Intro Most of us are awake for over sixteen hours a day and we just go and go and go. We push ourselves so hard and then are bewildered when we break down and give in, willing to do whatever we can to release pressure and give ourselves a break. That often means giving in to food that will bring us a little pleasure and take the edge off the incredible stress we feel knowing we still have several more hours to get through the day. Well, sweet sister, let’s discuss breaking this cycle with a simple investment of time that will significantly raise your quality of life and keep you successful in your weight loss. Personal I am loving the warmer weather because one of my favorite things to do when I’ve had a long day and still need to get through the rest of the day full of caring for my loved ones is to get outside and go for a walk. I love going down the country road and listening to the birds and watching the sheep graze and hearing the cows in the pasture. I literally can feel the physical stress leaving my system and after a half hour I have the strength and perspective to start sorting laundry and answering emails. Concept Daily Decompressing is essentially doing something that lowers our stress-levels and provides some rest and restoration at a point where our emotional, mental, and or physical tanks feel like they are running on empty. This does and should look different for each person depending on personality, jobs, daily schedule, etc. So, why is this important? 1. Cortisol levels. Cortisol is a normal and naturally occurring hormone your body releases during times of stress. However, when it is constantly elevated, your brain and body also have a hard time doing things that are essential for weight loss such as going to sleep and utilizing fat reserves. 2. Learning to care for yourself without food. After years and sometimes decades of reaching for chocolate instead of meaningful self-care, it will take some time to unlearn that habit. However, each time you sit down for some journaling or share a cup of herbal tea with a friend instead of digging into a bowl of ice cream, you are solidifying the healthier choice. 3. Space to make healthy choices. Our lower brain takes over when we are stressed and it wants easy energy and pleasure-leveraging the release in the moment over any more longer-term consequences. Once again, that lower brain is like a toddler that is only interested in the present moment and not any repercussions of the future. When you take a moment to release stress with some exercise or a quick power nap, that lower brain will calm down. If you try to lower stress with food, the moment you stop chewing and swallow, you find the stress is still there. Hence you might end up seriously over eating. However, when you release stress in a healthy way where the effect lasts after the activity is over then your higher, more logical-thinking brain takes over which is willing to wait until dinner to eat and drink some water instead of stopping by McDonalds for an easy dinner. 4. Evidence that you do have your own back. Often women who have been yo-yo dieters for a very long time begin to feel like failures that always bale on themselves. By taking a few moments each day to truly care for your needs in a deep way, you will slowly build trust in yourself. You will also learn to start valuing and loving yourself which will feed into even more healthy practices. 5. Embrace something you could see yourself doing for a long time. How many of you have ultra-suffered for weight loss? Willing and ready to do all the hard stuff to see that number on the scale change with the eager hope that when you reach the finish line you’ll finally be able to welcome some joy and pleasure back into your life? Well, when you make daily decompressing an essential part of your permanent weight loss journey it truly becomes something you are unwilling to let go of no matter what the scale says because it feels incredible to take care of yourself that way. Spiritual Application Before we can go on, I need to talk about the elephant in the room, what you are all thinking about right now--that you don’t have time or opportunity to daily decompress. Hey, sweet sister, that was my theme song for a LONG time. Until I went back to teaching a few years ago, I was a stay at home mom for nearly a decade taking care of two little girls, one with many developmental and medical needs, and the wife of a man who farms and ranches so that meant I was also his side-kick in any way I could be, matching my life the the hours our lifestyle required according to the season. BUT, it wasn’t all that that kept me from resting. It was a nasty little voice that said that if I took a moment then I couldn’t get it all done and I would be lazy, useless, selfish, and unworthy of what God had given to me. I also was pridefully trying to do so much in my own strength without allowing God to bless me--as His very human and loved daughter. I’m reading through the Bible in the New Living Testament this year and I came across a verse in Hebrews that struck me. In Hebrews 3:19 it reads, “So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest.” The writer of Hebrews is talking of the Isrealites that Moses lead out of Egypt. Over and over they refused to trust God, wanting blessings their own way and in their own time. I’m still learning to trust God that the home can stay a little messy while I rest on a Sunday or that it is okay to pause when I get home and take a moment to decompress even if it means that I won't get every single chore done before I go to bed that night. The more I trust Him, the more I see Him bless me, the more I am willing to take better care of myself. It is a faith-building cycle that amazes me. Practical Application Learning to establish a routine of daily decompressing is going to take some commitment and a willingness to go through the trial and error process. I find that the most important step is first to commit to a decompression activity at a certain time. Either tell a friend who can keep you accountable or write it down in your planner or journal. Even better, set an alarm on your phone reminding you to decompress. When the time comes, give the activity all your energy and focus and pay attention to how you feel afterward. Expect some resistance to spending some time caring for yourself. Your mind is going to offer you all manner of excuses and many will be based on fear that you don’t have the time or energy to spend in that way. Take courage. Trust God and accept the opportunity as a blessing from your Good Good Father. Journal Prompt To kick off your quest to take care of yourself by giving yourself daily decompression time, I want you to journal two powerful questions. First, if you had thirty minutes to do anything that didn’t involve social media, shopping, gambling, food or alcohol--what would you do? What does your soul long for? And the last question is, what is keeping you from taking care of your soul? Sign Off Just as a reminder, in our membership this month we are building the habit of this exact goal. The ladies in my membership have access to a PDFs support and weekly videos guiding them and encouraging them through this process. They also can connect with other women in the online community for fellowship in their health journey. I would love to have you join us. All my love to you, sweet sister. I’ll talk to you next week. Good bye for now.
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by Lora ArmendarizYou Can Do It!Do you want to fall out of love with a destructive habit? The first 42 episodes of this podcast are a resource for anyone who wants encouragement and information as they take a six week break from a habit in order to fall out of love with it. Archives
April 2024
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