I only have one friend (how sad!) and she works a lot. My sister is 18 and quite caught up in her own issues and I'm rubbish at asking anyone else for help. I suppose I have made a good start by joining the Beyond Chocolate e-course, and posting a diary on here but apart from that I tend to keep everything bottled up.

1 comment:

Liquorice Torpedoes said...

Hi Nicola,

Just wanted to comment on the support yourself principle. I realised from emailing Sophie that like you I don't have many close mates. Actually I have lots of friends but other than my DH the two I used to really talk to about 'stuff' live a long way away.

I decided that I was going to make more of an effort to call them frequently - I've been managing too and feel happier. Do you have any friends like that? (Just a thought).

Other than that, I think you're doing a good job of supporting yourself by opening up in a blog and posting on the forum.