It had been a few hours since I had eaten lunch and I was hungry. As I walked aimlessly through the aisles one of my favorite organic shops I spied it. A beautiful chocolaty brown bar flecked with fluffy pink and white marshmallow, glistening and calling me from the shelf. I moved closer and tempted fate by picking it up. It said 'Gluten Free' Rocky Road. My justification was that surely it couldn't be as bad as 'normal' Rocky Road? I mean yes it had dairy (for those of you who don't know...dairy is my nemesis!) and sugar and fat but it was gluten free...that had to count for something right?!
Standing in the middle of the aisle, the justification continued. I was telling myself all kinds of things. I have eaten so well this week....I have trained at least 4 times....I really deserve a 'treat'!! Before I knew it I was in the car in the carpark ripping open my 'treat'.
Ravenous, I took a huge bite and as that first wave of sugar, fat and chocolaty goodness hit me I was in heaven. SO GOOD! Greedily, I took another bite and before I had even swallowed that mouthful the feeling started. The feeling of....GUILT.
Now I am sure there are a lot of you out there who are empathising (and probably laughing!) at my incident. You know the feeling....that overwhelming sensation of guilt and the self berating that accompanies it. "Damn it, I shouldn't have eaten that. I am so hopeless" or "Why did I do that? I was going so well and now I have ruined everything, may as well blow it well and truly and eat the WHOLE thing!" Sound familiar?!
Well I could have wallowed in this guilt and self berating behaviour for the rest of the afternoon, however the wellness coach within me decided otherwise! Yes, I had eaten half of the rocky road and yes I felt guilty. However that is where I let it stop. I acknowledged my feelings around the situation and accepted this experience as merely an obstacle in my path to optimum wellness. If I am to prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future what can I do about these obstacles?
Let's face it, we would be living in fairy land if we thought there would be no obstacles and our path to optimum wellness would be smooth. It's the obstacles or bumps that challenge us, help us learn and most of all help us develop great strategies to overcome similar obstacles in the future. So here are a couple of my HOT TIPS (or strategies!) for this kind of obstacle:
1. Go shopping on a full stomach - simple but very important. If we are full, our blood sugars are stable so we won't be looking for sugary, salty, nutrient deplete food to snack on.
2. Ask yourself the question "Is this rocky road (or whatever your 'thing' is) REALLY going to assist in nourishing my body and lead me to my vision of optimal wellness?"
3. If you STILL feel like having the rocky road (or whatever your 'thing' is) then just HAVE it. Try to go for a smaller size or halve the amount with a friend. We all know too well that deprivation of our perceived 'joys' in life leads to binging. Eat it, savour it and most of all enjoy it! Recognise the situation as an obstacle and see if you can develop a better strategy for next time.
With Easter just round the corner I am not sure what obstacles may crop up to challenge me! What ever the case I will be well prepared with some strategies to overcome the obstacles....no matter how big!
EMIT your life!
Rhiannon
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Bridging the Gap
So just how big is the gap between where you want your life to be and where it is at this moment?
Small? Large? Humongous?! If it is that's ok! No need to freak out! When first asked that question it often evokes a sense of helplessness as we have an immediate inclination to jump to the HOW of the question. HOW are we going to bridge that gap when it seems so huge?!! So before we jump on the HOW bandwagon lets take a few steps back and focus on WHY we want to bridge the gap in the first place.
So, WHY do you want this vision? WHY do you want to change the way you are living at the moment? In my Wellness Coaching practice this kind of question is really powerful and what I like to call a great 'revealer'. It highlights our values and what we are passionate about in life. As soon as we have identified your values, it makes the path to success (yes you will succeed!!) so much easier as we are aligning everything with these values. A very powerful motivator!
Part of my wellness vision is to have a strong relationship with Jimmy based on communication, love, laughter, respect, belief and integrity (I don't ask for much do I?!!). WHY do I want that? Because communication, love, laughter, respect, belief and integrity are some of my key values in life. Not forgetting the importance of role modeling to my children. I really believe it is important for them to be constantly exposed to and part of a relationship based on these values.
When I read this part of my vision each day it stirs up a lot of different emotions. Excitement, fear, nervousness and courage....kind of all mixed in together. I get excited as I know it is possible, I get fearful of potentially failing, I get nervous as I know there is a bit of work involved but I also feel courageous as I know deep down that we CAN do it and create an extraordinary relationship!
So I encourage you all to figure out the WHY. Why do you want it? Once we have that, the first stones in your path to wellness success have been laid!
EMIT your life!!
Rhiannon xx
Small? Large? Humongous?! If it is that's ok! No need to freak out! When first asked that question it often evokes a sense of helplessness as we have an immediate inclination to jump to the HOW of the question. HOW are we going to bridge that gap when it seems so huge?!! So before we jump on the HOW bandwagon lets take a few steps back and focus on WHY we want to bridge the gap in the first place.
So, WHY do you want this vision? WHY do you want to change the way you are living at the moment? In my Wellness Coaching practice this kind of question is really powerful and what I like to call a great 'revealer'. It highlights our values and what we are passionate about in life. As soon as we have identified your values, it makes the path to success (yes you will succeed!!) so much easier as we are aligning everything with these values. A very powerful motivator!
Part of my wellness vision is to have a strong relationship with Jimmy based on communication, love, laughter, respect, belief and integrity (I don't ask for much do I?!!). WHY do I want that? Because communication, love, laughter, respect, belief and integrity are some of my key values in life. Not forgetting the importance of role modeling to my children. I really believe it is important for them to be constantly exposed to and part of a relationship based on these values.
When I read this part of my vision each day it stirs up a lot of different emotions. Excitement, fear, nervousness and courage....kind of all mixed in together. I get excited as I know it is possible, I get fearful of potentially failing, I get nervous as I know there is a bit of work involved but I also feel courageous as I know deep down that we CAN do it and create an extraordinary relationship!
So I encourage you all to figure out the WHY. Why do you want it? Once we have that, the first stones in your path to wellness success have been laid!
EMIT your life!!
Rhiannon xx
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