Debi Johnson Coaching

I am developing many new life practices, thanks to the new knowledge that I am gaining from my mind-body
lifecoach training course with Abigail Steidley, The Healthy Life Coach . 

The most profound has been getting in touch with this body of mine, especially after ignoring it for most of my life.  
I’m learning to listen to what it’s been trying to tell me all of these years.  I want to honor it.  

As part of my daily journaling, I am paying attention to my body by asking it questions, such as:
 

Me:  Hey Debi’s body, what do you want right now? 
Debi’s body:   Right now, I am tired and would love to rest.
Me:  Okay, I will step away from the computer, close my eyes and relax for five minutes.
Or ~
Me:  Debi’s body, what’s going on right now?
Debi’s body:  I am tired of sitting.  I need to move. I need to stretch.
Me:  Okay, I’m going to go outside and take a short walk.
Or ~
Me:   Good morning Debi’s body.  What do you want right now?
Debi’s body:  I need you to listen to me and give me extra care.  I know that you are angry with me today because your pants are too tight. 
Me:  I love you body no matter what your size is.  I am sorry that sometimes I blame you for things that are beyond your control.  When I am feeling sad, I need to sit and feel my sadness.  It has nothing to do with you and your size.  It’s not your fault.  You are awesome exactly as you are.  We have been through so much together and you have stayed strong for me. 
Debi’s body:  Thank you for hearing me.  I’d like to just hang out now for awhile.

I am learning to respect my body.  I spent too many years cursing and hating it only because it could never meet my high expectations.  I dieted it into hunger, then stuffed it full of food, only to make it exercise beyond it’s capability at times.  I feel so thankful that it’s wonderfully made!  I am now honoring it by being much more in touch with what it is trying to tell me.  Is it hungry or full?  Is it hot or cold?  Does it need rest or to walk?  I treat it preciously.   

Have you ignored your own body throughout the years?  What do you think about making a truce with it?  You could begin by taking a couple of deep breaths, feeling your perfect toes and fingers, then saying “okay my body, what do you really want right now?” 
Then just LISTEN.

Oh baby, chocolate cake! 

This is my drug of choice!  I look at this picture and my heart begins to race and my palms get sweaty. 

There was a point in my life that I couldn’t have felt safe having a piece of cake.  I would have eaten a sliver of it obsessing over every single calorie or I would have tried to eat the whole thing.  No really!  I felt that I had to eat it all in that I may never be able to have chocolate cake again.  That is based on MY DIET RULE #98 that says “you may not eat chocolate cake”.  Cake would torment me.  I felt like it had a hypnotic control over my brain.  (serious here)! 

However…..now I am free, because I know that IT’S JUST A PIECE OF CAKE!!!!

I want the world to know that cake is just cake.  Food is just food.  It has no mystic power over us.  We have the choice to say no or yes to it.  I know that sounds far fetched.  Sometimes when there is forbidden food in front of you, your mind says “I can’t!  It’s not on my diet”.  But how does saying “I can’t” work for ya?  It’s more likely to make you think about it all of the time.  It takes shear willpower and that can wear a person down. 

How about giving yourself permission to eat cake or whatever your OMG food might be? 

Take the food, sit down, smell it, take it in with your senses…..than enjoy every bite of it.  You might even find that you are so satisfied that you leave some of it on your plate.  I know crazy sounding, but it’s true.  If you are present as you are eating it, you may find that you don’t want to eat as much of it.  Besides you can always go back for more. You see, that takes the SCARY out of it.  It becomes no big deal when it’s there, because you are giving yourself permission to eat it. 

Sound good?  Let me know what you think about indulging in your “formally forbidden” foods.