Loving Myself More

I've been working on weight again much of this year and I'm doing fairly well. I'm actually at that point where people are commenting, asking if I've lost weight! Of course the next step is the best one, the part where they just start exclaiming, "Oh my god you've lost weight!" :D Can't wait... but that aside, I think for me, with all my food issues, the most exciting part is that I'm discovering a new respect for my body and I find that is healing the wounds of my past.

Perhaps it's just my age, I am nearing fifty at this point (OMG!!) and I think there comes a time where you really do realize your body is starting to wear down and you can let it go, or you can fight it every step of the way... which do we think I've chosen?

Consciously training myself to pay attention to what I'm putting in my body has been an amazing lesson. I'm not dieting anymore, I'm simply putting good foods into my body. I go to a local market nearly every day for fresh produce. I buy whatever looks good, whatever's on special and I keep my fridge stocked with the essentials like eggs, yogurt with acidophilus, milk and my produce. I make careful choices on fats. For instance, I love cheese, but if I'm going to put that in my body, then it's going to be damn good cheese with a flavor I find pleasurable, not just some
cheap sliced substance I can grab from a mile long display. I'm careful with my choices and I purposefully look for variety. I try to have each meal brimming with colors, not all beige, white and green, but purple and red and orange as well. I'm looking at food simply as fuel and nutrition and making the best choices under that heading that I can. Stunning, isn't it? I still eat for pleasure too, but when I do, it's very intentional and I enjoy the hell out of it! Then it's right back to organic produce, very little animal products and no fast foods and no refined sugar if at all possible.

I'm trying to walk 5 miles every other day, although two days ago I popped my knee, so that is on hold for the moment. I've also signed up to take ballroom dancing classes starting next month and by the end of this year, I'm taking up golf... I know! :)

I'm looking at my body and my health differently. I want the care of it to be simple and natural because it's something I'll be doing for the rest of my life. I truly believe it all comes down to how much do you respect yourself? Do you consider yourself worth the time and money?

I know for me, the answer used to be, no, not really, but do you want to know what changed that for me? It was Tony. Those of you who know the story intimately, know how crazy he made me pushing me aside and only giving me scraps of his time and attention. It pissed me off! It hurt me, but in the end, as a twin soul will do, he was only mirroring how I was treating myself. I pushed my own health and well being aside every chance I got and if I even got the scraps at all I was lucky! I truly believe that people will treat you accordingly with how you view yourself. So I've elevated my self view and honestly, I started with food and exercise. The thing that surprised me though was with each day that I cooked for myself and made food a priority, the more I felt love for myself. I grew in my own self worth and I viewed myself differently.

I'm important. It was way past time I started treating myself that way.

Yes, my parents taught me that I wasn't worth feeding, but I'm an adult now and I'm worth not only feeding, but feeding well. Money is tight around here as it is in many homes these days, but I will tell you this, I spend the extra now on organic, on fresh, on locally grown, because, at risk of sounding like a hair color commercial, I'm worth it! There is nothing I buy that is more important that what I put into my body. Think about it, you are feeding your cells, your tissue, rebuilding or maintaining muscle mass, we are talking about the one thing that holds you together, that houses your soul, the most valuable thing you have and most of us treat it like crap.

Besides that organic tastes better, it's also a kindness to the planet, the animals, and to yourself. It's worth the extra money more than almost anything else you buy, but if I haven't convinced you on organic, then at least start somewhere else. You are the only champion you truly ever have and if you don't take care of yourself, no one else will either.

Want to change your life? Start today, learn to respect you. It is an absolute game changer.