By being more relaxed about food, I am actually feeling hungry and full at more appropriate times. I was normal for me to feel hungry after eating several hundred calories. I know this was mental or emotional hunger but I felt it in my stomach. I have begun to eat more slowly too, thus giving myself a chance to feel full with the right amount of food.
I think July will be a gentler month of getting used to new ways of being with food and exercise. Goals are good as sign posts to mark a path but rather than go with my usual outrageous goals I will set more realistic ones.
Goal One: Lose ten pounds by the end of July. This is possible. It works out to about two and a half pounds a week: sensible. This is not my usual goal of thinking I can do thirty pounds a month. Yes, I have routinely set these kinds of goals. No wonder, you say. I hear you.
Goal Number Two: Walk a minimum of twenty minutes everyday for the month of July. Again, doable. And find my walking DVD so I cannot use the weather as an excuse not to walk.
Goal Number Three: Start meditating again. I’m setting up my office upstairs this weekend. I’ll have the whole second floor to myself. I’ve always needed a lot of alone time, but haven’t gotten much over the last twenty years, so this will be great. I haven’t even been able to use the bathroom without being interrupted. This is not good for me. Since I was a very young child, I have required my own private world to recuperate. My senses easily overload. I think that’s why I’m not good as the center of attention or at big parties: way too much input. And then if I don’t get mega down time, I stop functioning well. I have tried to force myself to accept constant companionship, and I have failed to deal well with it. So, back to meditating: I have always enjoyed it. I meditate by counting my breaths, one, inhale, two, exhale, three, inhale, four, exhale, one, inhale, etc. The first fee minutes are hard. Not forcing my brain to settle down, just letting the thoughts flow and move on, and all the while concentrating on my breathing. The time flies.
I think I can do these three things. If I do more, great, but if I do these, I will consider myself successful.
2 comments:
Wow this is getting better. You are doing great and inspiring me. I went walking yesterday (I was going to sort of flake out and not go) but I decided that as I said to you, it was about being consistent. I bumped into an old colleague who told his wife I looked so much better now. Apparently, in my old newspaper I walked around looking stressed and angry all the time.
Meditation is a great idea. If only I could incorporate that as well. I need to relax...
I get that, too: people thinking I look angry. Usually I'm just thinking about something other than what is in front of me. I'm hoping for some relaxation, too.
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