When you look at this picture, do you see an old woman or a young woman? If you’ve seen it before, then you have already learned to see both. You can switch back and forth to see either the old or the young woman. You can do the same thing with your health: you can choose how you wish to “see it.”
If you look at eating in a healthy way as something you should do to lose weight (or lower your blood sugar), then it is always going to take discipline or will power. You will have to continually force yourself to resist eating that cinnamon roll or that bread and butter. When you see healthy eating habits in terms of giving up what you really like, then it will always be a struggle. But you don’t have to see it that way.
Imagine putting on a different set of lenses, so that now you can see eating healthy as something that you get to do; something that makes you feel good and gives you energy. When you look at it this way, then you focus on making the choices that work for you. It is a way of taking care of yourself. It is not about deprivation, it is about gaining something new: your own vitality.
One of my favorite parts of coaching is that ah-ha moment when the second view suddenly comes into focus. My client, who was convinced that they would need to sludge through another food approach, suddenly finds their resistance gone. In the words of one woman “It is not a chore, it is not about giving things up.” One of the discoveries that delighted her, was the experience of “having a meal” – as opposed to “getting eating done”. Having a meal was enjoyable!
How do you see the process of making healthy choices? If it feels like work to you, how can you shift your focus and see it in a new way? Coaching is great for this – coaches are trained to help you to examine your assumptions and shift your perspective. It also helps to get outside of yourself – talk to others. Get curious about how things look to others. And be aware. When you pay attention to what you do (or eat) and how it makes you feel, then you have useful information. Experiment: try different things. Without judgment. Just give something a try. If that doesn’t work, try something else.
Paying attention and being open are invitations to seeing things in a new way. Try it. It makes things much easier!
If you enjoyed this, visit my website to register for my free monthly newsletter, the Wellness News at www.healthyhabitscoach.com.
