Thursday 13 September 2012

Diets Don't Work

While away I took my kindle and did lots of reading in the evenings. I read a book 'Diets Don't Work' by Dr. Bob Schwartz.  On completing the book I had a lightbulb moment - this is effectively what the pods are doing for me but I've been fighting them for 10 months. My diet head always kicked in trying to get me to chose the healthy option etc etc. Mindful Eating. :) This is the way forward and of course my slimpod :)

So I set about rethinking.  I now set my alarm 20 mins early and listen to my slimpod 'Drop two dress sizes' and my 'fit pod' before I get up, I then listen to the choccie pod as I get dressed. I find doing this sets me up for day.

So I am on day 20 of mindful eating and podding. Hows it going? I have been keeping a score. Yesterday ended in a score of 14 to me 5 to the diet head.  So today is day 20 and I'd like to make that 15-5 :D

On those five days that the diet head kicked in there was a pattern looking back I noticed ie eating meals late as busy etc, and then a friend pointed out carbs. Yes each of these 5 days I had toast for breakfast and jacket potatoes for lunch or tea. So start the day with carbs seems to affect my eating later on as I crave more rubbish than on normal mixed eating days. So now I can see two triggers I shall see how I get on.

In the book Diets Don't Work its suggested 2-3 months to really get into mindful eating and I can see why as its harder than I ever thought but , and its a big but the cravings do seem far far far less and on most days non existant as I am listening to my body, eating what I fancy, and pleased to say that most meals are really healthy and balanced because I want to not feel I should :)

At first I wished I'd just relaxed into the pods in the first place, just let them do their job rather than fight and test them constantly, but looking back and with reflection perhaps I needed to go through this stage to really see what works, just how well the pods work, just how much they have changed my thinking and doing.

I have never regretted for one minute any of this journey. If I look back to the Jackie of this time last year and compare her to the Jackie of now, goodness there are just such huge huge differences.   First of all they pulled me from a dark deep hole. I was like a mouse, a hermit.  Then after several weeks of listening I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, it really was a eurika moment for me. I can clearly remember emailing Sandra and telling her how much better I felt, how I didn't realise had low I had sunk until I saw that light and felt so much better.  Alot began to change when I began listening to the Confidence pod back in middle of January. Little subtle changes that when I looked back were amazing. Slowly my confidence returned.  I'd look  back and think 'did I do that' 'oh my goodness did I say that?' On walks I'd realise I no longer had my back bent with head right down looking at the floor avoiding peoples faces and stares. I held my head high, stepped it out and had a smile on my face. It was so liberating to notice and I began to feel alive. Really alive.

I'd say my confidence was pretty much zero.  Now today I'd say its 90%. I feel amazing. I really do feel that the world is my oyster.

Listening to the pods for several months got me into exercising daily (okay for me its been mainly walking but thats got me out and about again something I simply wasn't doing). I always joked I was allergic to exercise but now I hate it if I've not been out walking. If I don't go out I walk indoors with Leslie Sansome. I love her DVDs but have to admit lately I'm walking outdoors twice a day and loving it and feeling better for it, and Leslie is getting dusty.  But she will I am sure be used again on cold winter days :)

The pods gave me back the confidence and made me want to make some pretty drastic changes in my life. I wanted to go out and about again, go shopping with my family, go on day trips, not feel tense and nervous in the car, go swimming, I just wanted a normal family life back again. So I started seeing Lori and so much is changing and continues to change. I have been shopping with my daughter and mother in law, I've been going swimming and enjoying it, I've been talking to people I don't know, I've not felt tongue tied if the teacher approaches me at school, I've been building my kids' confidence up, I am calmer, I am so positive, I am happier, I feel alive !

Yep I'm still in my size 18's that I got into at the end of May but I've dealt with so so much, and haven't put on weight. I feel slimmer, I feel healthier, and I am sure now that I am out and about more and making so many changes the weight will begin to shift again.  Cognitive hypnotherapy is amazing. It really really works. Yet its so simple. I so wish I'd done all this years ago.  So I shall continue podding, walking and mindful eating and see what the next few months bring for me.

If you are ever in any doubt about slimpods, wipe away that doubt, grab a slimpod and put a happy real smile back on your face. They make you feel good, they give you back your self esteem, you lose weight and inches effortlessly, its just becomes second nature.  All you have to do is listen daily, set those goals and find those positives :)

In the early days I used to call them pesky positives as I found them so very hard to find. Afterall I'd lived with negativity for years.  Now I love my positives and i'm such a positive person. I look at everything differently. Even a bad food day is no longer the end of the world. Yes I get disappointed but then I sit and work it all out and consider it a lesson learnt. Trevor says two things that I love and live by 'nothing has to be easy just possible' and 'there is no failure only feedback'.  I live my life this way now. I can do anything I put my mind to, I do them as and when I feel ready and sometimes I need a little shove in the right direction but I can do this!  Blips are blips and lessons to learn they are no longer the end of the world or a failure. They are simply blips. :)

4 comments:

  1. Hi Jackie What a great blog you are an inspiration to so many people,the thing I love most about your journey is that your exercise program shows that not everyone has to run a marathon or ride 40 miles on a bike just to get the benefits of exercise and aid their slimpod journey walking is good enough to make a major difference. Well done again on not only your remarkable journey but this blog as well. xxx

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  2. awww thankyou Darin it means so much. I love walking. I've tried other things but come back to walking each time. It clears my head, its free, and I love it :) x

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  3. You will be inspiring so many with your journey Jackie. Well done you - very impressive

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  4. Thankyou :) its quite a journey isn't it? But I love it x

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