Being your own advocate!

 I may have shared this message before but just remember no one takes care of you except for you. You can have the best spouse in the world the most amazing friends the best family and support system but you are your own advocate, remember that. 

 You need to stand up for yourself whether that means at work, your personal life, taking care of yourself- emotionally, physically, mentally whatever it is you have to advocate for yourself.

I write tonight from a place of utter exhaustion, because  I have not  advocated for me and I've put myself last.  A job is just a job, the laundry will always be there; but you and I we are the rare gems in this world and we need to be shined, polished and treasured!  

Love yourself, advocate for yourself and don't forget to take care of yourself.

Love,

ALM

Party tonight

 Let's see how this goes I've got my first holiday party tonight hopefully I can keep it all under wraps And eat intuitively instead of eat because everything looks delicious I did bring healthy food.

Eating your feelings

Today was a stressful day, a long day, a hard day, but I didn't eat my feelings and sometimes that's the victory it can be as simple as that. 💗

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

1. Reject the diet mentality
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the food police
5. Respect your fullness
6. Discover the satisfaction factor
7. Honor your feelings without using food
8. Respect your body
9. Exercise- feel the difference
10. Honor your health

Thank you to the The Original Intuitive Eating Pros (more information here).

I read this while I relaxed at acupuncture for the second night in a row.  It is probably the most peaceful thing I've done for myself in a long time <3 It's such a sacred space to relax and to be surrounded by others who are also relaxing and reconnecting with themselves.  As the acupuncturist said it's so nice to rev back your engines and let your body heal itself.  That's so much what intuitive eating is about.  We are bringing our methods of eating back to the years when were were a toddler or child.  Children don't let themselves go hungry and they intuitively eat what they need to.  "Let them eat cake"-  if that's what they'll eat let them, they will stop when they are full.  Our bodies did in our youth intuitively know when we were hungry, when to eat, when to stop and when to eat again when we are hungry.  

I like how they call them principles instead of rules.  I also know someone out there is saying, how is that different from any other diet, but it's not a diet, they are guidelines for not just eating but for living a fuller life.  Once we re-learn they continue as second nature to us.  

Peace, love and IE <3

We found love in a hopeless place

Read the lyrics below this song instantly came to me.  All I could think of when I read today's message about self-love, was about how to find self love and how sometimes it seems hopeless.  It's so difficult to love ourselves sometimes and why?  We are the only people who can take care of ourselves, who can love ourselves to the fullest and the only ones who will stick up for ourselves.  We should without a doubt be our biggest fans.  Loving myself is something I'm not very good at, it's so difficult to stand in the mirror, have a real talk with myself (sometimes internal, sometimes I'm talking out loud to myself), but it's important that I can look at myself with love.  Is every day perfect?  No way, but it's something we need to change and something our friends, children, nieces, nephews, siblings, cousins, etc. see; how we treat ourselves and love ourselves is so important to impress upon the next generation.  We don't want to contribute to a generation who doesn't love themselves, what will that mean for each generaion to follow?  What instead can we teach our loved ones?

Find your self love in a 'hopeless place' or a place you'd least expect.  Let your old ways go, shine through that open door and take every opportunity that comes to you.  I know today's message about self love has given me such an amazing perspective.  I did something for myself today, by working out in the morning, making sure I ate right during the day, scheduling my first acupuncture to relax and headed home to a relaxing evening and dinner.

I found time to take care of myself, please find time to take care of yours.

With love from IE day 14,
Alyssa

We Found Love

by Rihanna

[Narration]
It's like you're screaming, and no one can hear
You almost feel ashamed
That someone could be that important
That without them, you feel like nothing
No one will ever understand how much it hurts
You feel hopeless; like nothing can save you
And when it's over, and it's gone
You almost wish that you could have all that bad stuff back
So that you could have the good

[Rihanna]
Yellow diamonds in the light
And we're standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine
What it takes to come alive

It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny
But I've gotta let it go

We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place

Shine a light through an open door
Love and life I will divide
Turn away cause I need you more
Feel the heartbeat in my mind

It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny
But I've gotta let it go

We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place

Yellow diamonds in the light
And we're standing side by side
As your shadow crosses mine (mine, mine, mine)

We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place

We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place
We found love in a hopeless place

Honesty is the best policy....

I'm not great at intuitive eating.  It's not something that comes natural to me and it is seemingly more difficult the more information I learn.  It has de-railed everything I thought about food and everything I will ever think.  I can't wait to have the totally freeing day when I can eat 90% intuitively (they say that no one is perfect and it's especially important to not make it be 100% because when we fail we beat ourselves up).

My digestive track is still not back to normal, I ate intuitively 90% of the day and even went to work out after an 11 hour work day.  I made a delicious dinner, planning ahead and really listening to my body and not being tempted on the drive home.

It's been a long day and it's so hard to believe how far I am into the challenge.  I can't wait to keep learning more and do the challenge again after I've had a chance to read more of the book.  While WW and other things have worked in for me, I'm looking for something more, something bigger, something that will change my life and let me live free from all of the restraints of dieting. I believe IE is that answer and it will continue to develop in my journey

I'm not good at this........ YET.  I will be, I am going to learn and I am going to give this life-changing philosophy a chance to take hold in my life.

With love from IE day 13,
Alyssa

4 hunger questions

1. Am I actually biologically HUNGRY? 2. What am I FEELING right now? 3. What do I NEED right now in this moment? 4. What ACTION can I take to fulfill that need?

These are some very powerful questions when it comes to meals and how we feel when we are about to eat.  This is especially true when we are not eating intuitive and instead eating by a clock, schedule, tempting food in sight, etc

Think about these questions this week when it's meal time...