I’ve done some serious January diets in my time, this year will be the second year running that I am not letting myself fall into that.
January is cold and dark enough!
A few years ago, I hadn’t found exercise I enjoyed, that I felt I could stick to, aside from walking Zammi. So, I instead I would focus solely on strict diets; wanting to lose weight quickly.
One year I did the Dukan diet and lost 1 ½ stone in 10 weeks.
But, as with these diets that are so restrictive, I couldn’t stick to it and so I gradually put it all on again, then December would roll around, so I’d wait for January to lose the weight again.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I dread to think what dieting like that did to me: stressing my nervous system, making me run down and lack nutrients.
Some messaging from the media encourages extreme weight loss, and that seems particularly harmful this year, in a pandemic.
But, since doing more yoga I’ve started listening more to my body and feeling grateful for it’s strength and flexibility.
For the sensations it brings me. Not judging it for how it looks, but what it does.
I have discovered I sometimes overeat to quieten how I am feeling in that moment… to avoid facing something that needs listening to. And the more I read and speak to people, the more I understand it’s a really common response.
The shift has been not focusing on WHAT I eat, but how I FEEL. No guilt, no scales, no judgements. Presence and enjoyment. Appreciation.
Does this ring true for you at all? How do you find the messaging around weightloss? Have you ever noticed a connection between how you’re feeling and then how that affects your eating?
We've moved 