Wow, it’s March already! This is the time to stay inspired. I’ll share one client’s example of crossing over to the enlightened side. She’s doing weight loss differently this time around and is feeling like it’s going to stick. In the past week, here are some things she wrote and said:

“I really feel like I’m settling into this body and getting comfortable. People really notice the change and I feel much more comfortable with it – I believe it’s happening and isn’t some fad. The pace we moved with this is so incredibly important so that my mind can integrate the changes but not get freaked out, distrustful or scared.
I feel so lucky to have this developed this patient wisdom about my body – it’s almost better than being thin if you can believe it.
I really, really feel great about the mental improvements. Just a huge part of my goal in working with you.”

She has developed a rich inner life despite being busy as the center of the household with 2 school age boys. She had craved that, and was trying to get it with sugar. She gave up sugar 2 months ago.
“Food gives a sense of ‘inner life’ for a moment. It takes you in and then keeps you trapped from really getting inward. Why would I want to sacrifice that awareness now that my eyes are open.”

I commented on her courage to be awake.
“I don’t feel like it was courage. Life wanted me to do that. I was going against my grain. I didn’t trust much of my choices and observations. There was distortion. I wanted out of the cloud, the haze; to stop being a victim. That way of being is ultimately draining.”

She emphasized how the spiritual component in her weight loss this time makes it more effective and meaningful. “…to imprint the two together. Body and spirit connect the journey. You just can’t look at the body, you have to look at the spirit.”

As I prepare to eat Thanksgiving dinner, I think about how much I appreciate that I love to eat!
In the past couple of months, more people have told me how much they love food. For most, someone made some kind of comment alluding to them loving too much to eat which lead them to be ashamed of it.
God set it up that eating is pleasurable! Who are we to negate that? We can use loving to eat to our advantage.
If we really love to eat, then let’s receive the absolute most from our eating experiences. That means being present in the moment to thoroughly taste the food and being tuned-in to all the sensations in the mouth and the body. The idea is also to be a foodie, eat quality food that we love and have a keen discerning palate like a food critic or a connoisseur.
One woman recalled that when she was slim, she was in Europe, buying fresh and local food each day and small amounts of especial items such as gourmet cheese. She said, “I am going to eat my way to being slim again.”
Yes, that’s what people with no food/weight issues do! They eat what they want, relax and enjoy their food and then feel the enoughness. Ahh!

A client who is participating in a writing class shares her completed assignment.
I love that food is a forum for sharing and espressing love, connection and togetherness.

The role of food in my life – Lesson 4

It is hard to describe the role of food in my life when I have recently struggled with emotional eating, because I feel like I have abused its pure purposes of nourishing my body and providing energy and physical pleasure. However, the strongest role that food has played in my life has been about relating to people. Making food is a way of nourishing relationships for me.

My best memories about my family gatherings are when I helped my grandmother, mother, and aunts to make tamales. Everybody had a job; even my smallest cousin joined the party by spreading dough on the corn leaves. We did our tasks together gossiping, joking, and even discussing over the shores.

Soon after I met my husband I shared about my culture by making tostadas for him. We got to know each other better while we learned to make pies together. We got married with homey dreams of healthy meals prepared by us. When we had our babies, my world was shaken, but I almost always found time to make their food myself.

Last weekend, my friends joined my family for home-made waffles, my three and five year-old daughters helped me measure flour, sugar, and baking powder. They clumsily separated the yolks from the egg whites, added milk to the dry ingredients, and mixed everything. They were wearing messy aprons and big proud smiles. My heart was content because the waffles main ingredient was love.

E. W.

When you savor your bites of food, you savor the moments of your life.

When you allow yourself the freedom to choose what you want to eat and consciously choose the next bite you want to take, you notice how much choice you have in your life.

When you eat according to your truth, you respect yourself and live authentically, speaking and acting according to your truth.

When you ask your body what it wants to eat, you tend to consult and trust your intuition.

When you eat tuned-in to the sensations in your mouth, you tend to live more in the present moment with what is here right now.

When you ask yourself several times a day how hungry or full you are, you tend to check-in with your feelings, needs and wants throughout the day. You are so beloved that someone cares to listen to you.

When you don’t let yourslf get too hungry or too full, you tend to live with balance and self-care.

When you appreciate the rich colors and flavors on your plate, you notice what is rich and magical in your life.

When you eat mindfully, you live mindfully. When you stay with yourself while you eat, someone is always at home and available for you.

When you eat purposefully, you live purposefully.

I first learned of the concept that we eat the way we live and we live the way we eat from Geneen Roth, whom I consider the foremost authority on emotional eating in this country. I then saw it in myself. And, for the 5 1/2 years I’ve had this privilege of witnessing transformation in people, I’ve seen that the qualities people adopted in how they eat, then spilled over into how they live.

So, how we eat matters beyond physical health and weight. It is a template for self-actualization.

A playful and effective way to keep your intentions front and center is to sing a little song about it. You would write down what it is that you want to be, do, have or think and then summarize it into a catchy ditty.

Years ago, I got the idea while reading The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity by Catherine Ponder, 1962. I made an extensive list of the qualities I wanted in my future husband and condensed it into a joyful little song that said it all for me. Even though I only half believed I could have it, I met my husband on a day that I was singing it! He completely fulfills what I was singing! Now, I sing about other important things I want. My songs are powerful catalysts for change in my life as they are for my clients in their lives.

Here is an example of two songs a client wrote. She sings one for personal power and one for weight loss.

I’m confident, smart, athletic and smart,
I’m pretty and healthy and have a loving heart.
I always think before I speak
And have a kick-ass physique
I believe in myself and am living the part.

Each time that I eat, I stop and I think
What does my body want to eat or to drink?
A full breath may just be
As fulfilling to me
So I’ll relax till my body and mind are in sync

Singing your endeavors allows change to be more fun and easy – a new paradigm for weight loss.