No two fingerprints are the same and no two individuals are the same. You are uniquely you and different from everyone around you and in the world. Literally, YOU are a one of a kind person and personality.
So what does this have to do with diets, diet tips and weight loss?
I believe everything because the diet that works for Jane, the diet that works for Mary, and the diet that works for me, may not work for you. And if it does work for you on Monday, it may fail you on Tuesday because losing weight is not really about taming what you eat, it’s about taming what’s eating you.
There’s no one size fits all diet that’s successful for everybody even though it may be based on sound eating principles because diets are formatted and routine, people are not. Diets can’t react and adjust to personalities, moods, environments and the different circumstances you face every day. And the things you face affect the way you think and feel. Emotions trigger responses, eating may be one. Only you can accommodate you and if the diet doesn’t cut it at a heightened needy time, you’ll cave in to relieve your needs.
We all process and respond to life with our own depth of emotions and belief patterns according to who we are which is unique to each of us. So one day you might feel on top of the world and do great, and the next you might be in the pits and try and eat your way out of it. That’s where the rubber meets the road so to speak and unless you understand and forgive, it’s game over and you’ve crashed your diet and worse, you’ve trashed yourself with unforgiving guilt.
The person you need to know on an intimate level is yourself and despite what you may believe, most people have never taken the time to understand, accept and allow themselves to be who they really are.
Instead of accepting our perceived flaws and the mistakes that are inevitable, we pounce all over ourselves with guilt, shame, recrimination and punishment. What we should do instead is acknowledge our undesired behavior and commit to finding new ways to alter it. Everything worthwhile takes practice, including forgiveness. Be brave enough to extend yourself forgiveness for who you are in the moment.
When I say allow yourself to be who you really are, it doesn’t mean you have to like your behavior but you do have to allow it, understand it and accept your shortcomings as part of your package until you can change it.
This is who I am right now and that’s the way it is. I don’t like behaving in ways that hurt me and I’m developing a new improved version of myself beginning now. A person committed to moving my life in the direction of my dreams, committed to going in the right direction a little at a time because change takes time. I’m headed forward starting right from here, right now with this thought. I forgive myself and I’m willing to begin again.
“You have brains in your head and feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own and you know what you know
And you are the one who’ll decide where to go.” –Dr.Seuss
The universal law of reciprocity isn’t only about giving to someone or something outside yourself, no, it’s for giving to yourself as well. Giving yourself permission to have a great life, to love yourself, to forgive yourself and to accept your shortcomings as markers for what you want to improve and then do it.
You may never know the why of it and could spend a lifetime searching for the reasons you do the things you do, and still find yourself dancing to the same tune. Change your channel, abandon guilt, let go of punishment and think thoughts of acceptance. Change your thinking and change your life.
It’s paramount to know yourself and to respect your unique ups, downs, moods, likes and dislikes. And that means when the one size diet doesn’t work on Tuesday because you’re in a bad mood and snacking as a way of dealing with your stress, you learn to take it in stride and not hate yourself.
Because what worked yesterday all day when you were behaving great, may not work today because something has thrown you off, and set you off to eating for emotional relief. But you’ll get it back as you go right back to getting on track.
Give yourself room and allow yourself to be ok with whom you are while you practice your intention of moving forward and letting the past go. Don’t carry the past with you to beat yourself up with guilt. Don’t allow today the power to wreck going forward into tomorrow or into the next hour.
You can learn to look at whatever happened and shift the experience to your advantage by asking yourself what did you learn? What incident or pressure or person or situation set you off and how could you change the dynamics of it for the next time? Is there something you could avoid, or do differently or avoid saying or commenting on that would give you a better response, a better feeling and a better outcome?
Your life is your own. You CAN design it to come to you the way you want it by allowing for and planning with the all of you that you’ve come to know and love so well.
Rosemary Hershey
http://greatest-diet-tips.com
Diet Maven with diet tips and techniques from personal experience in ending the diet madness and moving into freedom living. Former out of control eater, I created and ran a women’s weight loss program based on the freedom techniques that worked for me and will work for anyone.