Mental or Physical?
Day one went just fine. Nothing to exciting, although I did have a little headache the first half of the day. Maybe that was a result of no caffeine. I do love my morning coffee:).
This whole idea of cleansing really gets me thinking about the difference between our physical needs for food and our mental/emotional needs. This is definitely a topic that I could explore all day. I find that food and our eating habits very much mirror our habits in all avenues of our lives.
For instance, people that are moderate with their eating and tuned into their bodies tend to be moderate and tune in with their jobs, relationships, etc. as well. On the flip side, people that embody the "all or nothing" mentality with food and diet tend to mimick this behavior in the other avenues of their lives. There is a major struggle with control with the "all or nothing-ers", believe me... I 've been there.
I have waivered between both worlds in the past. I spent years in the all or nothing cycle of dieting and eating but eventually began to realize that it wasn't working for me. I read every diet book on the shelf...every nutrition book, worked out all the time, knew everything there was to know about nutrition and diet yet I could not apply the knowledge in my own life. So clearly it was not about the physical it was about "what the hell was going on in my mind" that was creating the problem. The rules, the boundaries, and the expectations that I was placing on myself were causing me to crash and burn everytime.
The point is, I think that for many of us we have to take our focus off of the food and the eating in order to really make progress with our diets and our health. The focus needs to shift from our plates to our perceptions, the patterns and behaviors that cause us to turn to food. Afterall, the body follows the mind and if the mind is going "crazy" guess who's right behind.?!
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Comments
ashley :
You completely just described me at the end.. doing the workouts, knowing (and preaching) everything I should do... and yet falling behind. It is completely mental sometimes. I just posted something related to that.. totally mental!
posted on April 28, 2008 4:02 PM
Dani :
Ashley - I'll have to read you're post;). Our minds are pretty powerful, huh?
posted on April 28, 2008 6:34 PM
ashley :
How are you doing now? It's been a week!
posted on April 30, 2008 11:04 AM
Dani :
Ashley - Thanks for asking... guess I kinda fell off the wagon with the "journaling":). I did five days of fruits,veggies, whole grains, beans and healthy fats (avocado, flax, evoo...) and let me tell ya, I feel great. I didn't make it about "less" food, simply "ultra clean" foods. Not only do I feel great but it really makes me appreciate simple, healthy, whole foods...there are so many choices!! Like I said, the first day was the toughest but other than that pretty smooth sailing... I really want to focus on having a several days a week where I am sticking to this sort of eating. I'd love to know if you give a cleanse a try and what your experience is with it!
posted on April 30, 2008 6:54 PM
ashley :
It is so important when you say it's not about "less" food. I was just telling my boyfriend how I need this to clear me from the habits I've developed with food. I need to re-teach my body about all of that natural goodness. I will start after this week (this is my one week of "summer" before summer classes begin and I have dinner plans every night!). I'll post about it :)
posted on May 5, 2008 7:04 PM
Dani :
Ashley - I know... I agree. I just try to remind myself that the point of the "cleanse" is not to make myself crazy and obsessed the point is to FEEL GOOD! It is interesting how great our bodies feel when they are being fed real, whole, unprocessed foods:). It seems way too simple to become so complicated. I think you're gonna have a great experience with your cleanse...I'll be interested to hear about your experience.
posted on May 5, 2008 7:44 PM