Self care starts with a step

How to start loving yourself a tiny bit every day

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

The other day, I came across an article about a British actress Miriam Margoulys talking about one of her biggest regrets - not losing weight. It made me think.

Coincidence or not, 10 days ago I bumped into a video about the "Eat like a bear" system created by Amanda Rose. Also, about a year ago one of my best friends started raving about intermittent fasting but at the time I simply couldn't understand how somebody can eat only in a particular time interval, allowing for 14-16 hours of fasting in between. This seemed impossible to me. My brain was firing so many "yes butts" that I cannot even describe. 

Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash

You have to understand that I come from a culture where breakfast is king and we had a famous saying: "In the morning eat with your friends, lunch with your family and dinner with your enemies". 

Because of my nature, I can eat at any time of the day or night. Many times I had to wake up at 2 in the morning, get ready and hit the road! I was going on roadshows/concerts with rock bands and having my breakfast before hitting the road was my norm. So I have a bit of baggage when it comes to eating times. 

Photo by Yaniv Knobel on Unsplash

However, there is nothing like .. .timing. At least this is what I believe. 

I cannot tell you how many times during the last year or so I tried to implement some new eating systems. The route I took was - to try different ways of combining the ingredients. I have lots of recipes printed, nicely put in a folder, some tried and tested but my weight did not change because this was not the point. 

LIFESTYLE AND A REALITY CHECK

Over the 18 months, a combination of facts pushed my weight to probably the heaviest I have ever been. I used to be a 8-10-12 most of my life, dropped to a size 8 about 3 years ago due to severe stress, but lately ballooned to a 14-16.

Why? Well, as always a number of factors determine one's reality. Because I was going on site at numerous jobs, eating at strange hours of the day and night, biggish quantities especially late at night, coming back to base and going in the "sausage machine" of the office with enormous pressures and .... yes dear reader, putting my hand in the sweets bowl way too many times during the day.  

I was not doing much exercise and I am still not better. I had to be on antidepressants for a year due to a challenging work environment and stopped because I was only numbing the pain and this was not helping. 

A myriad of other challenges lurking in the background like the snakes in the grass. 

When you are in the middle of it all you don't even realise how many times you eat what you don't need to. You eat out of stress, boredom, thirst, anxiety, frustration and so on. 

So here I was 10 days ago, exposed to the video I mentioned above when suddenly I took the decision to try this method and explore also the intermittent fasting.

AN ALMOST NONEXISTENT RELATIONSHIP WITH WATER TRANSFORMED 

Photo by quokkabottles on Unsplash

Over the years I have tried to push myself to drink water. I failed miserably. Here is what I have tried: buy lovely bottles, thermoses, plain or colourful, fill them with water and place them in various points in the house or on the table in the office, buy some pure water from a well (delightful people owning the place - I made cold pressed soap with the water mostly) but ... nothing, no major change in my habits. The water was getting green in the bottles and I was none better at this or wiser. 

A change happened about 2 weeks ago. For whatever reason, I took the decision to fill in a bottle (see image) with 2/3 cold water, 1/3 boiling water and a dash of raspberry syrup made by me. Guess what! It worked! Will it last? I don't know but I've been consistently drinking 3-4 x 500ml water a day. 

SETTING MYSELF A CHALLENGE 

Knowing my extreme nature, I decided to set a small, achievable goal. Stick to a 16 hours  fasting time for 7 days and review after that. Today is my 7th day and I am doing the review here, in writing, for myself but also for the ones who might find it interesting. 

MAIN OBSERVATIONS 

* sticking to a 16 hours fasting was not difficult 

* I was able to look at the sweets bowl in the office and not touch it

* I was able to receive the gift of two delightful small chocolates and not open them

Note: One of my habits was to have coffee next to a piece of Turkish delight, chocolate, a teaspoon of jam or anything else which is sweet. 

* stopped grazing - no snacks, no little bits of salamis, cheeses in between meals or during the fasting time

* started to drink more water - this is a big plus as water was not my friend for many years. 

Photo by yucar studios on Unsplash

Note: it comes down the family line as my mother was not drinking water and was sort of proud of this so the habit was not developed in me either. 

* no decrease in the energy levels

* a clearer head 

* improved sleeping pattern 

* less stress related to WHAT SHALL I COOK

* progress related to planning the meals

* increased self esteem 

AND, AND, AND 

I LOST SOME WEIGHT!!!!! I was able to fit in a pair of trousers for the first time in a long time. Yes they are super tight but ... it is a start. 

CHALLENGE FOR NEXT WEEK - stick to the routine and report back in one week. 

I will share some of the recipes, foods I had during the week as it might help you, the one who needs this as well. 

If you would like to join me on this challenge, join the tribe. I am planning to create a group on Facebook for people who are ready to RECLAIM THEIR LIVES IN MICROSTEPS. It will be a safe space to exchange ideas, rebuild our lives, inspire and support each other.  If you are interested, let me know! 

Until next time, be well!