Inner Wisdom is Priceless... Body Ecology Day 15

The longer I'm on Body Ecology, the more connected I feel to my inner wisdom.  I've known for some time that this was the way I needed to eat... but I fought it.  I didn't want to "restrict" myself.  I didn't want to feel "confined."  I didn't want to give up the foods that were poisoning me.  I wanted to have my cake and eat it too.  All of those excuses boiled down to one thing: I wasn't willing to let go of what "felt" good for what would be great.

It's amazing how much we fight our inner knowing, how frequently we reject our highest good.  Whether it's a matter of deserving or an issue of self esteem, it's a sad day when we learn to no longer trust ourselves. 

It's Day 15 of Body Ecology and I ate well.  My reserves of veggie and protein were low but, at some point today, my body said "I need more carbs" so I cooked some red potato fries in olive oil and gave my body what it needed... and I'm still ending the day at 1,400 calories. 

On Body Ecology, eating comes naturally.  I don't have to think about what I'm eating.  I listen to my body and I feed myself good things.  I combine my foods properly and I don't even think about whether or not I'm losing weight.  I know I am.  I don't obsess any longer about what food I'll be eating next.  I already know.  There's no longer a compulsion to eat sugary foods because sugar is no longer running my life.

Does eating this way take discipline?  Yes.  Does it take work?  No.  The moment I decided to do what I knew was right, the system of eating came naturally.  It was almost like coming home after years away. 

I remember being a personal trainer and learning that muscle has memory, that even when you gain lots of weight, the moment you start working out, your muscles remember past levels of fitness and they come back in a third of the time.  Just as our muscles have memory, so does our appetite. 

If you known what it feels like to treat your body well, your body welcomes even a second of that treatment and ushers in your right and responsibility to honor the temple that carries you through life.  I'm learning how to treat my temple, one Body Ecology day at a time... and it feels good.

I am who I choose to be... Day 13 Body Ecology (Read Time: 3 min.)

I thought I would've posted sooner than today and even today I found myself saying, "I'll post tomorrow."  But tomorrow never seems to come if you keep putting it off so here I am writing about the journey to physical wholeness.  It's Day 13 of Body Ecology and I'm in a rhythm now.  I feel like the last week flew by and I barely noticed that anything was different about the way I ate.  It's becoming a habit.  There's certainty in Body Ecology.  I know what to eat, when to eat it and I know what results to expect.

There's added motivation in the 10 pounds I've lost in the last two weeks.  I feel lighter (physically and spiritually).  I feel my self esteem rising.  I know that I made a commitment to myself 13 days ago and I'm keeping it.  That alone is worth the effort.  More than that, I feel clear.  There's a clarity about me that feels wonderful.  It's hard to explain. 

There are no more foggy hazes.  I no longer wake up feeling tired or get to 3 pm and feel exhausted.  I feel great and my skin is clearing up and my body's slimming down and I'm starting to feel like the real me is making her grand entrance. 

What Body Ecology is doing for me has a lot more to do with healing than weight loss.  Sure I want the weight loss but I want the renewed energy and sense of purpose more and that's what I feel like I'm getting.  I'm in control of what I put into my mouth.  I'm in control of when I eat and what I eat and how it makes my body feel.  I didn't have that control when I was addicted to sugar, always feeling hungry, always having stomach aches or headaches and never feeling full.  I actually feel like I eat more than enough without feeling stuffed... and that's a gift.

So what am I learning on Body Ecology so far?  I am who I choose to be...

The journey continues...

Body Ecology Day 4 (Read Time: 2 min.)

Not much to say about Body Ecology Day 4.  I feel good, no bloating, no stomach aches.  I slept in again this morning because my body will not allow me to get anything less than 6 hours of sleep.  I feel so clear and so awake.  There were moments today, moments of stress, where I had the temptation to do what I've always done: to use food as a means of stuffing down my emotions.

I was in Sunflower Market and, in a stressful moment, I thought, "Just buy a package of those gluten free chocolate chip cookies.  One package a weekend won't hurt."  Then the real me kicked in and reminded myself, "You made a commitment.  Now stick to it."  So stick to it I did.  I bought a canister of salted cashews and ate two servings of those on the way home.  We then had salmon, shrimp, and veggies for dinner.

This Body Ecology really doesn't take much work once you have a routine.  It's eating simple foods in simple ways at key parts of the day.  I'm learning that proper nutrition isn't so much science as it's art: the art of knowing how to care and love you body in a way that tells you the truth, allows the room to embrace the truth but leaves no room for excuses that lead to excessive eating and the stuffing down of pain.

Well, Body Ecology Day 4 is done... The saga continues...

Body Ecology Day #2 (Read Time: 2 min.)

Body Ecology Day #2 recap- so I had no energy to wake up bright and early and workout since I went to bed around 1 am.  Good news: I slept in until 8 am and got more sleep than I've gotten in a LONG time.  Bad news: No Jillian Michaels or Bob Harper workout.

I"m ending today feeling much better than I expected.  It's Day 3 without coffee and, so far, no withdrawal headaches.  I'm a little constipated (that's what happens when there's no sugar or syrup or beans in the diet) but, other than that, things are working out.  I'm eating higher protein, lower carbs, and I'm combining my food properly so I don't feel bloated.

Day 3 is next... I'm low on energy and high on hope.  I've known this was my path for at least a year and I'm so thankful to finally be on it... really on it.  Let's go!

I Jumped Off The Fence (Read Time: 3 min.)

Ever hear the saying "Piss or get off the pot?"  Well I've spent the last month somewhere in between when it comes to my health: I want my fittest body ever and I do the 2 hour a day/6 days a week workouts... but I didn't want to give up my sugar and all the other goodies that are ultra-comforting in the moment and voraciously debilitating over a lifetime. 

A friend snapped me back into reality today (that and listening to Tony Robbins) and I am finally jumping off the fence I've been living on when it comes to nutrition.  The universe has been speaking to me about Body Ecology for MONTHS.  Not just little signs but COLOSSAL, IN-YOUR-FACE, don't ignore me because this is your life signs and I've been stubborn in heeding the call. 

Why? 

I don't like to be tired.  I don't like to feel restricted.  I don't like failing and I don't like seeing other people get to eat whatever they want, whenever they want and have the bodies they want... and be reminded that it simply isn't the body I was equipped with.  Now, their outsides (when you're eating McDonalds every day) clearly speak nothing about their insides but a size 8 in skinny jeans is still a size 8.

So I'm doing a mental makeover about this eating thing.  I've decided to replace some old limiting beliefs in the way coaches know how to do: one limiting belief at a time.

The first question I asked myself was this:

How does the fittest version of myself view healthy living?  

The second question I asked myself was this:

What beliefs does the fittest, happiest me strongly and fully believe?  

I broke them down to ten core beliefs that I have about my body, my nutrition and my life and I printed them out.  I started Body Ecology at 4:00 pm today and it's only a few hours into Day 1 but here's to CHOOSING my life, my health and every bit of abundance available to me. 

I'll do a video shortly and post it about the continuation of this journey (I almost typed saga but that rings a little too negatively in my ears; this is the ultimate journey because I have a temple that has long awaited my cognizance of its brilliance; I'm finally starting to see it).