This week has been a week of lessons. One of the most important things I am trying to learn is how to “stop and smell the roses” as my Grampa told me. The irony is that he said this to me the day after I had purchased this single white rose for myself, just because. My Dad also pointed out the irony that I kept it in my car, so I didn’t have to actually stop to smell the roses. This is actually a very acurate metaphor for my life. I am always trying to find ways to speed through, pile on more, and squeeze in one more task into my days, weeks, and years.
My therapist is encouraging me to find ways to nurture myself, WITHOUT using food. It is unreal how easy it is to jump to food as a reward or comfort when you have the issues with food that I do. I can list thousands of ways to feel better right this second, but not a single one that does not involve food. Here is the other catch… I really need to find things that don’t add to my already heaping plate of tasks and responsibilities. Even the thought of one more thing on my to-do list stresses me out, and would serve to cancel out the nuturing done by the task.
Are there ways to nurture yourself that don’t require an investment of time and/or money and have nothing to do with food??
http://www.bookieboo.com/group/mamavation/forum/topics/sistahood-mamavation-monday-428
March 7, 2011 @ 2:39 am
Oh this is such a toughie for me too! At my first weight watchers meeting 4 weeks ago, the leader talked about doing something instead of eating out of boredom. It’s hard to find other things to do with your hands. I decided I would spend more time tweeting or blogging….or reading. I love to read & i don’t do enough of it just for fun. Thanks for stopping by my blog this weekend! It was such a pleasure to meet you at Blissdom! I’m so glad you found me online. Hopefully we can stay in touch. (((Hugs))) to you my friend!
March 7, 2011 @ 2:56 am
It’s hard to find nurturing or rewards that don’t involve food in our culture. So much of our culture from bonding with family to celebrating to nurturing revolves around food. I keep a healthy supply of nail polish in a variety of colors for this reason. Whenever I feel like I need a little pick me up, I paint my toenails a new color. I have purple, red, pink, brown (with sparkles), black, orange, green, and blue. It’s a nice way to nurture myself and get a little pop of excitement without reaching for food.
March 7, 2011 @ 4:59 am
Baths with lots of candles:) This helps the soreness too. I have had to cut out a lot of tv watching, because for some reason, I HAVE TO eat while watching shows at night. So, if I have to watch the show for relaxation, I have to watch it at a weird time of day, like while I’m eating lunch, so I eat only what I have to eat and not “snack.”
Walks with the dog are great for me too, I sort a lot out and sometimes even talk out loud – oh the things Roscoe knows!
It also helps to make darn sure that none of the “nurturing” foods are in your house. If your husband or kids want to be “nurtured” by food, they gotta go out to get it! Ha!
March 7, 2011 @ 6:45 am
What about investing just a little bit of time on yourself. Simple things like body care that you can DIY (e.g. simple body scrubs and moisturizers). What about time to meditate? Write in a journal? Draw? Read a book?
There are many soul nuturing activities you can do that don’t require a lot of time or money. They are things that you may enjoy, that mean a lot because you be sure to devote their actions in celebration of you as a human who cares for others.
Welcome to posting with Mamavation. I wish you the best as you continue your journey.
March 7, 2011 @ 6:40 pm
Welcome to the Mamavation! 🙂
I talk to myself in the car. It helps to just vent. Or you could try playing your favorite songs. If I find a magic pill that adds hours to the day, I’ll let you know. 🙂
March 7, 2011 @ 6:46 pm
Welcome to Mamavation! This week is my first week, too, as a Mamavation Mentor/Cheerleader 🙂
I love what you’ve written here! My way of nurturing myself is through music, dancing listening to my favorite tunes, running and feeling the sun and nature around me, keeping moving and feeding my body the good stuff. Actually, I blogged my first Mamavation Monday post about my newest love for smoothies because they make me feel AWESOME. Nature is a wonderful thing 🙂
March 7, 2011 @ 7:39 pm
Yes – it’s called sleep 🙂 It also plays a valuable role in stress and weight. Take care and as the saying goes: get your Beauty sleep!
Have a great week!
March 7, 2011 @ 8:03 pm
Yay! I love that you’re a part of us! *puts away her pompoms* Now, nurturing yourself. I’m going to invite you over to my main blog. It’s at http://craftsbykatie.blogspot.com – Take some time and read back through the Time for Me Thursday posts. It’s all about taking care of yourself and nurturing yourself. Hopefully it will help you with some ideas.
March 7, 2011 @ 11:39 pm
have you heard of Mindfulness? Here’s a great site to read more about it. They even have free audo to download for guided meditations. It’s something that my therapist recommended and I actually went through a 9 week training group for it. It helped a lot!
http://health.ucsd.edu/specialties/psych/mindfulness/
Have a great week
March 8, 2011 @ 11:30 pm
It is hard to practice self-care when we are so busy with the rest of life – but it is SOOOOO important. Like the others above, I find little ways to reward myself that do not relate to food – painting toenails a sparkly color, relaxing bubble bath, a new book from the library, updating or customizing my blog, indulging on watching You Tube videos for a few hours… I also have taken up crocheting which helps with the boredom eating…. It’s all about finding what makes YOU happy – which was very hard for me to identify at one point in my life. Good luck with taking care of you! ALSO – something that has helped me – I of course make to-do lists, but occassionally, I make a list of things NOT to do… in other words, I occassionally give myself permission for a day (or even just a few hours) NOT to do the laundry… not to stress about work… etc. Not sure if that helps or not, but there it is 🙂
OH YEAH! and WELCOME!!!!! Glad to have you with Mamavation! I look forward to joining you on your journey