How to Motivate Yourself to Go for a Walk in Cold Weather

“I just need the motivation to drag myself out in the cold to walk,” one of my friends said yesterday.

Let me tell you, I hear that. I so get it. I know just how he feels. So. . . here’s what motivates me to be physically active outside during the coldest months of the year.

Gratitude. Every day, I express gratitude that I am alive and am healthy. And moving my body is one way that I thank it for being there for me over the years. Last year, for a few weeks, I wasn’t able to run outdoors, and so when I did to return to the pavement, I felt enormous gratitude and thankfulness. It’s funny. Sometimes being told you “can’t” do something makes you want to do it all the more. And every day that I run is a day that I’m grateful.

Accomplishment. I like to get things done. And when I’ve walked (or run) outside, I feel like I accomplished something. It makes me proud. Especially in the winter, when snow, ice, wind, drifts, and cold make me feel that I’ve achieved something special.

Invigoration. Running outdoors in January really gets the juices flowing, and I’m not just talking about my circulatory system. Running outdoors clears my head, gives me time to think, and it helps me become very focussed on what is precisely in front of me. It helps me focus on the here and now. When I’m navigating a little patch of ice, or enjoying a freshly-shoveled sidewalk, I’m not thinking about what happened yesterday or what is going to happen tomorrow.

The reward. For me, my post-run reward is a warm bath, a hot beverage, and warm fleecy clothes.

Fun. Believe it or not, running outside in January is fun. I’ve now been doing this running thing outside for an entire calendar year now, I’ve discovered that winter running is so much easier and satisfying than running in brutal heat of August. The invigoration, the challenge, the “me versus the elements” is exciting and maybe even a little dramatic, and drama and excitement can be very, very pleasurable!

Up Next: Celebrate Everything!

Gratitude Revisited

 

I remember when I first started thinking about gratitude.  It was back in the 1990s, and Sarah Ban Breathnach was being interviewed on The Oprah Winfrey Show.  She and Oprah were talking about gratitude, gratitude journals, and the like.

“Sure,”  I thought.  “That sounds fine for people who have nothing better to do.  It’s probably a wonderful idea, but I seriously don’t have time for it.”  I was working on a doctorate at the time, teaching classes at a couple of local universities, and feeling stressed out, overworked, overwhelmed, and generally tired.

Fast forward to 2007.  An unhealthy relationship had ended. I’d finished the degree, and I found myself taking a personal development course.   One of the assignments given by the facilitator of this course was to create a list of 300 gratitudes.

300!

Of course, because I was investing a lot of money, time, and energy in this workshop, I decided, “Fine.  If that’s the assignment, I’m darn well gonna do it.”

And so, as I was sitting in La Guardia in April, 2007, I started compiling my list of 300 things to be grateful for.  I numbered several pages in a journal from 1 to 300, and I began listing things.  And the longer my list became, the more relaxed I felt.  

And then a miracle happened.

I was in the Milwaukee airport, up to  “Gratitude 169” I was given free air fare!  FREE!  Out of nowhere I was suddenly the proud owner of a voucher good for a free round trip ticket to anywhere in the continental United States.   “Gratitude 169” convinced me that this gratitude thing really works, and I got totally serious about it. 

I began a morning routine of drinking coffee and writing out things I am grateful for. 

That routine morphed into an evening ritual of writing out gratitudes before I go to sleep.

Then I decided to incorporate gratitude not just into my mornings and evenings, but into my days as well, and now I carry an “On the Go” gratitude journal in my purse.  When I find myself  with a few moments, wherever I am, I take out that little journal and write down what I’m grateful for in that moment.

And as I was relishing the idea of gratitude in my life, I started becoming enormously grateful for my body.  Even though I was, at the time, heavier than was healthy for my height, I started thinking about being grateful for being able to walk up the stairs to my apartment.  I started begin grateful for being able to hear the cry of the peacocks as I walked past the children’s zoo.  I began to be grateful that I could see the clear blue summer sky.  I began to be grateful that I could touch the soft fur of my black and white cat.  

Being grateful for being able to experience these small pleasures through my physical body shifted my thinking and my energy.  Because I was so grateful to be blessed with this precious human body, I began to treat it a little better.  Because I was grateful for being, overall, pretty healthy, I started to eat a few more fruits and vegetables and drink a little more water.  Because I was grateful for being able to move with relative ease, I started moving a little bit more.  Because I was grateful for being alive, I started to enjoy my life just a little bit more!

Gratitude has become a key component to my life.  Gratitude was a key component in my releasing weight through pleasure.  And gratitude is a key component to maintaining a healthful weight.

Are you up for a challenge?

I challenge you to make your own Gratitude List. 

Right now.

Take out a pen and a pad or journal.

Number from 1 to 300.  

Start listing things you’re grateful for.

And let me know what happens!  E-mail me at nannerl123@yahoo.com.

Up Next:  The Pollyanna Game

Can Being Happy Make You Thin?

 

A man's life are what his thoughts make of it.

--Marcus Aurelius.

Before we consider the answer to this question, let’s look at this question from the opposite angle:  “Can being sad make you fat?”  

From personal experience, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that negative emotions walk hand in hand with eating.  I learned, at a very early age, to use sugar, salt, and fat to deal with my feelings.  Food was super-convenient.  If I felt stressed about something in my life, food was a reliable companion.  It didn’t question me, argue with me, or invalidate me.  If I felt angry about something in my life, food was a way to zone out and numb myself from the uncomfortable feelings I was having.   If I was tired after putting in a 12-hour day, I counted on food to be there for me.  It always was.  And of course, the more intense my negative feelings, the more I ate.  And the more I ate, the more weight I gained.  And the more weight I gained, the sadder I felt.  And the sadder I felt, the more I ate.  And the more I ate. . . well, you get the picture. 

So, if it is true that being sad can make you fat, can being happy make you thin?  I believe the answer to that question is “Yes,” as well.  I believe that when we focus on happiness (or pleasure, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment, and fun), we have less of a need to medicate ourselves through food.  As I feel happier in my life, food becomes a less-important way to generate happy, positive feelings.  As I focus on creating situations that bring me emotional satisfaction, food begin to play a less-integral role in my emotional well-being.  As I look for ways to experience pleasure and joy in my life without food, food becomes more like fuel and less like love.

If you feel that being sad can make you fat, and that being happy can make you thin (it’s simplistic, I know), consider focusing on happiness.  Create a list of things that bring you joy that have nothing to do with food.  And refer to that list often.  Post it on your refrigerator door, or your bathroom mirror, or by your computer at work.  Recognize and celebrate every positive, fun, happy, and joyful thing that happens to you during the day.  Celebrate every beautiful thing you encounter, whether it is a quick smile from somebody you pass on the street or feeling a dog’s tongue on your cheek or hearing a baby giggle with glee.  The more you celebrate and recognize happiness, the happiness you will have to share with the world.  And as you celebrate and recognize happiness, you may find yourself becoming happier.  And thinner. 

What makes you happy?

Up Next:  Gratitude Revisited

Ten Tips for Weight Loss Success

 

A few days ago, a friend asked me for tips on losing weight.  Having released almost 50 pounds of unnecessary weight from my body during the past couple of years, I’ve learned to. . .

1. 1. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU SAY TO YOURSELF WHEN YOU LOOK IN THE MIRROR. This is the big one.  In fact, it’s the biggest one.  If I could only get only one point across to people, it would be this:  speak kindly to yourself.  What do you say to yourself as you’re looking at yourself in a bathroom mirror as you’re washing your hands?  What do you say to yourself when you’re toweling off after a shower?  Or if you’re walking down a city street and your reflection in a storefront window, what do you think? What do you think when you’re adjusting your rear view mirror in your car?  Are you noticing your flaws, your imperfections, the things about your body you don’t like?  And if so, begin today to replace those negative observations with affirmative observations.  Affirm what you see in the mirror.  Praise what you see in the mirror.  Recognize the beauty of what you seen in the mirror.  
   

2. 2. EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY BE A FEW POUNDS AWAY FROM YOUR IDEAL BODY WEIGHT, FIND THINGS ABOUT YOUR BODY TO LOVE--TODAY.  I know from personal experience that this is not easy.  Finding beauty in my body when it was 45 pounds above its healthful weight did not come naturally.  Seeing my overweight body as gorgeous required quite a bit of effort on my part.  It required energy and discipline and lots and lots of practice.  And it didn’t feel natural or easy at first.  It felt like I was lying to myself.  But here’s the funny thing that happened.  The more I noticed my great hair or my awesome curves or my spectacular laugh or my strong calves--the more I acknowledged the beauty in my overweight body, the more beauty there was to acknowledge, and the less overweight it became.
   

3. 3.KNOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.  There’s probably just a part of you that is resisting what you know you should do.  Discover what you’re resisting, and then find a way to make it fun.  For me, I had the biggest block around exercise.  I hated it for many reasons, which I won’t bore you with here.  However, I knew that, in order to get what I really, really wanted (to be in the best shape of my life), I knew I would have to get my fine rear out of the chair and move it in some way, shape, or form.  I knew that exercise was going to be a crucial component to releasing weight through pleasure, and so I decided to search for ways to make moving my body fun.  It wasn’t fun in the beginning.  But after a few months, it became fun!
   

4. 4. REGARD YOUR BODY AS PRECIOUS.  This seems to be a theme of the major religious traditions of the world, and yet, given the tremendous increase in obesity (and obesity-related diseases) over the past few decades, it’s a theme that is not effectively implemented in people’s lives.  There aren’t a lot of classes or workshops or degrees in “how to regard your body as precious.”  Learning to love our physical bodies is not something we’re taught in church or in school.  However, learning to love our physical bodies can become one of the most important lessons of our lives.  Developing a healthy, loving relationship with our flesh can create a foundation, platform, and springboard for healthy, loving relationships with all aspects of our lives.
   

5. 5. ENJOY YOUR PHYSICAL SENSES.  Take pleasure in each of your five senses every day.  Use your sense of touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smelling to experience beauty and fulfillment and satisfaction.
   

6. 6. BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR BODY.  Live in a state of gratitude for your physical self.  Consider all the wonderful things that you’ve accomplished with your body.  And if you want extra credit?  Create a gratitude list for the part of your body you have the hardest time accepting.  Do you feel like your thighs resemble tree trunks?  Consider how their strength has served you over the years.  Do you feel like your bottom is too big?  Consider the pleasure of having a curvy body.  Do you feel like your hair is too gray (or too curly or too straight or to thin or too thick or too this or to that)?  Consider being grateful for  that your hair has protected your scalp and kept your head warm over the years.
   

7. 7.PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR BODY.  Listen to it.  Your body is always talking to you, but sometimes we don’t pay it the attention it deserves.  Is it tired?  Let it rest.  Is it overworked?  Give it a break.  Is it physically hungry?  Feed it food that it really enjoys.  Is it emotionally hungry?  Nourish its spirit.  Is it stressed?  Breathe deeply.  Is it bored?  Find pleasure in the now.  Is it in pain?  Touch it with love and kindness.  
   

8. 8. ONLY EAT FOODS YOU LIKE.  Life is too short to deprive yourself of foods you love.  Geneen Roth wrote something to the effect of, “For every diet, there is an equal and opposite binge.”  If there are foods that you continually deprive yourself of, eventually you will find yourself eating those foods--in large quantities!  However, if we allow ourselves to eat the foods that we truly enjoy and that truly bring us pleasure, then no foods are off limits.  We can eat what we want (because we’re paying attention to our wants and our hunger levels).  We can truly enjoy what we’re eating, and stop when we feel full.  For many of us, this can be challenge.  But just trusting ourselves to eat what we want and stop when we’ve had enough can be reason to celebrate!
   

9. 9.PAY ATTENTION TO PORTION SIZES.  This may not be a popular tip in today’s world of king size this and super size that.  Pay attention to when you’re hungry.  Eat what you’re physically hungry for.  And stop eating when you’re full.  And remember, distinguish between physical hunger and emotional hunger.  If you’re physically hungry, food will fill you up.  If you’re emotionally hungry, no amount of food on the planet will satisfy you. 
   

10. 10.  KEEP WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANT TOP OF MIND.  Give thoughtful attention to the deepest desires you have for your body, and celebrate everything you do that moves you in the direction of those desires.
    

Up Next:  How Can Getting Happy Make You Thin?

Food Is Not the Enemy

 

I’ve waged major battles with food.

Kristin versus Ben and Jerry.

Kristin versus Land O’Lakes butter.

Kristin versus The Vending Machine.

For so many years, my predominant way of thinking was that I had no self control.  I felt completely powerless over food.   If I found myself within 100 feet of food, I’d feel desperate.  If food was there, I would have to eat it, whether I liked it or not.  For years, I felt that I had no choice in the matter.    And during those years, my thoughts began with, “I can’t. . .” or “I don’t. . .”  or “I shouldn’t have. . .” or “I should have. . .” 

Of course, during those years, my weight fluctuated dramatically--over 200 pounds of body weight was gained and lost and gained and lost in the course of my adult life.  

I thought the enemy was food.  But it was never food.  The enemy was always my perception and my thinking, and the battleground was always in my mind rather than in my refrigerator or on the dinner table. 

When I realized that the only way to win the battle was to surrender to truth and to surrender to reality and to surrender to pleasure and to surrender to joy, then my body weight began to change.  But it was only by changing my perspective that I was able to change my weight.  It was only by choosing to view my body with love and kindness and compassion that I was able to release weight.  And it is only by making the daily choice to view my body with gratitude and appreciation that I am able to maintain a healthful weight. 

When we surrender to the truth of what is, we can truly be free. 

Up Next:  What They Don’t Tell You About Losing Weight

Visit me at http://www.fallinlovewithyourbody.com

The Scale: Agony or Ecstasy?

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the scale for most of my life.

For years, the scale wielded enormous power over me. The scale controlled whether I had a good day or a bad day. The scale dictated whether I was happy or sad. The scale determined my level my self-esteem and self-worth and self-confidence. If the number on the scale was a number I liked, I was happy. If the number on the scale was a number that I didn’t like, I was sad, or depressed, or frustrated, or hopeless, or angry.

That scale was my sovereign. I was its servant.

And the scale determined whether I was winning or losing the battle of the bulge. Usually, I lost.

As I began to transform my thoughts about my body, I began to transform my thoughts about the scale as well, and I found other ways to measure my progress.

I knew I was doing well when I began. . .

. . . to measure my success by considering how I felt rather the number of pounds I weighed.

. . . to feel like I was brimming over with energy and vitality.

. . . to eat when I was hungry and stop when I was satisfied.

. . . to move a little bit more than I had been moving.

. . . to feel my clothes getting a little looser.

. . . to take pride in the number of fruits and vegetables I was eating each day.

. . . to look forward to my daily walks (which morphed into daily runs).

. . . to receive complements from my friends on how I looked.

. . . to tie my esteem to my inherent spiritual core rather than an external physical measuring device.

. . . to feel good about myself because I was alive!

Up Next: Stress Eating

And be sure to check out my amazing FREE OFFER at my at my website: http://www.fallinlovewithyourbody.com

The Power of Desire

Desire. . .

. . . one of the most powerful forces in the universe. . .

. . . that urge, hunger, thirst, or yearning that moves you in the direction of your dreams. .  .

. . . a driving, creative, and passionate force at the core of your being. . . 

. . .the food that nourishes your soul. . .

How can we get in touch with our deepest, most-heart felt desires?  What does desire have to do with releasing weight?  How can we channel the power of our desires? 

Within days of my 45th birthday, I experienced my first mammogram.  This mammogram resulted in an ultra-sound examination.  And this ultra-sound examination resulted in a biopsy of my right breast.  

In the days and weeks surrounding the biopsy, I gave serious contemplation as to what I wanted for my life.  At that time,  I was 45 years old, and by my best guess, I was about halfway done.  The thought that my body might be manifesting cancer at this, the halfway point in my life, propelled me into deep consideration as to how I was living, what I was doing, and most importantly what I was thinking.

During this time, I discovered that I had not been living my life the way I really wanted to live it.  Consequently, during the next year or so, I put a lot of attention on my thoughts--my thoughts about my body, my thoughts about what I was eating, my thoughts about being physically active, and my thoughts about my impact in this world.

As as I was considering my thoughts, I also began to consider my deepest desires--and I began a practice of writing them down, in great detail and enormous depth.  This process of taking pen to paper, and writing down what I really, really wanted was one of the most powerful tools in my being able to release weight in a pleasurable and fun way.  Writing down my desires for my body my life was clarifying and gave focus and direction to my weight-release process.  

“We move toward what we picture in our mind,” someone said.  

That is one of the guiding principals of my life.  

What are some of the guiding principals of your life?  Please leave me a comment below!

Up Next:  Losing Weight on Your Vacation

Visit me at my website:  www.fallinlovewithyourbody.com

Thoughts On Commitment

Creating a healthy committed relationship with our bodies is a lot like creating a healthy committed relationship with another person. You know, the whole loving, honoring and obeying thing.  While I’ve never been big on “obeying” anyone, I do believe wholeheartedly in loving and honoring those we are close to.  And who are we closer to than our own bodies?

My body and I are in this together.  We’re in it for the long haul.  She has been here for me throughout my life, and the more committed I am to her, the more I discover that she will reward my loyalty and my commitment and attention by absolutely meeting whatever expectation I have of her.  She always rises to the occasion.

My body wants to know that she can depend on me.  She wants to know that I will take care of her when she needs care and listen to her when she needs to be heard and adore her when she wants adoration and move her when she wants to move and let her to rest when she wants to rest.  

My body wants me to trust her.  She doesn’t like my denying, ignoring, or repressing the messages she gives me.  She wants me to listen closely to what she is saying to me.    Sometimes she whispers, sometimes she nudges, and sometimes she yells.  But she always wants me to listen to her.

My body wants me to appreciate her.  She waited patiently for 45 years for me to figure this one out.  But the more I appreciate every magnificent thing she does for me, the more she rewards me by doing magnificent things.  

My body wants me to be committed to her.  She is committed to me.  She does her best to serve me, and she is happiest when I do my best in return.  The more committed I am to loving my body, the happier she is--and the happier I am.

Maybe loving our bodies is the key to happiness!

Up Next:  The Power of Desire

And check out my FREE stuff at my website: http://www.fallinlovewithyourbody.com