Today marks the end of my 30 day fit program but also the beginning of the new Deepak Chopra and Oprah 21 day meditation challenge called Miraculous Relationships. I encourage you to consider it- it’s free, an email link daily in your inbox will provide you the reminder for this 10min meditation with excellent insight and guidance. Hundreds of thousands of people are joining this online meditation movement to raise their consciousness – it’s worth checking out!
It takes 21 days to begin the makings of a habit – hence the Chopra Center 21 day challenge- however it takes more than 21 or 30 days to set the habit in stone! Whether its meditation or healthy living (for me meditating is a big part of healthy living) it will take time to set the habit! Which means that just because 30 days are up for me, that doesn’t mean I get to go back to eating badly or without consciousness. As you know I did this program in March for the first time and lost 8lb of the final baby weight! Thereafter the freedom from restriction, graduation parties, and july 4th BBQs got the better of me– I started this again because I didn’t like how I ‘went back to the way I’ve always thought/eaten’ I wanted to break that habit of ‘constantly allowing myself excess.’ See what I discovered is this– what we think is normal is most often excess and what we think is moderation is most often normal! Our meter to identify ‘normal’ is broken and this is what needs a reset! While the first 30 days had set me on that path– I needed it reinforced so that I would look at this program as a quick fix to excessive and indulgent eating. My goal for myself had always been to reset. So this second 30 day round was about reinforcing good attitudes forward food that had started to peek through that first 30 round! And that is indeed what I started to se happen! And interestingly as most of you who followed my 15 days might have found- that i didn’t stick too diligently to the program — see day 1 to see what the restrictions were! But the mindset was definitely developing. Because what I would have ordinarily considered minor slip ups – this time I identified as major ones (like eating 3 pieces of BBQ chx pizza)– and knowing and identifying is half the battle– so next week when my family wanted to go back to the same pizza place- I had a bigger salad, and just 1 thin slice of pizza! YEAH!
I went to a really great hotel to do a site visit last week- The Luxe at Bel Air where my friend is the General Manager and she invited me to lunch – and usually I LOVE ordering burgers at a fancy restaurant – because they normally really good quality beef and are excellently cooked! I allow myself fries as a mechanism to eat Tabasco-spiked ketchup by the mouthful! — so imagine my delight when my eyes wandered intentionally and purposefully to the Superfood Quinoa Ahi Tuna Salad! And yes it was actually quite divine! What a tremendous sense of accomplishment I had! I chose to eat that– I didn’t guilt myself to eat that.
And this has continued to be my experience these past two weeks. I haven’t blogged mainly because of sleep deprivation! Yes my toddler is still waking at odd hours of the night/morning…and self preservation– something had to give – to allow myself some balance- and besides I wanted to blog because I want to- not because I felt obliged to! But back to the nutrition- what I mean when I say moderation is usually normal and normal is usually excess is that our idea of moderation tends to be a huge salad doused with dressing- but because it’s salad we think it’s ok! There are salads you can get at a restaurant that have more calories than a burger cooked at home! And this is what you have to watch for!
I’ve found a way to strengthen a habit that I want for a lifetime! I want to make sure that my eye always goes to the healthiest option on a restaurant menu- and that I don’t look at the unhealthiest one and feel deprived! I want to make sure that I love and enjoy drinking water or Pellegrino with a meal instead of soda or iced tea (caffeine) or lemonade (sugar) which seems to be the drink of choice for lunch!
It had been an amazing journey of discovery, strength and will power. Most of all it has allowed me to shift my mindset and set myself on the course to a lifetime of healthy choices and for this I am eternally grateful to Arbonne for being my partner in Heath! From well made vegan skincare and cosmetics that have minimal preservatives, no animal by-products and no animal testing. To delicious tasting soy, dairy, gluten, lactose free protein powders and other nutritionals I’m grateful to have found a company that supports my desire to put only the healthiest and best quality ingredients in my body at a price that doesn’t break the bank!
The Breathing Space 