Consistency is always challenging - changing habits and intermittent fasting week 4
Exploring jam and coffee
It is a beautiful summer afternoon in England and much to my surprise I gave myself permission to simply be. Be in the moment! A rainbow of magazines on the table, a cup of coffee, a box with a handful of tomatoes harvested from the mini garden and chanting in the background - Har, Har Wahe Guru!
When one decides to make tiny changes in one area of one s life, other tiny changes happen without one forcing anything. It is my reality and I am speaking from personal experience.
Here is one example. People who know me used to laugh when I was always asking for … “a tiny bit of something sweet” next to my coffee. Some coffee shop owners who knew my habits gave me on a tiny plate a teaspoon or two of jam. Yep this used to be my normality. Drinking coffee without anything next to it was a no no. Cake never interested me but give me a date, a fig, a bit of chocolate or jam and I am happy.
Having a coffee at home followed the same pattern even if the quality of my coffee is way superior to whatever is served in coffee shops 😂 Well I have to drum my own drums here!
We all know that habits die hard but willpower is a huge asset, one we can access from time to time and this is exactly exactly what I did. Why? Because I was way too desperate at that point, way too tired of the way things were on a myriad of levels, areas I had no control over (or at least so it seemed/seems) and yet I knew change needed to start somewhere. Even a tiny change was good enough, I simply had to start and stick to it!
It is not only about a coffee and a teaspoon of jam of course it is more. For me, it is a signal. A signal I am sending myself, something sort of hmmm like a love letter … saying I am here for you like I have never been before. I am learning .. I am experimenting, I will make changes and adjustments but I am making tiny steps ..I am reclaiming myself .. one tiny step at a time.
Four weeks later, this is one of the most important lessons for me .. breaking patterns of behaviour. Showing it is possible and actually not missing the old habit.
So I am still drinking coffee as it is something I love but I am more mindful. The quality of coffee is always important but there are very few places in my area where coffee tastes like proper coffee, where the beans are not too burnt, where coffee does not taste bitter and it almost burns your stomach! 😅 Something sweet next to the coffee makes the whole experience bearable no matter how bad the coffee is but this is not a proper experience is it?
Coffee drinking is a great human pleasure, a privilege and I will allocate a special blog post to it, exploring and sharing my experience of drinking coffee in Romania when I was growing up, in Russia, Italy, Egypt, Albania and other countries I was lucky enough to visit. The experience is not the same and it never fails to amaze me that one word … COFFEE has so many interpretations, cultural habits and tastes.
Back to the intermittent fasting. Four weeks on and I am still going strong, leaving 14 hours between the main meals. Of course sometimes is 13.5 hours, sometimes 16 as I don t believe rigidity works for me.
What is key
No food after dinner, no snack, no fruit, nothing
Drink tea - my own recipe as taste is important to me
Celebrate each new habit - write about the experience in the journal - write stories about the day - feelings, memories that come up and I can tell you they do.
Preparing tasty and healthy food
Being curious
Reading, listening to music, exercising a little bit
Let’s break unhealthy patterns together! Let’s reclaim our lives one tiny step at a time!
Until next time, be well!
WHAT HELPED ME THIS WEEK
DRAWING - intuitive drawing is a joy, something I love dearly. Many times messages come out of the blue together with the drawing. If you think you cannot draw, trust me I understand. I used to say the same thing until one moment in time when the desire to draw was more powerful than my own limiting beliefs or expectations. So, get a tiny piece of paper and start now.
MUSIC - sweet healing sounds
Hello! I'm Moss. I noticed you subscribed this morning, and I was happy to wake up to a new subscriber. Thank you! I also practice implementing small changes, and intermittent fasting.