Random thoughts to ponder...

The following is a list of quotes from a book by Dr. Robert Anthony called Think Big. 

• If you don't start, it's certain you won't arrive. 
• The biggest risk in life is not risking. 
• Excuses are your lack of faith in your own power. 
• There are no victims, only volunteers.
• Worry comes from the belief you are powerless.
• Hoping and Wishing are excuses for not Doing.
• The rewards in life go to those who are willing to give up the past.
• If you don't change your beliefs, your life will look like this forever. Is that good news?
• The best way to predict your future is to create it.
• If you want to know what your true beliefs are, take a look at your actions.
• Wishing is a goal without energy behind it.
• It's impossible to be depressed when you take action.
• Consciously or unconsciously, you always get what you expect

I just thought these were all so true and relevant in so many ways to my clients who are trying to get healthier, lose weight or achieve any personal goal. I think as human beings our brains tend to think in the extremes, and I know for myself, I have to keep bringing my brain back to the middle road. For instance, my personal trainer and friend Pete Mattis told me I have to cut out all fried food this week. And even though the goal was this week, my brain started freaking out and I started thinking that I would never be able to have another donut or taco chip or funnel cake for the rest of my life. WAIT!!!! But, on my way home from the gym I started to think about the goal rationally- I know, concept. I realized that by saying no fried foods this week, didn't mean that the next time I am at a carnival, I couldn't share a funnel cake with the kids. So, I am 2/3 of the way through the week and although I did have a few chips and salsa at a BBQ yesterday, that was the only fried food I have had. I began to tell myself, if I can choose a non-fried food item at that meal I will. 

We get so focused on the "how" - how will I ever lose weight, how will I ever reach my goal that we sometimes become too paralyzed to start. Hoping and wishing is like thinking that if you read the latest diet book you will finally lose weight, you have to do more than read the book. Funny how we think we can't predict the future, but we really can by taking action today. This works both ways: If we start creating our goals today we can't possibly be in the same spot tomorrow, and if we keep doing what we have always done, we will keep getting what we have always gotten.

Feel free to post your own ways of extreme thinking!

I must be doing something right!

Just a quick intuitive eating story involving my 8 year old. On Friday, he went to a birthday party and had pizza for lunch and a slice of birthday cake. The party was from 12-2PM. At 3 he had his piano lesson and every week at the end of the lesson his teacher gives him a piece of chocolate. So, this week Mr Didden says, "what type of chocolate would you like Charlie." And, here is the best part!!! Charlie replied, "nah, I don't want any this week, I just had cake at a birthday party." After I nudged Charlie to say, "No, thank you" I wanted to jump up and down and cheer. The kid gets it! Needless to say, Mr Didden was so shocked by a kid turning down chocolate, he almost didn't believe Charlie, he thought Charlie was joking. I just beamed with pride at that moment.

Even though the dietitian in me cringes whenever Mr. Didden offers chocolate as a reward, I have to have faith in my kid's ability to know when they are full and when they are not. If I never let Charlie have chocolate there is no way in He** he would have turned it down no matter how much birthday cake he had before. Way to go Charlie!!

Stress and weight loss

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/06/20/12-Compelling-Reasons-to-Ditch-Stress-from-Your-Life.aspx  This is a great short video clip on how and why stress causes us to struggle with our weight. Interesting thoughts especially if you are one of those people who the more you stress about following your diet the less successful you are at losing weight. I know this is or was true for me back when I was trying to diet! Maybe this is part of why we moms have such a hard time losing weight after the baby is born- I don't know about the rest of you, but for me, baby equals increased stress. I would lose a lot of weight in the post-partum period, but then 9 months down the road the weight would start to creep back up, for me, chasing a 9 month old was a little stressful, especially since my babies were active all day and waking up at least once in the middle of the night! Baby's cause stress in other ways too- they cost a lot of money and they leave little time to meditate or exercise or spend time with other loved ones (read, spouse). And the stress doesn't end when they are no longer babies. This is just another example of how eating intuitively and mindfully can be a better way to lose weight.

Orthorexia

http://ow.ly/dPqV Here is a link to an excellent article on Orthorexia or the term used for those who are obsessed with healthy eating. I realize that while healthy eating is important, it shouldn't consume you (pun intended). As dietitians we become a little obsessed with healthy eating- well, at least most dietitians do, I am sort of the worst dietitian on earth in that respect! If you scroll down the article there is a paragraph on how we can pass on these obsessions to our children and they can internalize these messages and literally become afraid to eat. So, how do we get our kids to eat healthy? We show them by example, we provide plenty of healthy choices, we keep our big mouths shut and allow our children to follow their intuition! Again, as I have stated previously, they won't always make the best choices- they are kids remember, but childhood is the time when they should learn from experience, b/c we won't always be there to control them (er, I mean guide them). Awhile back I used to be a volunteer breast feeding counselor and I would cringe, literally cringe when moms would tell me they were going to put their babies on a feeding schedule. Nothing like teaching our children to ignore their intuition right from the start! Just because mom has a bigger stomach and can go 3 hours without feeling hungry doesn't mean that an infant with a golf ball sized stomach can! I apologize if I offended anyone. I just get so darn hyped up when I hear people talking about controlling their child's food and eating habits. Did you know that the more controlling a parent is with their child's eating the more likely that child will be overweight? Just something to think about the next time you catch yourself forcing your child to clean their plate. I used to be one of those moms who would be trying to get my kids to finish their chicken nuggets and french fries and then finally it dawned on me, why would I want them to eat more of a junky food than they want to.

Walmart rocks

Just returned from Walmart after spending $185. Hello! Hubby will probably choke me, but what does he know- the last time he went grocery shopping was probably when he was in college- we were together back then too so I am not really sure he has ever been grocery shopping. Anyway, I love Walmart because I can get all the things I would normally get at Target- flash drive, contact solution, new bike seat and groceries without having to put the kids in the car twice. The only problem is, since they built the local Super Walmart I haven't been to Target at all. I used to go there almost weekly. I can't decide if I am actually saving money- b/c Walmart groceries are definitely cheaper, or if I am spending more b/c I get into that Walmart and see all kinds of stuff I need, or kinda' need, or don't really need but it's for a good price. Hmmm.

The Summer Newsletter

I know it's been a few days since my last blog, but I have an excuse. I have been putting together the Summer Edition of the Intuitive Eating Newsletter- If you would like to be added to my mailing list, drop me a line. Last night, as my husband is proofing it, he gets to the recipe page and says, "Hey, you never made Carefree Flounder for me" Which I then explained to him that in fact I had made it, it was just a little while ago...um...like 8 years ago, before we had kids. Wow, where does the time go! So, I have promised him and myself that I will make it again, who knows maybe the kids will like it too. I guess I just assumed they wouldn't. They do like fish, although usually it is in the fried form, but it is worth a shot! I'll let you know how it goes over with the rug rats.

Let's talk about 2 year olds

Ahhh to be 2. I tell people that my daughter is in full glory 2 year old world. She is either incredibly cute and adorable and so lovable you just want to eat her up! Or, she is being such a total mess that I can only assume she has been possessed! Case in point, Sunday we went to a princess party at a salon for girls- yeah I know what you are thinking, anyway, she was sooo cute at the party having a grand time playing dress up and having glitter sprayed in her hair and just having a blast! Then yesterday, I had to get her in the car to take my middle child to the little gym, and she was a nightmare! I ended up throwing her in the car (almost literally), strapping her in and fuming the whole way to the gym while she thrashed around, screamed and wailed. Let me add she was wearing only a pull up as she refused to get dressed! Thank goodness I was not pulled over b/c I was thinking I could just see that scene! So, there you have it- day 1 of summer vacation, 99 to go! 

Attraction

For those of you who have been under a rock for the past few years and have not heard of the power of intention, I'll fill you in on a little "secret", it works and is a little frightening when it does. Basically the power of intention or attraction follows the belief that since your mind can not understand anything in the negative, the more you focus on "I don't want to be fat" for example, your mind only hears "I want fat" and Viola your body attracts fat. Or, I don't want to be poor, I don't want to be sick, etc. You get the picture. The law of attraction basically says what you put out to the universe in the form of thoughts will be returned to you. If you say I want to be thin, you are really saying I don't want to be fat. So, how do you make the power of attraction work for you? You start saying, " I am thin" or "I am healthy", even if you don't believe it at first, keep repeating it to yourself and picture yourself how you want to be while saying it. I have used this "Secret" to attract many things in my life and sometimes I don't even realize it. For example, for the past few months I have been stressing over my lack of clients- typical daily thoughts for me included "I don't have enough clients" "how am I ever going to get clients" "I need more clients", etc. Finally, last week while meditating, I said to myself, "I am going to let the client thing go, it's summer and I don't have as much time for clients so I am just going to focus on my kids and not worry about clients". Guess what happened, I have had 10 potential clients contact me in the last week! Amazing! So, I guess the moral of the blog is focus on the positive, add in some gratitude, imagine how you want your life to be instead of wishing it were different, and then stop stressing about the "how" and trust that the universe will deliver. It will, it always does! Try it yourself, start with a baby steps, like when I go to the store my favorite items will be on sale. It's a skill, but once you learn how to do it, your life will begin to change.

Dove Campaign for Beauty

I stumbled upon the Dove campaign for real beauty yesterday. I thought the videos Evolution and the others involving younger girls were very powerful. I got chills watching! We so owe it to our girls to tell them how beautiful they are. If all we talk about is how fat our thighs are and how this is a bad food or if you eat chocolate you'll get fat, what message are we giving our kids. At a minimum we make them feel guilty for wanting something sweet, or salty. There should be no guilt in wanting something sweet-ever try formula or breast milk? It's sweet and it is our very first taste. We are born, we cry, we get something sweet. If we continue to be dictators of our child's diet and enforce food rules, we are only increasing a risk for our kids developing an eating disorder- yup, boys are starting to obsess about their weight too! Babies have the ability to listen to their hunger and satiety cues- ever try to force more milk into an infant when they were no longer hungry? It doesn't go very well! As children grow, they can and do continue to honor their hunger. If they sometimes make a poor choice, well, that is all in the learning curve. It is better for them to learn to listen to their intuition now. If they learn to ignore their intuition by well meaning parents, it can and often does lead to trouble later in life.

Just in case you were wondering, that's what I do for my clients. I help them to get back to eating intuitively, we have to cut through the layers of parents, society, spouses, etc. It's not easy, but once they work through it they feel tremendous RELIEF! Ahhhh!

Evolution

A video all women should watch! It's part of Dove's Real Beauty campagin.
Click the link below to see it.
http://www.dove.us/?dl=/features/videos/default.aspx%7Ccp-documentid=7049579&source=shareBlogger

I caved!

So, here it is 9:30 in the morning and I just served my 2 yo Pirates Booty for a snack, organic, but non the less Junk Food, by definition. Blame it on exhaustion or the fact that it's Monday or maybe it's me allowing my daughter to eat intuitively. I try to let my kids eat intuitively, within reason, usually. I promote intuitive eating to my clients and proclaim that there are no good foods or bad foods and that all foods provide something, and yet when it comes to my kids, it's more of a challenge. Won't they want ice cream every day? Here is the answer, as if on cue, my daughter just returned the empty bowl of Pirate's Booty and now is looking in the fridge for strawberries- which we just picked as a family on Saturday. So, it appears the proof is in the pudding, as they say.