Wanting to change your body is okay, not loving every ounce of your body is okay, wanting to lose weight is okay and in today’s society is quite an understanding view point.

But, there’s a better way to do these things than restricting food, spending your life counting calories, following food rules and over exercising only to put the weight back on as soon as you ‘fall off the wagon’.

And, that better way is putting self-care first. Eating is an act of self-care, restricting food on a diet is not.

Let’s start listening to our bodies and putting ourselves first.

Let’s start eating what we fancy, rather than avoiding the food, putting it off, only to eat twice as much later on – does this make sense?

Let’s start exercising because we enjoy the movement. Studies show that if we engage in activities that we enjoy, then we are more likely to continue with it.

Let’s start to sit with our emotions, feel them and release them, and then move on with our day, instead of numbing them down with food.

Let’s take our focus off weight-loss and put it on enjoying our lives instead.

Lisa xx

The post DO you want to focus on enjoying your life More? appeared first on Feel Great Health.

If you’re still experiencing the emotion after 90 seconds, it’s because you’re attaching your thoughts to that initial experience of the emotion, and you’re extending it with your thought patterns.

There is actually a neurological surge of chemicals that courses through your body when you have an intense emotional trigger and reaction, but this passes after 90 seconds – so any further emotion is all your doing, by holding on to your thoughts and the way they are making you feel, crazy right?!

Action step:

So, your action step today is to take that moment when you have an intense emotional trigger, and pause, remove yourself from the situation and slow down your breathing, yes, just breathe.

Breathe and try to focus all of your mental energy on the sensation in your body.  Feel the physical sensations of that surge of chemicals moving through your body.  Name out loud the sensation that you’re feeling as they change.  If you can focus on the sensation of the emotion, instead of on the emotional story, then you can keep yourself from turning to food whenever you experience emotional upset. Instead you can feel what you are feeling, and let it move through and not eat about it – a bit like a surfer riding the wave, you want to ride the wave rather than be swallowed up by it! 

I didn’t find this easy to do at first, so may take time and effort, but it is worth it, I promise.  

Lisa xx

Photocredit: Tengyart

The post What are emotions? appeared first on Feel Great Health.

Health is not about being a perfect person, in a perfect body, with a perfect diet, with perfect clothes, nope, nothing like that.

It doesn’t matter what size or shape your body is,. Whether you are in perfect health according to your GP or whether you have an on-going illness.

Health is how you feel in the body you have currently, illness and all.

Some people are going to feel healthier than others for sure but everyone is capable of feeling health, even though you may never be rid of your illness. I know, as every member of my family has one illness or another, we joke that we keep the NHS going lol!

Mental health is just as important as physical health. When you work on one, you automatically work on the other because you’re a whole person.

Feeling great health is about your mental, physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing.It all gets wrapped into one, making you, a totally unique individual!

It’s about doing what you can, when you can, with no comparisons, because we are all on our own unique health journey.

Lisa xx

The post What does health mean to me? appeared first on Feel Great Health.

If you really want to evolve into a loving space with your body, you are probably going to have to re-write a lot of social ‘rules’.  That means that you have to be willing to go against the norm and blaze your own path in your health journey.    There are as many ways to do this as there are rules and expectations put on us by society.  

Here’s 3 ideas to help you on your way:

Smash the Scale

Your worth does not have to be defined by or limited to the numbers on the scale, measuring tape, or the size of your jeans. You are so much more valuable than any number.   Those numbers are in no way correlated to how much love you deserve because the truth is that you are worthy of infinite love.  You know that anxious, uncomfortable feeling that you get when you prepare to weigh yourself? You really don’t have to subject your body or your emotions to that at all.  

Expand your perspective to include all of the ways in which you evolve as a being: mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually because it is all a part of your health and well-being.

Eat the Cake 

What food have you been guilting yourself about? Do you ever eat something and then immediately calculate how many minutes you will have to exercise in order to burn it off? Do you ever feel ashamed when you eat a dessert in public because you think other people might be judging you? Have you ever felt compelled to explain your food choices to a friend or loved one?   Do you ever deprive yourself of food as a punishment or indulge in food as a reward?

Food can be a way to nourish and honour your body.  It can be a way to connect with your body’s needs.   So, rather than judging the things you desire, you can learn to use them as guides on your journey towards body peace.  You can enjoy food and make eating an integral part of your body acceptance experience.  When you begin to connect with your body, you will be able to eat the cake, the apple, or whatever you choose and know why you made the choice.  Knowing your ‘why’ will begin to free you from the judgment of self and others when it comes to food choices.  That newfound freedom will help you to ‘eat to love and love what you eat!’

Move that body!

Everywhere we look there are messages about getting fit, obtaining a better body, and losing the fat.  Most of the time these messages are connected to the goal of getting thinner or sexier. However, I want to remind you that a great way to honour your body is through movement that you enjoy.  Fitness and exercise do not have to be about punishing or changing your body.  Body movement is a great way to connect with your body in a loving way.  I know that it can be challenging to disassociate body movement from the concepts of extreme fitness and weight loss, but here are some ways you can start now:

• Try new activities- explore ways to move your body that you’ve never tried before and make it fun!
• Find something you absolutely LOVE and do it often- the more you enjoy an activity, the more rewarding it will be to your mind, body, and soul
• Find a friend or loved one and invite them to join in to make it more fun
• Invest in some gear that helps you feel comfy, confident and excited to move your body
• Release the numbers- don’t obsess over calories, miles, or hours, move to have fun!

Body movement can be fun, relaxing and refreshing.

Don’t feel like you have to try to do all three at once, do one at a time because baby steps make big changes!

Lisa xx

The post Re-writing the rules for body acceptance appeared first on Feel Great Health.

Well, some do, for a short period of time, but then the weight slowly creeps back on until you eventually end up weighing more than when you started!

So, why do we bother?

We go round and round on the diet merry go round because that’s what we know to be the only thing to do to achieve everything we’re dreaming of, health, happiness, love, attention, you name it, it’s all bound up in the illusion of weightloss!

95% of diets fail, would you buy a car knowing that 95% didn’t work?

If you struggle with any kind of overeating, then chances are you’ve tried most every diet out there in an effort to control your eating. And with each new diet you begin, you’ve likely experienced the promise of a “New You.”

But like most every dieter out there, you’ve likely also experienced the disappointment that comes when you inevitably “fall off the wagon” and return to your overeating behaviours.

So perhaps the answer to end binge eating does not lie in seeking a “New You” but in seeking a NEW APPROACH! This means starting the new year with NO diets, NO fads, NO gimmicks, and NO quick-fixes. Instead, it means starting the new year with a new approach to understanding and truly resolving your emotional and binge eating.

Start by listening to your body, what is she saying to you?
Try eating when you’re hungry, and try stopping when you’re getting full, how does this feel for you?

Lisa xx

The post New you or New Approach? appeared first on Feel Great Health.

Perfection is an illusion of control and safety. It leads you to think that once you are perfect, or once everything around you is perfect then you will feel good enough, in control, and protected from pain or disappointment, and everything will be just …well, perfect.

But perfection is a lie.

It’s unachievable, and it requires stuffing down or shoving away anything that is real, messy, and genuine. Perfection requires a smile when really you want to cry; instead you say, “I’m fine” when really you want to say, “I’m falling apart.”

A more mindful life inspired goal is to be PRESENT. In any given moment, being present means you are aware of how you are feeling and what you are needing without judgment in any given moment, and then behaving and responding accordingly.

To be present is to feel good enough, bravely facing each moment and knowing in your heart that you’re doing the best you can. Being present, not perfect, makes space for messy emotions, backwards steps, forward stumbles, and learning curves. Being present is vulnerable…and where the magic really lies.

Take a moment to practice being present by checking in with yourself using the following questions:

– How does your physical body feel?
– How does your emotional body feel?
– What is happening in your life that feels good?
– What is happening in your life that doesn’t feel good?
– What do you need to do or say to address these issues?

When you aim to be present in your life, rather than perfect, you are standing tall in life. It may feel very strange at first, but with practice you can begin to embrace PRESENT over PERFECT!

Lisa xx 

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