How do you stay motivated at work?

[Sa_mmy]

I struggle to stick to my diet at work, they have all the biscuits, chocolate, crips, bread and all the other process food you can think of!

[Activity2004 Administrator]

Hi Sa_mmy ,

Don't feel bad about wanting to join in when there's a party for your job. Once in a while it's okay to 'cheat'.

[Sa_mmy in reply to Activity2004]

Activity2004 it’s there all the time on days when it’s party it is even worst.

[Cooper27 Administrator]

I found my intollerance diet helped, as I had to avoid anything with gluten, dairy, sugar etc, and that taught me to say no. Once I learned to say no, I realised I'm actually not that interested in most of the cakes anyway. If you give in and eat anything, you realise they're really not as good as they were in your head.

[Activity2004 Administrator in reply to Cooper27]

That’s a great point!😀👍

[WebMistress IF Star]

I have the same problem at work. It's difficult to diet or fast when everyone is around eating donuts and hot coffee with delicious creamer, etc. But, it's only difficult (really) if you feel as if the dieting or fasting is a punishment.

If you, instead, set your intention to heal your body, and give yourself the reward of healing for all the bad eating you have done in the past, it is very easy to feel strong enough to avoid those things. Right now around me my coworkers are eating loads of left over Halloween candy that I brought in.

Sitting next to me on my desk is a bottle of ice cold water and a bottle of Kombucha, which I will have later today, after I break my fast. But, how do I feel? I feel empowered, I feel calm, I feel a warmth all around my body knowing that I am doing something really good for myself. My intention is set. Heal thy self.

Once you have your intention set, you will find no difficulty in honoring your desires.

So, what is your intention? To heal yourself? Or, to eat anything you want, whenever you desire?

Intention is everything. Often, we set our intention to lose weight, but then we also really intend to eat anything we want, and those two things are in conflict. What we really need to remember is eating for us is a norm. We have unlimited amounts of food choices all around us, we can eat whenever we want, literally. Walking away from what is all around us is easy if you realize it's not a punishment. It's also not a reward to be able to eat whatever you want.

What is a reward is giving your body a break from the constant state of digesting foods, so that it can enter a state of healing.

There's a quiet spiritual vibration that you will feel all over your body when you stop eating and focus on healing instead. You will feel empowered if you give your body this time of rest.

Research fasting for healing. I love fasting. I'm not the only one, I have family members around me that are loving it too, and coworkers. We are supportive of each other, and that is nice, but you can, if you set your intention, find success on your own.

And, it's okay if you find it difficult and stop, just remember you can try again and keep trying until you get the hang of it.

It's like learning to ride a bike, you fall down, but don't give up. You will eventually find the balance you need to fast easily and not think of 'not eating' as punishment.

Those donuts your coworkers are eating, and those pastries... those foods are not healing foods. And, it's not like you can't go out and get those things anytime you wanted if you really desired to have them. So, you can walk away... it's not like you are going to miss out on having them. If you think of them as something of a treat, something you deserve, something you should be able to have... remember that they are a treat, they are something you should be able to have, and they are something you deserve, but you can get those types of rewards any time... it's not like you will go without. These foods are in every market on every corner where there are food places.

You can have them if you want them, but remember... your intention is to heal your body, get in shape, lose weight and love what you see in the mirror.

Those donuts are not the way to get there.

Lots of love!

<3

[Fran182716 Prediabetic in reply to WebMistress]

Love this post - I don’t do fasting myself but have a similar feeling when I’ve eaten just the right amount of healthy food to fuel my activity but my stomach still feels comfortable - not weighed down. 😀

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Fran182716]

Hugs Fran You are doing what feels best and right for you, and I am so proud of you for doing that. Do you ever drink herbal teas? I have recently started seeking out specialty teas. I have discovered that in some of our healthier-food stores there are brands of teas that are amazing. I found the Buddha teas and the Yogi teas to be delightful. I try to have a hot tea every morning and a hot tea every night. I was wondering if you or anyone here has found any special teas they love and want to share? I think I'll make a post asking. <3

[Fran182716 Prediabetic in reply to WebMistress]

I like fruit teas, I’m in the UK and the brand I like best is Twinings, my favourites are Mango and Strawberry, Blueberry and Apple, and St Clements (orange and lemon) 😀

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Fran182716]

When I am in the UK I love going out and trying all the teas. And, Crumpets, and Biscuits! Yum!

[Hidden in reply to WebMistress]

I love this post! I'm just discovering how amazing healing fasting is and literally just posted about how I'm getting on with my first genuinely being kind-to-myself fast (As opposed to my old mentality of withholding food from myself as a punishment for being fat/ugly/not good enough/ whatever). I'm experiencing all the things you mention and it's grand. I feel so grateful that I've finally heard the voice of self acceptance and love... Not saying I'll never struggle around food or with mental health issues ever again but at least I've got a health frame of reference now. Somewhere to head back to if I get lost..

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Hidden]

Sam - if I could impart one morsel of goodness (with my words) to give you to take forward on your journey of self-love and giving yourself the freedom to heal without the pain of avoiding the foods you love it's this: Those foods you love are not going anywhere, think of them as an invitation to eat them every time you see them they are beckoning you to eat them as if they have a little voice inside of them that says "Please eat me you deserve to eat me" and remember that you can say "no thank you, not right now, I can eat foods like you any time I want, because I live in a world of abundance of sweets. I choose not to right now because right now I have to save myself, and heal myself and bring back my vitality and life force to one that is healthy." If you can look at those tempting foods and not feel it's a punishment to avoid them, you can start seeing the changes in yourself that you really want. Also realize you can have those foods if you really want them, as a treat, but you should not want to live off of them or over-eat them. And, sugar addiction is a real thing, and one of the hardest things of trying to change our eating habits is kicking the sugar/carb addiction. Also nutrition sometimes makes us over-eat because we can worry about not getting enough nutrients. Don't worry about that. You can always take a vitamin if you worry.

Look into the mirror and say positive affirmations.

Please watch this little girl on youtube and you can see what positive affirmations I mean, do this and you can begin to believe your self worth and love yourself more. Never look into the mirror and think anything negative. You have a reason to be here. You are just as special as any of us. Watch Jessica here:

youtube.com/watch?v=qR3rK0k...(Not working as expected?)

(I love this video)

[WebMistress IF Star]

Also... as an after thought I wanted to add that if you enjoy going out to eat and eating at parties and all that, don't feel like you're losing out if you stop that for a small amount of time to focus on healing your body, losing weight, bringing cholesterol down, reversing diabetes, or whatever your particular health issues might be (just getting into a smaller pair of pants might be the only motivation) but in any case, remember that the world is a party, food is all over, going out to eat and feeling like a king or a queen and having everything you desire is fine, but when you over-indulge you feel yucky and you look in the mirror and frown at what you see, and you get that depressed feeling, it is not the end of the world, it is just the beginning of a change in your intentions. You can change. Just set yourself up to win by realizing that the "having everything you want anytime you want" is a fact, and not going anywhere. You can now look towards a new state of mind. Instead of going out to eat and having foods you want, perhaps instead steep some hot tea at home, take a blanket and pillow out to the edge of the sea, and watch a sunset, snuggled in a blanket and when the sun goes down lay back and lay on the pillow and watch the stars... or other similar moment in nature. Take a good book with you, and read poetry. Take a walk in a beautiful area, and just breathe. This world is bigger than the parties and the foods and the restaurants. This world and YOU are a miracle. Do other beautiful things to reward yourself, like reading poetry, watching a sunset, going for a walk somewhere in nature.. burn a candle, meditate, take a long hot bath. You do NOT need FOOD to reward yourself for working hard, or whatever. Instead reward yourself by dancing to your favorite music or getting a massage, or running if you can run along a beach, barefoot or across the grass, or swing on a tree swing or paint or sing, or whatever you love to do. Don't you want to change the way you reward yourself so that looking into the mirror becomes something you LOVE to do?

Remember this, they way you choose to reward yourself shows up in that mirror. Some rewards like food are not always the best. Yes, they "taste" good, but you have more senses to stimulate than just 'taste', what about the others? Touch for one? Vision? Hearing?

When you take good care of yourself, and you reward your hard work with a stroll on the beach at sunset, a good book, a fireplace, hot tea, or a nice long much-needed nap, you begin to find other ways to reward yourself. But if food is your favorite reward, opt to have fresh fruit or vegetables. Just a thought.

[san_ray70 in reply to WebMistress]

We used to have coffee cake and chat once a week at our church, before I started slimming I used to have a slice of fruit bread and butter. When I started at S.W. I learned to say no thankyou to cakes and chocolate biscuits. Consequently I have lost 2st 1 1/2 lb. I intend to maintain from now on, and I can eat cake, chocolate and ice cream as long as I do not overdo it.

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to san_ray70]

It's easy to over do it on yummies....

[Fran182716 Prediabetic]

I agree with Webmistress, being focussed on your health makes all the difference, at least it does for me. I used to graze on those junky snacks at work instead of eating proper meals. Once I had a health focus (not letting prediabetes become diabetes) it became easy to avoid them, both in my own head, and when other people encourage you to eat food that isn’t on your plan. Good luck. 😀

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Fran182716]

I have changed the way I look at food. I hold up an apple and I thank it before I eat it. I say to myself, this apple is filled with living vitality, healing energy, nutrition, and life! It's delicious too! And, I remember that. Every food has something to offer. Even chocolate. You can hold up chocolate and thank it for being food for your heart, and making you feel the warm, loving feelings it can bring on. Every food is special in some way, whether because it evokes feelings of comfort, or memories of your past (like having that sense of reverie when you bite into a delicious slice of hot home made bread with butter that reminds you of your mom baking in her kitchen when you were a kid). Knowing how food makes us feel is empowering. Some foods bring on feelings of comfort immediately upon smelling them and eating them, but other foods bring on a tingling, or special cleansing feeling hours, or even days after you eat them. These are healing foods. Herbal teas, fresh vegetables, spring water, fresh fruits. They do not immediately bring on those feelings the way say a big lasagna can do right now, but they will cleanse your body and the day after eating them you will wake up feeling more spiritual, lighter, cleaner and more relaxed. Let that motivate you to eat them if nothing else.

[Babette]

Before I realised I couldn't eat most of the goodies people brought in, I kept a food diary. Every biscuit, chocolate, packet of crisps, etc had to be written down - no cheating! It was amazing just how my diet improved and, after a while, became habit. I might still have the occasional (healthy) treat though.

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Babette]

I do indulge in a chocolate or two now and then, but I know that it's not really the best thing for my body. I always am aware of that. I don't feel guilty when I have some. No point in punishing myself for loving something, but I do love myself enough to keep those treats at bay.

[HOBIEONE]

If you go in to any NHS hospital. There are machines at every corridor with ----- in them for sale. Cans of sugar etc. I have been self-employed for 40 odd years & T1 for 50 odd years. NEVER been unemployed in my life. Good luck !

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to HOBIEONE]

I noticed at my doctor's offices they have changed our vending machines to be "healthier" choices.

I'm waiting for a "healthy food" drive-thru to open up. That would be a game changer if we could pull off the freeway and go through a drive through and get a green monster (fresh juiced veggies) or Kombucha, or diced veggies, and hummus, or fresh fruit bowls, or vegan sandwiches, etc.

Me at drive through: "Can I get two bananas, and some date rolls, and also a tray of veggies and hummus, as well as a steaming cup of Milk Thistle Tea? Thank you!"

When that day comes.... Mc. Donald's will be hurting a bit.

[HOBIEONE]

Now that would be magic !

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to HOBIEONE]

I wish someone out there would open one up! Maybe it would be difficult to run, since it would require lots of fresh produce and not frozen stuff.

[HOBIEONE]

I really do Hate these posts about cake & -----. Sweet stuff is ----. You try it 53years of T1. ? I am not kidding when I say I don't like that gear, I am so pleased I don't like that gear.

[Hidden]

Hey Sa_mmy Webmistress has given you the best advice. All I can add is I'm in the process of learning like myself and be kind to myself. And when I'm in that mental and emotional state, it's really easy to avoid the crap at work because I'm not seeing any food as a reward or a treat. It's really liberating to know And accept that you can have all the cake and chips and chocolate you want and to hear your own inner voice say

"but I don't want any of that right now. I like not feeling bloated and sluggish. I like not having heart burn or whatever" and honestly if I can learn to hear that voice of self love truly anyone can! Wishing you all the best moving forward! 😊

[WebMistress IF Star in reply to Hidden]

It's that conscious eating that is the best weapon against over-eating or eating foods that are not healing foods. Because if we all just stopped and paid attention to our bodies instead of going into automatic eat everything I want mode (which I have been so guilty of doing many times) we would be better able to avoid those foods. I like to get into a mind-set of "I love my body" before I shove anything into my mouth. If I remember to go into the "I love my body" mode before eating I can really avoid those foods. You look at the food you want to eat and you acknowledge it tastes good and then you go inward and focus on how your body feels at it's core, and around your heart and you say to yourself that you love your body and you want whats best for it, and then you look back at that yummy treat and you contemplate it. I can always walk away from treats if I do that.

[HOBIEONE in reply to WebMistress]

Well done WM. Keep at it.