My mental cravings subsided the very day after I wrote that article about Will Power. I started a new program and thoughts of food obsessed me until my body realized that I was giving it the nutrients it needed. Real hunger and my brain chemistry settled down to support me. Then all I had to do was control my habit of thinking about food.
It’s amazing how everything in my part of the world promotes food. It’s impossible to go anywhere without seeing a restaurant. I heard once that there are so many restaurants in the area that every single person in the local population could sit in a food establishment at the same time! Does anyone eat at home? And when we’re at home, there’s television. Oh, the food that happens on TV – there are people eating, people preparing, and people selling food of all manner, most of it unhealthy, but thought stimulating anyway. I’m sure many statisticians are being paid to compile the number of food-minutes we encounter in a day.
Well, I’m making progress with this health program. I’ve truly settled into few food thoughts. I plan my one meal a day with relish (no, not that kind of relish!) and I drink my protein shakes and I celebrate when I measure results. Eleven pounds and 15 inches, and I’m only 10 days into it! My biggest celebration is about my blood pressure, which was embarrassingly high and now has plunged to normal and stayed there.
What did I learn from all of this? First of all, I learned not to hide. My best friend was shocked that I hadn’t told him about my blood pressure creeping up. I was embarrassed to be caught not being perfect! I couldn’t hide my physical size but I did ignore it even as I worried inwardly that I was becoming unhealthy.
I also learned that I do have will power. I made it through that first day. That was a huge success for me. I’ve developed a healthy outlook when I think of food. Just today, my daughter mentioned getting an oat scone from my favorite bakery. When I heard that, I thought, “Hmm, those scones are really good but I don’t have to have one, at least not today.” It reminds me of window shopping – where we see things we appreciate but we know that we don’t have to own. It’s a lovely kind of freedom.
Jacquie Hale guides women to live a healthy, wealthy, and balanced life. Her expertise in health issues comes from her experience as a medical technologist and natural health consultant. She has a BS in biochemistry and a graduate degree in Natural Health and is always investigating alternative health topics.
She has helped many women discover and create a life of heart and meaning. As a Life Coach, Jacquie interacts with people weekly, by phone and helps them discover their own wonderful selves. She also facilitates life-changing workshops and teleseminars, provides email coaching programs, and has written several books about health and personal growth.
Jacquie gives back to the community and the world as a volunteer. She has been a hospice worker, the Executive Director of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, a youth group leader, and will soon travel to Africa to co-lead a Leadership program for girls in Kenya and Tanzania. She is a wife and the mother of grown daughters. She has been an employee, a free-lance consultant, and has created her own business. She is old enough to collect Social Security and young enough to have big dreams!
About the Author:
Jacquie Hale guides women to live a healthy, wealthy, and balanced life. Her expertise in health issues comes from her experience as a medical technologist and natural health consultant. She has a BS in biochemistry and a graduate degree in Natural Health and is always investigating alternative health topics. She has helped many women and men discover and create a life of heart and meaning. As a Life Coach, Jacquie interacts with people weekly, by phone and helps them discover their own wonderful selves. She also facilitates life-changing workshops and teleseminars, provides email coaching programs, and has written several books about health and personal growth.
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