A recipe in kindness and self-love

They say that health and fitness is 80% diet and 20% exercise. This is backed up by sayings such as ‘abs are made in the kitchen’ and ‘you can’t out train a bad diet’. Too me that is too simplistic. Where in that equation is psychology? Where does the impact of our thoughts, of our beliefs, of how we feel come in? How you feel about food, about exercise and importantly how you feel about yourself is what will make that 80% diet and 20% exercise a positive enjoyable lifestyle, or complete hell.

A Chinese philospher Lao Tzu, once said:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

There has been many times when I have been in the middle of a session at the gym, pushing my body to the max when I have thought to myself...if only I could push my mind past the barriers that are limiting me as much as I push myself through these hard HIIT rounds. For that 1 hour I spend at the gym, where I am, more often than not, pushing myself out of my comfort zone, there are a further 23 hours that I am at the mercy of my thoughts, and for me, most of those thoughts are about food. “What do I want for breakfast? oh, I’d really like to have pancakes, mmmmm with ice-cream, but I can’t, that’s naughty, that will make me fat, I don’t deserve them”. Followed by, “If only I could eat what I like”,  “If only I could be like ‘that’ girl (insert body inspiration) and not have to bust my butt working out all the time, and dieting”, “It’s such a struggle”, “I wish I looked good in my skinny jeans/swimsuit/work-out gear.” Add to that your criteria for happiness: “when I have lost 10kgs then I’ll be happy, then I can be in a relationship, then my life will be fabulous”.

I think the thoughts around eating and our body are the biggest hurdles towards health and fitness. They filter down to make the 80% diet easier. I think it is important to really listen to the things that you are say to yourself about food and what you are eating and not give all your energy and power away to a whole heap of thoughts that don’t serve you. Remember you are your thoughts, so if you think you’re fat/useless/or that you are always going to have problems with your weight, then just by having these thoughts makes them so. So if you want to be ‘that’ girl, start thinking you are.

You know that feeling you have when someone pays you a compliment. You stand a little taller, you walk a little more confidently, you smile on the inside and outside. You then don’t feel like going for that packet of chips/jar or peanut butter/bag of lollies/slab of chocolate/bucket of ice-cream. You don’t feel like it because you are full of happiness and full of love and when you are full in these things, you don’t need to fill yourself up with all those other foods. It also makes you want to work out harder because you just feel so good about yourself. That’s a pretty impressive gift that someone has given you. Just by planting a positive thought in your mind you feel differently about yourself, and it feels good. It feels better than binging on sweets or sneaking treats, or having a few too many glasses of wine.

So why don’t you give yourself that gift? Along with making the right choices about food for 23 hours, and making the effort to exercise for that 1 hour, why don’t you get more for your time and effort by planting positive thoughts in your mind to really carry you through the day instead of sabotaging your hard work and good efforts? Why not give that gift to yourself? If you are going to be having thoughts, why not make them positive ones that help you feel fabulous, achieve your goals and stop creating food as your enemy.

Think about it this way. If you heard someone say those negative nasty comments you say to yourself to your best friend, what would you say to that person? You wouldn't let them get away with it would you? Why do you let yourself say those things to yourself?

What you need to do is dish yourself up a decent plate of kindness and self-love, and then see what food you need.

Remember your thoughts become your destiny.

Remember you are worth it.

Bon appetite.

Naomi