Happy presence

A couple of posts back I wrote about emotional eating and how sometimes in the early evening I find myself subconsciously eating. I posted that I almost didn't realise I was doing it.

Almost - because I did realise, I was choosing to overlook it. It was me though, me taking bread out of the wrapper and stuffing it in my mouth whilst I was preparing dinner.

So here's the thing, I had been food focused all day and there I was cooking a balanced nutritional meal and yet I was snacking minutes before dinner. 

So I knew I was doing it, I just wasn't being mindful, wasn't present in the moment of eating something that was unnecessary and actually not that appealing.  

So I've learned that I need to be present at every moment. If you are truly present and focused on what's good for you and what will make you happy, you'll do the right thing.

Today my entries in My Diet Diary were reflective of mindful choices and eating and there weren't any additional carbs consumed mindlessly.  

Happy reasons to exercise....

Found this article this morning and thought it made some interesting points about the benefits of exercise....

10 reasons to exercise that aren't to do with your looks

Happy Spinning

Felt sweaty and crumpled like my gear after 40 minute spin class this morning.  Feeling great post shower though!!!

Happy App.,.

My diet diary is an App I can't recommend enough and it's free!

It's a great way to track all your food, water and exercise. If your smart phone has a pedometer on it you can give the app access and it will include all your steps as part of your daily exercise!

It's a good weight tracker too as you can input your weight, and even set a weight target for yourself and the app will calculate how many calories you should be consuming per day.

But I would recommend using it as a brutally honest way of getting to grips with your nutritional intake.

It may seem cumbersome to search for foods, but I promise you that you will build up your own repository of your frequent foods really quickly making the app super quick to use.

Happy tracking and use the comments section of the blog to post any questions or feedback.

Later Happyclubbers x

(Un)Happy eating......

Lots of us eat when we're unhappy, stressed or bored.  It seems like an easy fix when you're tired, grumpy or stressed - reach for bread, chocolate or whatever is to hand to make you feel better. But does this behaviour really make you feel better?  

Some experts believe there's a temporary relief from stress or unhappiness but it's short lived and actually is the beginning of a spiral where you feel worse afterwards.......bloated belly & overwhelming feelings of guilt ring any bells?

Why do we do it? Is it learned behaviour or a deep need for comfort in the form of food?  There are no easy answers but it is possible to change.  Often this type of eating is mindless, we're swallowing before we even realise what we've done.

Mindful eating could be the answer. Being mindful and in the moment could allow you to pause before you eat anything, try pausing for 5 minutes and ask yourself what you really need, you probably know the answer isn't food.

I've read lots of suggestions for this pausing time such as having a glass of water, or 3 almonds.......to me that's missing the point by keeping the focus on consuming something rather than identifying the real problem (plus it makes me think of Emily Blunts character in The Devil Wears Prada when she says she's not eating but if she feels like she's going to faint she has a cube of cheese!!!!)

I've put some links below to good articles I've found on emotional eating and strategies for dealing with it, but I think there's an element of the bad habit in this behaviour and the only way to change habits is to recognise them for what they are and deal with the underlying issue, not the symptoms. Thinking about this will force me to deal with my bad habit (typically a carb fix if I've had a tough day at work).

I'll post on my efforts this week.  Watch this space......

http://www.helpguide.org/articles/diet-weight-loss/emotional-eating.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047342

Happy Changes

If we're not happy with our health, fitness or nutrition then something has got to change. Small tweaks to diet and embracing a routine of more movement and exercise are great steps but it's our thinking that really needs to evolve if we are to effect lasting impactful change.

I'll be writing more about this over coming days, here's an article worth reading on this subject:


How to change the way you see fitness forever

Happy Gut

Just a couple of chapters in but a really interesting read so far