Rethinking the Challenge

I need to rethink my challenge. I’m removing the mindful part from a requirement. It’s going to take a while for it to become habit and I don’t want to feel like I’m failing because it’s so hard for me to keep going if I feel like I’m failing.

So - for the mindfulness part, I think I will just start tracking it. I also realize taking 3 breathes between bites may be a bit overkill. I tried that last night and well - it was painfully slow. So the new goal is to take 3 deep breathes BEFORE beginning to eat - while giving thanks to all who gave of themselves to make the food possible. And then 1 breath between bites. And I get a star for each time I remember to do this!

It is amazing how we forget to breathe. Last night during dinner, I realized I had to think about breathing. I seem to be so accustomed to shoveling forkful after forkful without breathing - without KNOWING I’m eating. Stopping to breathe really does bring the mind back to the moment.

Went for a walk today. It’s unseasonably cool here (after 2 weeks of unseasonably HOT) and I wanted to enjoy the clean fresh air. It was a nice walk. My heart elevated some - enough, but not so much that I felt winded.

I actually did get my reward for last week’s success: Gaim’s 15-minute results: Yoga with Rodney Yee and Mariel Hemingway. I also bought a fun little sun dress to wear on ‘date nights’ with D. I wore it last night and felt so pretty. I like that. I think practicing yoga is helping me let go of the stress of having gained weight so that I can feel pretty and confident again.

And speaking of yoga, I plan to do Rodney Yee’s Yoga for Abs this afternoon. It needs to be done on a relatively empty stomach and I just enjoyed a container of Siggi’s Skyr yogurt. It’s better than Fage!

Happy 4th of July