Are you a food victim?

Definition of a victim:  a person to whom life happens.
~ Peter McWilliams

Are You a Food Victim??? I hesitate to use the word “VICTIM,” because it is such a strong word.  But I’ve just got to ask … are you?  a food victim?  no?  are you sure???

If you think that something or someone other than yourself is controlling your food choices and/or controlling your eating …
… Then, you are a food victim!

If you believe that certain foods are simply irresistible, as in impossible to resist, no way, can’t say ‘no’ to that or that or even that, or that the Universe is conspiring against you, sabotaging your healthy living attempts at every turn on the road to Sveltesville, and that external circumstances hold power over you …
… Then, you are a food victim!

In order for your permanent weight removal attempts to be fully, entirely and wholly (or holy) successful, then you must step away from and move out of ‘food victim mode.’

You may not realize that you have stepped into the victim role and have embraced it as fully as you have, but if you are not taking full responsibility, if you are not exercising your ability to create a healthy lifestyle; if you allowing life to lead you down the path to donuts and other ‘deadly delights,’ then you have taken on this ineffectual and hopeless identity.

Ask yourself … “Just how much of a ‘food victim’ am I?”

“We focus on the negatives, losing ourselves in the problem. We point to our unhappy circumstances to rationalize our negative feelings. This is the easy way out. It takes, after all, very little effort to feel victimized.”~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

No doubt fully embracing a healthy lifestyle takes time and effort. And true that you have a ridiculous amount of things to do, which you miraculously manage to squeeze into each and every day.  And true that there are only 24 hours in the day.  But, but … BIG BUTT … bottom line, if you want to lose those extra pounds (and not find them again); if you want to be healthy, then you need to take responsibility.

Make ADJUSTMENTS!
Adjust your expectations (in other words, get real – there are no quick fixes in life; no ‘diet fairy’ that is going to visit you in the middle of the night and scoop your pounds away).

The more you pay attention to and adjust your thoughts, your beliefs and your language, the more successful you will be.

Actions follow thoughts. The more negative your thoughts, the more belief systems that are in place that no longer work for you, the less likely you are to take the steps you need to move forward in weight loss or any other arena in life.  Pay attention to the words you speak as well as your inner language.  Make adjustments.

It’s UP to You!
The power is in your hands (literally), not in the food.  No one else determines your choices, your priorities, or your values.  You can make the ‘best choice.’ Perhaps, not the ideal or perfect choice sits in front of you, but a ‘best’ choice does.

Practice BEST Choice!
Imagine for a moment what it would be like if you always made the BEST choice.  Even if you have to pick the lesser of two evils, you have a better choice in front of you.

Watch the CHANGE!
Let go of your ‘food victim’ identity, exercise your Best Choice Muscle and watch the change.

Technorati Tags: Health, Janice Taylor, weight loss success, wellness

The Weight Loss Warrior that Lives Within You

I have in the past written about the difference between being assertive and aggressive – and advocated for the assertive side of life – stating that there’s no need to bring the police into the picture!!!!  (Referencing an incident I had –or created, depending on your point of view – in an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, at which time I specifically said at a minimum of three times, “NO BUTTER!”  Nevertheless, when served, my food was swimming in butter! It got ugly!).

However, I was WRONG. True enough, although it is the first time that I’m wrong!  But I’m woman enough to admit it.

There is nothing wrong with being AGGRESSIVE.  In fact, it is the RIGHT PATH!!!  It is the WAY of the WEIGHT LOSS WARRIOR!!!!

AGGRESSIVE ENERGY
Aggressive energy is an essential part of being human.  Aggressive energy will always be with you.  It is an integral and meaningful part of you and it is up to you whether or not you use it for good or ill or even worse, deny it altogether.

When you deny aggression, you are abdicating tapping into this natural and vital well of energy and power.  It is your natural resource that can make all the difference.

The aggressive energy that rumbles through you is simply the Warrior within that is thirsting to accept responsibility, wanting to come out and lead YOU to victory!

You have, in our time together, made the decision to permanently remove your excess weight; you have looked into your future; filled up on confidence; spoken words that energize and motivate; fed the soul and the body and now …

It is TIME!!! To let YOUR WARRIOR OUT!!!!

YOUR WARRIOR … gets things done!
… gives you a sense of yourself as Champion of Your Vision.
… slays the dragons of fear and doubt.
… is inspired and optimistic.
And when your warrior runs into obstacles your warrior recognizes them as tests and does not abandon her Quest …
… YOUR WARRIOR … battles on.

Your warrior … perseveres in the face of difficulties, in the face of temptation.

Good Intentions Are NOT ENOUGH. Sacrifice is necessary.

How you and your warrior bond together now will determine the outcome of your story.

Will you live your best life, or will you remain in bondage to food, emotional eating, and the circumstances that life throws in your path?

Your Warrior actually enjoys discipline, planning, and boundaries.  Your Warrior does not stamp its feet and act like a 4 year-old; your warrior sees the above as opportunity to live life to the fullest.

Be a Warrior.  Be a Weight Loss Warrior.

Spread the word … NOT the icing,

Janice Taylor
wise * fun * utterly useful

____________________________________________
For the best in wellness and weight loss wisdom, visit Janice:

Our Lady of Weight Loss
join the Kick in the Tush Club
Virtual Shoulder

Follow Janice Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OurLady
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OurLadyofWeightLoss

Technorati Tags: Gentle Warrior, Healthy Living, inspiration, Janice Taylor, Weight Loss Motivation, Weight Loss Success Coach, Weight Loss Warrior

Need a Kick in the Tush? 8 Tips for a Well-Balanced Life

When I imagine what it looks like to live a balanced life, two thoughts come to mind.

The first is the “Jack theory.” All work and no play makes for a cranky Jack. All this and no that, too much of this and too little of that, just doesn’t work. The challenge here is to balance what we must do with what we enjoy and want to do. We need to carve out time for the serious stuff as well as play.

The other way to live a balanced life has more to do with going with the flow; not letting the inevitable glitch in our day throw us off-balance, sending us careening off course. It’s about staying balanced.

In other words, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still ‘go wrong’ with it. When lucky, we experience a minor glitch; a glitch so small and short-lived that you hardly notice it – a transient fault that corrects itself.

However, there are the times when a hornet’s nest of difficulties presents itself, and you need to change course, immediately, lest you get knocked off your tush!

Here follows eight guidelines on how you can ‘root’ yourself in balance, enabling you to smile and stay steady the course, even in the face of the inevitable hiccup, glitch or major league malfunction.

8 Tips For A Well Balanced Life
… go with the flow, baby, lest it knocks you off-balance

1. Take Care of YOU. I promise you that your health is the key ingredient to ALL! They don’t say, “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got everything” for nothing! It’s the truth. You simply cannot function in high gear, if you don’t get the right amount of rest, exercise or good, healthy eats (a.k.a. real food vs. processed ‘stuff’). At some point, ‘it’ will catch up with you.

2. Set Priorities. Leading your ‘best life’ does not mean that you need to be or should try to be perfect and do all. It means that you self-reflect, known thyself, determine your true values. Not knowing who you are and what you want and trying to do everything is a recipe for burnout and disaster. Do not bite off more than you can chew!

3. Plan Pretty. No, planning is not a dirty word, although you might think it is based on the response I sometimes get when I stress the importance of planning. Do not stamp your feet, like a 3 year old and say, “I don’t like to plan.” Keeping an organized calendar and planner, tracking your appointments and food, your (a.k.a. movement for the exercise phobic), leads to freedom.

When you plan, you essentially dump your thoughts onto the page, organize them so they do not overwhelm you, which leads to a productive, relaxed kind of day. Instead of cringing at the thought of ‘planning,’ embrace it. Once again, planning presents a clear path out of the state of ‘overwhelm’ and into a state of ‘freedom.’

4. Stuff Happens; Expect the Unexpected. Have you ever had a day when something unexpected didn’t happen? An unexpected phone call, unexpected traffic jam, a platter of pretty cupcakes being paraded in front of you or maybe worse yet, a computer crash? Stuff happens my friends. Stuff happens big time. So expect the unexpected and just roll with it.

5. Wake Up Happy. Your first thoughts are the most powerful, the strongest and they can set a tone for the day. You can easily train yourself to begin each and every day with a positive thought.

Begin to pay attention to your waking thoughts. If they are not ‘happy’ or useful thought, change them. In the place between being asleep and fully awake, note your thoughts and change them if you have to, or if positive and useful, embrace them. “Today, I am going to get organized and ‘motor’ through the day with great, happy energy.” Vs. “Crapola, it’s Monday. Another day, another dollar.” Get my drift?

6. Stay Connected with Family and Friends. Another key ingredient to living a balanced life and staying ‘in balance’ is your connection to your friends and family. However busy you may be, be sure to reach out to at least one friend or family member daily. Preferably, in real time, either in person or via telephone; not electronically! There’s nothing like the real thing.

7. Be Spontaneous. On the one hand, I do believe that planning equals freedom, as mentioned above. On the other hand, let’s not get so rigid that we lose the ability to be spontaneous. If you suddenly have the urge to go for a long walk, go to a movie, hook up with a friend at lunchtime, feed the hummingbirds … do so!

8. Breathe Deep and Unwind. At the end of your glorious day, take a minute or two or thirty to unwind. Curl up with a good book, take a hot bath, listen to music that soothes or stirs your soul. Do nothing. Take in a few deep, cleansing breaths, congratulate on a day well-lived and just plain relax.

What is the one most important thing that you do to help you stay balanced, enabling you to go with the flow? Weigh-in below!

Spread the word … NOT the icing,

Janice Taylor
wise * fun * utterly useful

____________________________________________
For the best in wellness and weight loss wisdom, visit Janice:
Our Lady of Weight Loss
join the Kick in the Tush Club
Virtual Shoulder

Follow Janice Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OurLady
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OurLadyofWeightLoss

Technorati Tags: A Balanced Life, Janice Taylor, personal development, self-discovery

10 Quotes to Inspire the Body

“Our inner guidance comes to us through our feelings and body wisdom first — not through intellectual understanding.” ~ Christiane Northrup

Because thoughts come from our head, and said thoughts tend to be loud (very loud), we are inclined to live there – in our heads.

What happens when we live in our heads?
We disconnect from our bodies. That’s what happens! We disconnect from our bodies.  We lose touch with our bodies and the fact is -  yes it is a fact – that our bodies know us better than our minds do.

Imagine that … just for a moment.  Your body knows you better than your mind knows you. Our thoughts are often skewed and out right wrong.  But our bodies?  Our bodies don’t lie to us.  Our bodies are never wrong.

What we need to do is shift our attention from our ‘head’ thoughts and move it to our bodies. Notice your breath. Are you breathing? Deeply or barely at all? Scan your body. Are your muscles tense? Where are the knots? Where is the energy blocked?

Your body feels good when she (or he) is happy. Your body is the source of your vitality, your intuition, your enthusiasm; and it is the source of your motivation.

You want to know how to stay motivated, don’t you?
Tap into your body. Breathe deeply. Stretch. Release the tension. And ask your body, “Body, dear sweet body, that is under-appreciated for all that you do for me, what do you want?”

Listen to your body.

10 Quotes that Inspire the Body

1. Our own physical body possesses a wisdom, which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders, which make no sense. ~ Henry Miller

2. The word arse is as much god as the word face. It must be so, otherwise you cut off your god at the waist. ~ D.H. Lawrence

3. Man is an intelligence in servitude to his organs. ~ Aldous Huxley

4. The body never lies. ~ Martha Graham

5.  Your heart knows not how to lie. It is great that it lays deep in your chest and not in your mouth. ~ Kak Sri

6.  Emotion always has its roots in the unconscious and manifests itself in the body.
~ Irene Claremont de Castillejo

7.  Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies. ~ Frank Gillette Burges

8.  Few of us have lost our minds, but most of us have long ago lost our bodies. ~ Ken Wilbur

9.  I love the body.  Flesh is so honest, and organs do not lie. ~ Terri Guillemets

10. If you do not care for your body, do tell … where will your soul live? ~ Janice Taylor

Which quote resonates most with your body?
Do you have another to share?  Please inspire the body today!

Spread the word … NOT the icing,

Janice Taylor
wise * fun * utterly useful
____________________________________________
For the best in wellness and weight loss wisdom, visit Janice:
Our Lady of Weight Loss, home of the Kick in the Tush Club
Virtual Shoulder

Follow Janice Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OurLady
Facebook:  Facebook/Our Lady of Weight Loss

Technorati Tags: body image, inspiration, Janice Taylor, love your body, Motivation, Self Es, self love, Weight Loss Success Coach

What does your “one nightstand” say about you?

I’m referencing the one nightstand that sits next to your bed. The stand that you dump the contents of your day onto before you drift off to sleep. The stand that holds your eyeglasses, your meds, your alarm clock, the book(s) you are reading, maybe your laptop, your cell phone, your landline, a pad, a pen or two, your watch, your rings, a glass of water, a glass of wine, your peace pipe, your sex toys, sugary snacks, crunchy snacks, full meals, and maybe a statue of the Buddha. And let’s not forget all our sleep paraphernalia, including eye masks, aromatherapy candles, sound machines, sleeping potions and sleeping pills.

What does your one night-stand say about you and about your quality of sleep?

As Dr. Rubin Naiman, sleep specialist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine, explained at the Weil on Wellness Immersion Program at Miraval Resort Spa, so aptly put it … “If sleep is a nightly get-away, then the nightstand is the overnight bag we carry at our side. We can learn a lot about a person and their travels by examining their bags.

“What’s on your night-stand? Is it suggestive of a rejuvenating personal retreat? Or, is it more about a stressful business trip?”

Dr. Naiman’s “one night stand” concept instantaneously captured my imagination! And from the sounds of the gasps, the aHA and light-bulb moments popping throughout the room, I was not alone. An intriguing and simple visual that tells me with certainty what I am dragging with me throughout the day and straight into the night.

Hungry for more insights on what my nightstand says about me, and curious how I can have a more restful and rejuvenating sleep, I caught up with Dr. Naiman post-conference for a most soporific conversation.

JT: How might the contents of our ‘nighttime baggage’ interfere with a good night’s sleep? What does it matter?

RN: Take a closer look at what’s on your nightstand. Ask yourself if these things encourage a natural surrender to sleep or keep you subtly tethered to the world of waking.

Things that keep you connected to waking such as clocks, lamps, radios, computers and telephones, as well as energy spiking foods, substances and information have no place on an overnight sleep retreat.

The ubiquitous digital clock, for example, can draw us back into the waking world of time.

JT: If one is ‘out,’ how does it specifically draw us back into our waking world? And retreat? Am I really going on an overnight retreat?

RN: The depth to which we will go ‘out’ depends on our willingness to let go of the waking world. It’s nearly impossible to resist the temptation of checking the time when we can’t sleep. But, doing so draws us into even greater wakefulness. To make matters worse, both the light and the electromagnetic field radiating from such a device suppresses melatonin, further compromising our sleep and overall health. Best to get the thing away from your head and your bed.

JT: Melatonin?

RN: Melatonin is a complex neuro-hormone synthesized from serotonin — primarily in the pineal gland or “third eye”–when we are exposed to dim light or darkness. I think of melatonin as the queen of our nighttime biology. It gently but decidedly ushers our bodies, brains and minds into sleep and dreams.

Melatonin has been touted as a miracle substance. As a key player in our night biology, it regulates circadian rhythms, facilitates sleep, and promotes dreaming. Melatonin is also involved in the regulation of a wide range of hormones and neurotransmitters and functions as a potent antioxidant. Beyond its usefulness in managing jet lag, circadian rhythm disorders and insomnia, a growing body of research is finding that melatonin shows promise in treating diverse conditions like hypertension, premenstrual syndrome, macular degeneration and even certain cancers.

JT: Do you take melatonin?

RN: I personally have been taking a small dose of melatonin nightly for nearly 20 years. I don’t do so to help with my sleep. I take it because I believe that like most people, I am overexposed to light at night. I use a .5 mg sublingual and sustained release preparation of melatonin. Sublingual means that it dissolves under the tongue. This carries the melatonin directly into the bloodstream before it can be filtered out by the liver. And a sustained release preparation will remain active throughout most of the night, in contrast to standard melatonin which has a very short half life.

To date, melatonin has a good safety profile. Much better than most popular sleeping pills. Still, it is generally not recommended for use in children and during pregnancy. Melatonin may exacerbate nighttime asthma and, possibly, certain autoimmune conditions. Its always wise to talk with a knowledgeable physician before embarking upon supplementation.

JT: During your talk at The Weil for Wellness … @ Miraval, you mentioned that our nightstands reflect our personal stance toward sleep and that we are all too frequently ‘desperate’ for sleep.

RN: Yes, when faced with the prospect of yet another bad night, many of us will do whatever it takes to make it through the night. Whether it’s about overeating or relying on alcohol or sleeping pills, such a one night stand approach ultimately backfires. It erodes our belief in our own natural ability to surrender to sleep.

JT: Overeating? Do you mean that people get up in the middle of the night and graze, snack or binge as a way to get back to sleep?

RN: Because eating triggers a relaxation response that temporarily sooths anxiety, food can readily become a kind of drug we depend on to get to sleep. Unfortunately, sleeplessness can readily become entangled with a number of eating disorders. Although sleep and eating are both nourishing, in one respect, they are opposites. Eating energizes us. Sleep is about relinquishing energy. We don’t sleep in our refrigerators. We shouldn’t eat in bed.

Ultimately, we need to think in terms of developing a sustainable relationship with sleep. Consider developing a personal, soothing evening ritual under gentle low-blue lighting. This might include a warm bath, some yoga or stretching, meditation or prayer, and some light or even lighthearted reading. And always, in the end, it’s about surrendering to sleep.

JT: Thank you Dr. Naiman. Fantastic! Any final thoughts for our readers?

RN: Yes. I think it’s helpful to reflect on this simple truth: We are all always already asleep. What I mean by this is that sleep is the foundation of all consciousness. It’s always present beneath our waking. And because we’re already there, we literally can’t ‘go to sleep.’ Trying to do so will only further activate the wakeful part of us. What we can do, of course, is learn to let go of waking and practice surrendering to sleep.

For more on restful and rejuvenating sleep visit Dr. Rubin Naiman: www.DrNaiman.com

And be sure to order your copy of The Yoga of Sleep. Highly recommended!

Spread the word … NOT the icing,

Janice Taylor
wise * fun * utterly useful

____________________________________________
For the best in wellness and weight loss wisdom, visit Janice:
Our Lady of Weight Loss
Virtual Shoulder

Follow Janice Taylor on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OurLady
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/OurLadyofWeightLoss

Technorati Tags: Dr. Rubin Naiman, Janice Taylor, motivational speaker, self-discovery, The Sleep of Yoga, wellness, yoga

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