Falling Off the Resolution Wagon

So it's 5 days into the new year. Did you make a new years resolution to eat right? I did.

Did you already fall off the wagon?
A

Do You Want to get back on?

There is quite a bit of information online about how to lose weight, and even how to stick with it. So I won't go into details here. Besides, even though I have read about nutrition since I stopped eating red meat as a teenager about 40 years ago, I am not a nutritionist. If you need information on how to eat healthy, you can find programs online such as my friend JoAnn Newton's Nutritional e-cleanse and many many more.

I am lucky, because I have been eating healthy meals for decades. But I have this little problem with a huge sweet tooth. So I frequently resolve to quit sweets. Not just at New Year's. And I keep falling off that wagon. So I decided to look for ways to stay on it.

Staying on the Resolution Wagon

For me, staying with my nutritional resolutions includes knowing where my "weaknesses" are. I know that I need to ignore the call of the delicious chocolate chip cookies at Oliver's Market. They are the only store-bought cookies I have ever encountered that taste as good as my own. Real butter, plenty of brown sugar and dark chocolate chips. Heaven in a cookie.

So even though they remind me of childhood treats, and they taste fabulous, I know that I have a choice every time I crave one, every time I shop there, every time I walk past them.

If you ever tried to diet or to clean up your eating act, you probably know all too well the internal argument that goes on. Like a parent telling e a child no, I immediately rebel.

For me, it's something like this:
8:00 AM "Today I will eat healthy."
By 8:15 AM, the dialogue begins:
"I want one of those cookies. They are SO good!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You know it might interrupt your sleep."
"I don't care. I'll eat healthy starting tomorrow."
And I watch myself walk over to the cookie counter (sometimes drive to the store first!) and get a cookie."
I usually enjoy it thoroughly while eating it. Then regret it the next time I step on the scale or see my reflection in the mirror. Or sometimes, 10 minutes later.

Sound familiar?

Choosing - What Is a Treat, Really?

But why do I argue with myself? Am I going to let this happen every day for the rest of my life? Or will choose to be in control of my mind rather than let it run rampant like a 3 year old with no discipline?

I can succumb to my deeply-ingrained habit of reaching for one of those amazing cookies. I can even savor it as slowly as possible. And then, as often as not, several minutes later my sensitive stomach will remind me that it wasn't such a good idea. And maybe I get a little hyper from the sugar. So is it really a treat then? Is the series of reactions to that confection really worth it? Are the extra pounds really worth it? Am I really giving myself a treat when I think about it? Am I really depriving myself if I choose to not eat that cookie today?

The Key to Staying with the Resoultion

For me, the key is finding a place of peace between these 2 warring sides. I learned a long time ago not to let the argument gain steam. Instead, like Chance in the movie Being There, I watch. Either I

watch myself buy the cookie, or I watch myself walk past them.

I remember that I used to reach for candy bars more often than those cookies, and that I trained myself to walk past them after I discovered that I am pre-diabetic. It helped that I found something I like better: Cacao powder in my morning protein drink. So I am not deprived of chocolate. I actually like the cacao better than chocolate. So if I can walk away from my favorite candy bar, I can certainly practice walking away from the cookies too. The candy now seems smaller, less bright, less appealing. And I don't even like the taste any more. So this year I am practicing doing the same with the cookies: making them smaller, duller, less interesting than before.

How About You?

What is your favorite mental trick to avoid your trigger foods?

New Year Rituals

The New Year is just 3 days away. It's a time when many people stop and reflect on the year just ending and the year to come. And a time for New Year's rituals to embody those thoughts, desires, dreams, and wishes.

Here is a common and meaningful ritual for the New Year.

Releasing the Old

Take a moment to reflect on what you would like to release for the New Year. Is there something that you feel is holding you back from all you want to be and express? Perhaps it is fear, excess, weight, resistance, or something else. Take out a piece of paper and write a statement to express it. For example, "I release everything currently holding me back from financial success."

If you have a fireplace or wood stove, you can mindfully put this prayer of release this into the fire.
If you don't have a fireplace, you can tear or shred the paper, or bury it to decompose in the ground. Or write the release on toilet paper and flush its down the toilet. You can release this in any way that feels true and good to you. For a feeling of lightness, you might like to wave bye-bye to it as it swirls down and away. If you feel more solemn about it, then bring that reflective mindfulness to your release.

Calling In the New

What would you most like to bring into your life experience in 2016? More fun? More income? Vibrant health? A better relationship with a family member? A new love interest or deepened connection to your existing partnership?

Take a moment to reflect on this. Really feel into what would be great. Phrase this in a positive way. For example, instead of phrasing it as "No more stress" write something like "Ease, Flow. Peace". You can write a prayer or affirmation, or just a few words.

Don't worry about how it would happen or even whether it's possible. Just feel what you would like to experience in the coming year, and write that down on another piece of paper. If you are not a writer, find or draw a picture that symbolizes what you want. This paper can go on your altar, or some place that you will see it regularly. Or it can be planted as a symbol of a seed that will grow. You can tie it in a tree, or put it in a corner of your home that represents that part of your life.

In the past, friends would tie their hope onto a balloon and release it, but this is not an eco-friendly method, so think of something that feels right to you.

How About You?

Do you do New Year's Rituals? What is your favorite?

Return of De-Light

This morning was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year.

It is a time of celebration because the light returns tomorrow as the days become longer each day.  It is the return of de-light!

We still have longer nights than days until the Spring Equinox, so it is still a time for introspection and germination, like a seed in the soil.





This longest night of darkness and the return of the light… return of del-light…

Like most of us, as a child I felt the Joy and limitlessness of innocent youth. Then, just as the night becomes longer than the day, as I grew, I learned to think and experience life in the same way as those before me and around me. Or as don Miguel Ruiz would phrase it, I was domesticated. I forgot who I was.

So now it is time for us to return to the light. To remember who we are. To shine that Light. T return to the delight and the Light of our innocence.

It is time for the return of De-Light.

May your life and your year be filled with the Light and deLight!