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Guest Post

A New Kind of Resolution: guest post by Heather McAlister

January 9, 2017

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This guest post features our January Event Speaker, holistic health coach and owner of Dancer Inside Health Coaching, Heather McAlister. She’ll be talking to us about “Your Body, Your Journey (How to Thrive Beyond the Myths and Resolutions)” on Saturday, January 21st at 2:30pm at the Attitude of Wellness Space (above the Urban Juicer on 8th Ave). Event RSVP here: RSVP link

I wanted to give you a sneak peak of what’s in store at the event, so I asked Heather to share a bit of what she’ll be bringing to us at the event.

By Heather McAlister – Holistic Health Coach

The New Year is around the corner and you are gearing up to begin your news year’s resolution. I’m guessing that resolution is the same as 2016, which is, you’re trying out another diet, right? The last diet didn’t really work out so well, but this one…this is the one that will solve all of your diet woes. At least that’s what you’re told.

But why do we tend to choose dieting as our new years resolution every year? Yea, there are usually “small” resolutions that we have to go along with the big D.I.E.T. like paying off debt or taking that vacation to Italy that you have been saying you’re going to take for years now. Can you really make all of these goals happen this year? Sure you can because you’re excited and this time you have the drive. But again, isn’t that what you told yourself last year.

It didn’t work out last time because you were so focused on your new diet. You kept telling yourself that, “If only I can reach my goal weight, then I’ll be happier and more motivated to do these other things.”

Does this sound like you? If so, I’m here to tell you that it’s time to put the breaks on this yearly pattern. Instead of telling yourself that you need to lose weight, why not ask yourself ‘why’?

Having a certain diet that you follow is all right. Especially if you have certain health issues that require you to make some changes in your diet and are good intentions for the new year, but there are usually negative thoughts and beliefs around them. Just think about the way you talk to yourself. Maybe this scenario is you or something like it:

Over the past few years you’ve started to notice you’ve put on a few pounds. You can’t fit into your favorite pants and you’ve got some cottage cheese patches on your body. Eek! You feel so disgusting so you start saying things to yourself like, “I’m so fat! I’m not attractive anymore. Why can’t I look like her? She doesn’t have any cellulite!” So you go on a diet, again.

You are doing so great. I mean you never cheat and you’re starting to feel really good, but you get really hungry at the end of the day. That hunger starts to become unbearable after a few weeks and you don’t feel so good anymore. You’re tired and cranky and you’re starting to crave sweets in a bad way. So you slip up and have that one cookie that eventually turns into the whole sleeve of cookies. You are now a horrible person. You start to trash yourself by saying things like, “I’m so stupid! I’m so fat! I don’t have the will power. I will never be happy if I’m not thin.”

This way of talking to ourselves has become normal and we don’t see how it is harming us. It has become the norm because we have grown up hearing our mothers and grandmothers talk down about their own bodies and other women’s bodies on a regular basis that we have become blind to fact that it is harming us.

In our society we have come to believe that there is something wrong with our bodies the way they are. We are programmed to believe that we must be thin to be the “real me.” We constantly put our happiness into the future, but why can’t we have happiness now and why can’t we be happy as we are now? You can.

There is one thing we know for sure that is causing our problems with weight, and that is stress. We are already aware that in our society we are constantly under too much stress in our daily lives, and we know we need to slow down. But have you ever thought that those negative thoughts and beliefs are causing you stress as well?

Have you ever thought that lack of self -love is what caused your weight gain in the first place? That it is what has been keeping you in the same place? Weight loss can be possible when you stop hating your body and your weight, and begin to find self-love NOW.

Stress around food and our bodies gets in our heads, and it dramatically impacts nutritional metabolism. This is constant stress that is, unknowing to you, causing you to hold onto weight. So what can we do about it?

You can most definitely learn to get rid of negative thoughts and reverse your negative beliefs; it just isn’t in the form of that magical diet that promises fast results. Where is it you ask? It is within you.

These are just some of the ways you can start making changes to love yourself now:

Be present– What I mean when I say this is start taking notice of the words you say and what you are feeling. Start asking yourself questions like, “How are you talking to yourself? How are you talking about others? Is it always negative? How does each meal make you feel? Do you remember what you ate and how it tasted? Do you feel guilty after eating? How did that meal make you feel?”
Trading negative words for positive words– I’m telling you this really does make a difference. Once you start to become present you may realize how negatively you talk about yourself and other people. Start to replace those words with positive ones. When you say to yourself, “I’m so fat.” Say instead, “I’m so beautiful!” Some other examples, “I’m not good enough,” to, “I am good enough.” “I hate my hips!” “My hips are perfect the way they are!” If you start this practice the moment you wake up your day will be so much lighter!
Nourishment– Yes, we should be eating foods that nourish the body, but have you ever stopped to think what else if nourishing? Is the life you’re living nourishing you? Are your relationships nourishing, is your job? What can you do now to find more nourishment in your life? Do you have a hobby? A spiritual practice? Do you have loving relationships?

The practice of breathing with a meal, slowing down, receiving nourishment and pleasure are all powerful healers of this deeply psycho-physiologic pattern. Thoughts are potent metabolic commands. What you think has a powerful impact on digestion, assimilation, and calorie burning. Let go of beliefs that are self limiting, negative, harsh, or based on old science or past emotional wounds. These will always keep you stuck.

The more you empower yourself to love who you truly are, the way you are now, the greater the probability that metabolism can reach the place where it can be at its highest potential. Stop living in fear and negativity of your own body and who you are now. Learn to embrace it and see where it can take you.