Feel Better About Yourself Today!

I think we often use food and exercise to punish or reward ourselves. Self deprecation may be the way we connect socially with people. Neither of these practices serves to improve one's often fragile self confidence. In the following article is featured a list of methods for bettering your self image. http://shine.yahoo.com/event/makeover/simple-non-cheesy-ways-to-make-over-your-self-image-1335396/

A lot of the techniques I have suggested to clients before and they have reported to me that they help. I had a client that swears by affirmations, but you have to say it to yourself several times a day, and say it like you mean it, even if you're not yet convinced that it will work. Every time you catch yourself indulging in negative self talk, try one of the skills listed in the article to counteract the ways you put yourself down. Don't put it off until a better day, start now!

Skinny Chicks

I often read books about fitness and nutrition because there is usually something of value I can pull from them. One of the books I have enjoyed (but also wanted to throw across the room a few times) is called "The Secrets of Skinny Chicks: How to Feel Great in Your Jeans- When It Doesn't Come Naturally." The book profiles the diets and workout plans for several women who are very thin and work very hard at it.

What I like is that it stresses that even women who are very thin treat themselves to glasses of wine and chocolate; they just factor it into their daily calorie count. It is also interesting to see that women to whom we may think being skinny comes so naturally, well, in reality, it may not. The women in this book work quite hard at remaining thin.

That said, it is a frustrating book as well. Most women are not going to have the time to devote 4 hours a day to working out. It also often is not the best choice to subsist off 1200 calories a day. What I pull from this is that I need to make a choice about what it most important to me.

Do I want to avoid my favorite foods most of the time and spend most of my free time working out? No. I do not. I enjoy food and socializing outside of the gym too much. When I feel bad about myself, I try to remind myself of this choice and be satisfied with how I choose to live my life.

Eating Disordered Behaviors

I found a study on cnn.com about eating disorders. The article explains that, because of the strict criteria required to give a person an eating disorder diagnosis, many insurance companies will not pay for the treatment a person may need. Many people may not meet the actual criteria for an eating disorder, but that doesn't mean that a person's relationship with food isn't harmful.

Severely restricting fat and protein intake is unhealthy. If you have irritability, dry skin, fatigue, dull and brittle hair and nails, digestive complaints, and an inability to lose weight, you may be suffering from essential fat deficiency. Add some avocado, nuts, seeds, salmon, or other healthy fats to your diet! Protein deficiency is indicated by fatigue, difficulty building muscle, loss of hair, and mood swings.

Chronic dieting can also be very stressful for one's body. One may notice difficulty losing weight despite low calorie intake and frequent exercise. Sometimes the body holds onto fat stores and slows the building of muscle when calorie intake is not high enough. One may also have vitamin deficiencies and brain chemistry imbalances. If you have trouble allowing yourself to eat more, you may benefit from a counseling relationship to help you work through this resistance.

Fight depression: Every day tips

This is a pretty good article I came across today at www.health.com: "10 No-Cost Strategies to Fight Depression." It details a few simples steps to take that may help diminish mild depression. One of the tips is to maintain a routine. I know that if I have a few extra days off or I'm home sick, it seems so much more difficult to go back to my regular work and exercise routine. Of course one needs to take care of herself when sick, but sometimes forcing myself out of bed in the morning and going about my day as if I'm feeling 100 percent can lead to me actually feeling happier and more like myself.

Exercising is another good tip. I would add that it helps to find exercise that you truly enjoy. I know that it can be hard to get myself to work out sometimes, but just getting changed into my workout clothes is often the most difficult step. Once I'm changed and ready to go, I do it and I feel so good (most of the time). Afterwards I feel great. If I dreaded every workout and hated it throughout the entire session, it would be so much more difficult to continue to do it! Look into yoga classes, dance classes, walking with a friend, doing push ups while you watch TV...anything that you might actually keep up with and enjoy.

Eating at the Speed of Boring

I have known for a while that I am a fast eater and that it is so much healthier to eat slowly. Eating quickly leads to a stress response, which limits oxygen intake and inhibits proper digestion. Because of this knowledge, I am consciously attempting to eat more slowly.

If I am mindful and aware of my food, even when I'm trying to eat slowly, I find that I am still finishing my meal quickly. Perhaps it is because I am enjoying it so much I want to focus on just eating? I can employ tricks to force myself to eat more slowly such as chewing my food so many times or putting my fork down between bites. This ends up leading to boredom with my meal and that isn't good either, as I am not getting my required amount of pleasure from the food.

So I have been playing with different ways to maintain that awareness, pleasure, and slowness of my meals, but every person is different and different techniques may work better for each of you. For me, I am noticing that if I keep in mind the word "savor," I accomplish my food goals more easily. If I savor that food, I am fixated on the enjoyment of the taste and wanting to make it last. I would be interested in others' solutions.

Breathing for Anxiety Relief and Weight Loss

The article "Breathe Through It" in Women's Health Magazine outlines the benefits from regular, deep breaths. It may seem simple, but there are some specific techniques that can be easily learned and used for, among other things, weight loss and anxiety. So when you're in a particularly anxiety-inducing situation, don't forget to breathe! It signals to the brain that you're breathing normally, therefore, there's no need to be in a "fight or flight" response. It's important to breath regularly and deeply while you're eating as well. If we hold our breath as we shovel the food in, a stress response is triggered and our bodies stop digesting our food properly. This can lead to digestive troubles such as heartburn and stomach aches, as well as food being stored as fat in our bodies.

Chronic Dieting

I came across another article today that caught my eye. It is featured in Women's Health magazine: "Losing Weight Help: Why Fat Comes Back." Many people trying to lose weight seem to restrict their diets severely and force themselves into very strenuous exercise patterns that very few people will ever be able to maintain. This may work in the short term, but then when the dieting period is over, the weight may come right back. This article has some good points in it in regards to this issue.

Some important things to remember: eating less often leads to the body maintaing stores of fat. Our bodies have not evolved in all the ways we may think it should have. In the past, humans went through periods of not being able to find sufficient supplies of food. Our bodies react to this by storing up the fat we have existing on our bodies and burning off muscle for energy. If you are eating too little, you might have a more difficult time maintaining muscle and burning fat. Skipping meals is also dangerous. Always start out your day with breakfast to get your metabolism going. Again, skipping a meal, particularly at the beginning of the day, can trigger the body to go into "starvation mode" and hold onto your fat. If you cannot manage several small meals throughout the day, aim for your biggest meal to be around midday. This is when the body is in it's peak calorie burning time.

If you do decide you need to lose weight, try to listen to your body. If you are craving something, eat it. Maybe you need some nutrient in that food. Otherwise, you're wasting energy stressing about those "bad" foods. Try to find a diet and exercise plan you can maintain, otherwise the weight will always come right back.