5pm – Weight Loss Diet Solutions

I’m having these moments where ‘m realizing and truly understanding that I’m in control. Not everything that happens per say, but of how I react, what my days look like. I can choose my next move. It’s all up to me, not the day, not my location, not time, not money, not the weekend, not next month or next year or when I retire…

Before moving to Floyd I had this vision of what my life would be here. I would work from home, spend my days being creative, creating a nice home, belonging to a community, going to the farmer’s market and green house, planting flowers and a garden. Creating my own little world.

We knew our expenses would be minimal and could choose a different life for ourselves. A life that wouldn’t require a nine-to-five schedule, a gray office or a long commute. A life where most of our time was spent living rather than working for someone else. We didn’t want our best days to start at 5pm on Friday and end at 11pm on Sunday.

And for the most part that is happening, yet, not totally. I haven’t given myself total permission yet (see my previous posts) to dive into the lifestyle that I was craving. The lifestyle that made me want to leave the metro and city behind. I’ve been so worried, scared and fearful of what bliss and control would look like that I’ve only skimmed the surface.

I hear the familiar voices in my head saying… what will people think? they will think I’m having way too much fun, that I’m not miserable enough, the I’m not responsible, or serious, or deserving of such a relaxed life. That I’m not contributing. That I’m lazy. That no one will get it or respect me. That I’m not legitimate or professional.

That just needs to stop. Sometimes I have to say out loud, SHUT UP, WHO CARES! And then I get in the car and drive to the local garden center because I can. Because I choose to stop making excuses and worrying about who thinks it’s self-indulgent to take a break in the middle of the day to go flower and plant shopping. Who cares if I’m a plant killer or I don’t really need plants to exist. But to live, I do.

One of my favorite quotes is by Mother Teresa…

People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you;
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight;
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten;
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

I read this every single day. Because I want to be more like that. Do. It. Anyway.

Other stuff that is contributing to my sanity, gratitude and happiness lately? Less social media. I don’t get on twitter throughout the day anymore. I just can’t. It’s too much mind-clutter and I find myself frustrated with all those thoughts. They aren’t adding anything to my life. Less facebook, it’s the same. I go on, tell anyone who cares that I made a blog posts and I immediately log off. I worried that my online relationships would suffer, and perhaps they will, but I can’t worry about that.

Less email checking. I still check as soon as I wake up, but then I go away. I eat breakfast, alone, at the table or on the couch. No mouse in hand, not scrolling screens.

Being present. I never really understood this until recently. When I realized that my head space was consumed with worry, fears, thoughts, planning, on and on and on. I was spending time running words through my head, thoughts, and just plan craziness. And then I just decide in that moment to be there. It helps me to make a mental note of what I’m touching or smelling or physically feeling to help me zero in with the present. And once I’m there, all the mind clutter fades out.

More time outside. This morning I planted flowers, yesterday I mowed the lawn. The day before that I dug out a walkway. I need to be outside more than I ever thought. It clears my head and my heart.

I want my mornings to be spent with sweet basil and dirt.

And while a good chunk of my time is spent sitting in front of my laptop working, I like to know that I have these other foundations to keep me balanced. I believe that you can have your work, whatever it may be, and these pockets of bliss too. These moments when the TV, cellphone and computers are off and we do something just because it feels good. Because it makes us who we are.

*****

Yesterday I finished my day of eating with couscous and a salad for lunch, shrimp and vegetables (with homemade salsa and guacamole) for dinner and a drumstick ice cream for a treat. I was around 1,800 calories for the day and I did 35 minutes of push mowing and 45 minutes of walking/jogging for 2 miles. I burned 700 calories.

This morning I had a breakfast burrito with two scrambled eggs, salsa, and guacamole for 350 calories. Yum!

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First, thank you to those who took the time to comment and participate during the Waiting For Hunger challenge. And then my life got really busy and blogging got pushed down to the bottom. And that’s just how it goes. I’m still waiting for hunger and would love to revisit this challenge again in the very near future, because writing during the day is helpful for me.

I have to admit that things got foggy right when I stopped blogging my experience. I’ve had so much going on that I still turned to food. Emotional eating is real. I have been a participant my whole life. Who am I to be changed in a week? It’s an ongoing process.

The question I’m asking myself is, how do I stick to my goals when life gets busy? I love being busy, I love getting things done, productivity is a huge portion of my happiness. But, there are times when I feel like I’m spinning my wheels, or don’t know where to start. I get overwhelmed. I put things off. And those are the times when I find myself in the kitchen looking for something to eat. Hungry or not.

My work life doesn’t end at 5pm. I don’t shut down the computer and head for home to watch TV and make dinner. I do both things, almost daily, but then I head back to work. Because I love it. There are times when I overextend myself and end up coping or punishing myself with food.

Busy for me, is starting a clothing line (that opens in two days!), creating jewelry, updating and working on all my blogs (there are four), checking and sifting through many emails, making sure I’m on top of all my design deadlines, cooking and cleaning (lots of both), juggling meetings and office time, finding new work, creating new experiences for myself and making time to rest, be social, have husband time and most importantly exercise.

And I love these aspects of my life so much, they are why I wake up happy in the morning. I love that I have the freedom to choose my day. I want to use my time better, in realizing that my life is my own pattern and if there is something I need to happen. It’s up to me to make it happen.

So with that said, I feel like there are a few hurdles that I need to jump before making my life work for me in the healthiest possible way. The first one is self-worth and self-esteem. So often I get kind compliments/comments from people regarding the way I live my life. A way that seems natural to me. And I often feel like I’m just pretending. That any minute someone will raise the curtain and find out how bad I really am at everything I do.

And it’s crazy. My negative voice is loud and it haunts me. It tells me what other people could be thinking about me. It criticizes my decisions. It makes me feel worthless and uninteresting. It tells me that people know I’m not smart and are just humoring me. It tells me that I will never make things happen in a real way. It tells me that I’m not worth goodness. And often I have conversations in my head are along the lines of “they will think this of me if I do that”, “so and so doesn’t really like me”, “they think I’m an idiot”. But, I realize that people do not think that, I think that about myself. And then I step down from it and move on.

I was reading a Blogging Your Way e-course description that read “… [we will] show(s) you how to use your blog as a catalyst to create your best life.” And out loud I said, yes! That one sentence is why I blog. I blog because I show myself how to live my best life. I challenge myself to think a little longer and to put myself out there when it is uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable is a good thing if you’re willing to face it. And I’m trying to face it.

I was reading quotes from Steve Jobs from his Stanford Speech and this one stood out “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” I just love the second to last line. I want to have the courage to make mistakes and face them.

As I was sewing a scarf of my own design yesterday evening. I realized that I made a mistake in the construction. I needed three closures instead of two or would look weird. And so I pulled out my seam ripper, took a deep breath, and starting breaking my imperfect seams. This was a challenge for me on several levels. I first had to admit that I made a mistake. And then I had to face the mistake and make a decision. Do I scrap the project and call myself a failure? Do I keep going, pretending that I didn’t make the mistake and sit on a bad project that doesn’t make me proud? Or do I suck it up and try again. I chose the latter, but not without wincing. I was uncomfortable. I sat with it and walked myself through a game plan.

I would rip the seam. Make another loop. Position the loops again and sew the seam back up.

And while it’s just sewing I learned many lessons about myself in the process. The first lesson is that I’ve been scared to face my mistakes. I’ve been covering them up and punishing myself for not being perfect the first time. The second lesson is making a decision. So often, I walk (or run) away from myself or others instead of facing what is uncomfortable. Instead of making a plan of action, I drop the ball. And finally, I learned that I struggle with feelings of inferiority and discomfort and when faced with them, I eat.

And so when I revisited the “Ideal Day” task, I started asking myself “If I could wake up tomorrow, what would I like to be different?”. I sat down with a new word document and typed. I typed a story that I was picturing each step of the way. I pictured myself waking up in a bedroom where clothes weren’t piling up on the floor. Where the clean sheets were soft and the bed was plush. I walked to the bathroom and stepped on the scale. 135 blinked back at me. My hair was long and shiny. My body is not perfect, but strong. I pull my hair back. Put on workout clothes. Get my ipod ready and I head out for a jog. Because that is where I feel free and weightless. It’s early, but not dark. I’m rested.

I head back to the house and fix a nice breakfast. I sit down and enjoy it with my husband. We talk. I read a little. I take a shower and get dressed for the day. I head to my bright studio and return emails. I work for four hours on projects. I meet design deadlines. I feel accomplished. I’m on top of my work and not stressed. I’m not behind. And then I go make lunch. I take my time eating. Or some days I meet a friend for lunch. And take a short walk outside. I might have a dog to walk.

I head back in and work on creative projects through the evening. I take time to learn new skills. I’m patient with myself. I document my process and day, because I love doing those things. I take time to blog and plan my blogs. I do a little cleaning and then I make something glorious for dinner. The house is clean and organized. Every room is decorated to my (our) taste. So eat and enjoy some sort of exercise like zumba or yoga. I settle in for the night with a project and TV with Josh. Or I come back to my creative space if I want. I spend time with Josh. I brush my teeth and wash my face before bed. I crawl into our plush bed.

That’s the shortened version, but sums up my ideal day. And then I went back and put all the words in bold that I could make happen today. 98% of that, I could have within the week. That says something. It says something about how I intentionally bring myself down. That I don’t always believe I’m worth the effort. That what makes me happy is within my reach. And all those actions on my ideal day, help bring me to the 1% that won’t happen in a week. Which is a much lower, much healthier (for me) weight.

I’ve inspired myself to live my ideal day and set up my life and environment for it. I’m not expecting perfection, but I can do better for myself. I really can. There are things that I’m not doing because I don’t feel worthy. It’s bull crap. It really is. I’m worth whatever I need to make my ideal day happen.

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