When things don't turn out quite as planned.....

So what happens when you intend to be moderate and to make healthy choices and it doesn’t quite work out that way? The reason that I am asking that question is that this is what happened to me over Easter. As you know, from my last post I was heading on up to country Victoria to watch the Stawell gift and it was all in my plan to eat my Easter treats in moderation. This is not exactly what happened unfortunately.

Some of my old patterns kicked in, especially my ‘whoo hoo I’m on holidays and can eat anything I want’ patterns!! I was quite disappointed that over the weekend I overindulged in the Easter treats and chose things that I wouldn’t normally. So on reflection, I have realised that:

a) I needed to put a bit more preparation into how I was going to handle the eating up there – especially because we stay in a Motel and there are few options except to eat out
b) I needed to be more prepared in terms of my packing and organising (I did it at the last minute, mainly due to work as well rushing off in the morning)
c) I needed to examine my ‘going away on holidays’ patterns before I left
d) I needed to let it go once it was over and done with

The last point is an important one and one that I hadn’t realised that I was still holding on to the anger at myself until I had one of my regular chats with Jen. I had spent the whole of last week holding on to this anger at myself and what happens when I am angry at myself, well, I turn to food for comfort.

So what happens when you intend to be moderate and make healthy choices and it doesn’t quite work out this way?

a) Firstly, reflect on what happened and where the snafu’s where?
b) Identify a plan for the future
c) Move on for crying out loud!!

Okay – so that’s it from me this week – I have forgiven myself now and am moving on as we speak!

Check you next time!!

Cheers,

Jodie
http://www.lapbandforthemind.com/

Happy Easter!

Okay so anyone who has a Lap Band knows that chocolate goes through the Band pretty easily, this is good but can also be challenging! Good because of the endorphin inducing sweetness, challenging to moderate the quantity that slips through the band – or that could just be me!! That is where the mind work comes in because if chocolate goes easily through the band, it becomes a question of mind power to not completely over indulge – especially at this time of the year.

Anyway, Easter is a great time of year – I love it because I get away from the city and go to Stawell in Victoria, home of the Stawell Gift – the richest footrace in Australia. I am looking forward to going to the Grampians for some bush walking and also watching the athletics – not everyone’s cup of tea I grant you but I like it! Most of all I am looking forward to a bit of a rest. Jen and I have been burning the candle at both ends getting our new products ready (stay tuned!!) and the thought of 4 days of rest and relaxation is really attractive!

So, that brings me back to the chocolate and the temptations of Easter. I love chocolate and have definitely been known to overindulge in the past. Even more than chocolate, I used to love, love, love hot cross buns but since the band has allowed me to not indulge in hot cross buns (I’m not particularly tolerant of bread) – I don’t have to worry about those anymore. Chocolate on the other hand is another matter. I don’t like to deprive myself anything anymore so I will eat chocolate over Easter though these days I am a little more discerning (in the past I have been known to eat anything resembling chocolate just for the sake of it or usually because I was starting a diet after Easter) and like to choose the best quality chocolate that I can find and allow myself a small portion each day.

So that is how I cope with the chocolate onslaught at Easter. How will you prepare your mind? What do you need to think about, what will you give yourself permission for?

Hope you and your families all have a wonderful Easter!

Giving yourself Permission!

I don’t know about you but I am one of those people that is pretty hard on myself. I set goals, I have high expectations and when I don’t reach those goals and expectations, I tend to beat up on myself a bit. This is one of those habits that I have been working to change.

Sometimes I find that I set out my day so rigidly that there is quite a big part of me that wants to dive back under the doona and spend the rest of the day avoiding all of the goals that I had set up. These are the times I usually know that I have to take a step back, look at my expectations and see whether I have set them so high that I don’t have any hope of achieving them.

It is only after years of wondering why I don’t achieve my goals that I have learned that this is a self sabotage strategy. It is really along the lines of the old ‘I have banned so many foods from my life, it is all so hard, I am going to get McDonald’s’ type eating pattern that I ran for years – is it just me or has anyone else run this crazy strategy – *sigh* it may just be me!

Anyway, after years of running the strategy of setting goals so high that I am overwhelmed with the amount that I need to achieve and then run for the safety of the doona that I have discovered that ‘giving myself permission’ can really help out. So, what does this ‘giving myself permission’ entail? Well, firstly – if I am feeling a ‘running to the doona’ moment coming on, I start to ask myself some questions – ‘what if you only achieved, X and X today instead of X, X and X?’ ‘Is it okay to only get X & X done?’ This usually brings back the focus and identifies that I have probably set my expectations too high and then things move on pretty quickly from there.

Sometimes a spell under the doona can really help so instead of avoiding it, I will give myself permission to luxuriate in the fabulousness that is my doona. In allowing myself to enjoy it, I am usually ready to move on pretty quickly. It also helps me out no end as I am much more kind to myself these days.

So, do you have any ‘overwhelmed’ strategies that you run? Will giving yourself permission to ‘run to the doona’ help you out or is there something else that in order to be kinder to yourself that you need to give yourself permission to do?

Have a good week, my friends!!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

P.S. We would love to hear any feedback that you have on our Fear, the Band and your life MP3 currently available on www.lapbandforthemind.com!!

P.S. We have a new ‘Success on Optifast’ Workout your Mind MP3 coming out soon, watch out for it for anyone who will be starting the LapBand journey soon – it will be a great tool for them!!

So tired of being tired!

It’s been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened!! My last post made me laugh considering it was about jumping on and off the scale as since then my scale has died, poor thing - no doubt from over use!! So I am feeling a bit like left arm has been cut off at the moment.

The past week for me has been an interesting one regarding my own little head games and self sabotage. I had a pretty full on weekend last weekend, helping to hang plasterboard at my sister in law’s house in the country and my sisters and nephews were is a car accident on Sunday. Happily everyone is fine, though I can tell you, it was a very tiring weekend.

So what has this got to do with the Lap Band? Well I noticed one of my self sabotage patterns rearing its head this week. Since I started the week off tired and I didn’t have time to cook up a lovely home made vegie soup for lunches during the week, or get my bag together to walk in the morning – I used tiredness as an excuse to break the new habits I had created. Even though I was tired during the week, I didn’t go to bed early so I could remedy the situation.

It has been interesting looking at this pattern this week. It is definitely not a new one, I have been doing it for a long time. So, how to break it? Well the obvious way for me is to take some time to get organised and get a good night’s sleep for starters – though it does go back before that. I firstly needed some way to recognise the pattern sooner so that I can pull myself out of it sooner – which in this past weekend’s case was to get organised on Sunday night and then have a very early night (usually I stay up later because it extends the time before I have to go back to work - crazy right!!).

Anyway, my plan this weekend is:

1. Get house organised
2. Buy beautiful ingredients for yummy healthy food
3. Do some cooking
4. Get plenty of sleep
5. Go to bed early on Sunday night

Sometimes breaking the smallest pattern can have huge results in your life. What self sabotage patterns are your running and what can you do to catch it early and stop it!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

P.S. On another note, Jen and I have been working extremely hard to get our first Workout Your Mind MP3 download created – Fear, the band and your life. We will have this on the website in the next couple of days!!

Ruled by the scale?

Okay, I have a confession to make – I am a weigh-a-holic. You know the type of person, weighs themselves at least once a day and sometimes more! I have improved over time but not quite to my satisfaction as yet. When I first got the band I was weighing myself once a week and that was it, sometimes it was actually only once a fortnight – it was a huge step for me and I was really proud of myself. However, I have lately slipped back into my old ways of weighing every day – sometimes twice!!

So, what has driven this latest fascination with the scale? Well it is all to do with the Lemon Detox diet that I am doing at the moment. I have always believed in detoxing and have tried various forms over the years to create a more healthier me. The detox consists of drinking 2 litres of this syrup that is mixed with fresh lemon juice and cayenne pepper. It has been a tough few days, I can tell you. Yesterday, I went through what is called a ‘cleansing crisis’ – in other words, I got a ridiculously painful headache that lasted through the night. Today hasn’t been quite so bad but I am still waiting for the time when ‘my energy increases and I feel unbelievably great’, hopefully not too far away. I am looking forward to the benefits after the detox as well, mainly the reset of my palate as I find that doing a detox takes away many cravings – it is great to refocus on healthier eating habits.

What exactly does this have to do with the scale, I hear you ask? Well, as one of the side effects of the detox is weight loss, I have been jumping on the scales like no tomorrow. I don’t mind so much the act of jumping on the scale, what I mind is that sometimes the results rule how I feel about my day – it takes discipline for me to refocus my mind on the positive after I haven’t seen exactly what I want on the scale. I have lost weight, that is the great news and I am hoping to lose a bit more.

So, is this a harmless habit or a destructive behaviour? Well, it is different for everyone and whilst it is not my ideal to be weighing myself every day – as I would love to reach the point where weight no longer occupies quite so much of my mental space, I am giving myself a break during this time of the detox and will then focus my mind back on creating a more helpful habit of once a week and a stretch, maybe in the future – once a month? What I will do this week is consciously choose to feel positive about my day regardless of what it says on the scale!

Till next time!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

Helpless and helpful

The past few weeks for all Victorians and indeed all Australians have been challenging. So many have lost their lives, loved ones and homes, it is sometimes very hard to believe. Amongst so much sadness though, there are ever increasing stories of heroism, generosity and triumph over the odds.

Many mornings in Melbourne, we have woken up to the smell of smoke, a constant reminder of the battles that people continue to fight and that there still may be more loss to come – this week is a big danger time. My sister, her husband and three gorgeous sons live in a heavily bush area that is still far from the fires, though I have confirmed with her on numerous occasions that they will get out as soon as they are put on a warning, houses are replaceable, they are not. My sister in law’s sister completely lost their house and are staying with my brother and sister in law. Luckily they were away at the time of the fires and didn’t have to make the heartbreaking choice that others did to go or stay.

In speaking to friends, family and colleagues over this past two weeks, there has been a theme that has come to the fore – most people are tired, really exhausted. For me, the feeling of exhaustion has come from a feeling of helplessness. Oh, we have donated to the appeals, given as much clothing and bedding as possible and donated pet food for animals but sometimes, it just does not seem to be enough. Australians have been SO generous, it has been utterly amazing and it makes me so proud . So – how do I deal with this feeling of helplessness? Well, this is a classic example of learning how to change emotions via self talk. Once I had identified this feeling of helplessness, I started to define the word ‘helpless’. When I really thought about it, of course I am not helpless, I have donated what I could and will donate more later to ensure continued help to these people. I have the ability to give whatever help that I choose. Once I made this distinction, I felt more powerful again, in control and of course able to help.

To all of the CFA, Police, Army, volunteers and all of those who have contributed to helping our brothers and sisters who have been affected by fire and flood, thank you – you are all wonderful, generous people who answered the call for help with a beautiful generosity of spirit.

Below are some links if you would like to contribute to the victims of the Victorian Bushfires:

http://www.redcross.org.au
http://animalaid.com.au/
https://salvos.org.au

See you next time.....

Cheers,

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com

The joy of exercise?

My relationship with exercise has always been a little fraught. I never really hated exercise though sometimes I have resented the hell out of it. Quite a few years ago, I lost a lot of weight to get in to my healthy weight range and one of the biggest parts of that was through exercise. I did some mini triathlons, ran quite a few fun runs and even ran a half marathon and the Oxfam 100km walk in 48 hours. I was really fit and within my healthy weight range – it was a great time in my life, though I do realise now that even though I had lost all of this weight and gotten really fit, I had never really changed how I saw myself. Even at my lowest weight and my fittest, some days I still felt like that obese person that I was previously and along with an unhealthy relationship with food this caused me to put on more and more weight until I found myself in the situation where I had the lap band surgery. Unfortunately, at the time when I was at my fittest, my exercise routines were more of a punishment to myself rather than a healthy gift.

So, one of the things that I have been very careful about since have the lap band surgery is to institute a gradual exercise program. For the first few months I didn’t exercise much at all, a walking a few times a week but that’s about it. In the new year, I decided that I wanted my fitness back but I was loathe to start any punishing exercise routines so I decided on Bikram Yoga a 90 min session of 26 poses in a room heated to 38 degrees. I picked Bikram yoga because it has the benefits of building strength, endurance, concentration as well as it being a pretty good cardio routine! I have found it excellent and have definitely been sleeping better and having a lot more energy. So I do Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week and now I have also added a few gym sessions into the mix – a mixture of cardio and weights. Now I am loving exercise again and not least because I have put together some friends to go with so it is a lot more fun!!

Fun is definitely the secret! I am putting as much fun into my sessions as possible. Along with my team, we do a cardio session followed by some weights and then – considering the past few weeks of Melbourne’s sweltering heat – we will have a swim in the pool. Not laps or anything mind you, a paddle around catching up on what’s going on with each other. We also rotate who is choosing the routine for the day which helps to keep things fresh and interesting and we also will have a session and then a coffee afterwards. It is important to factor in an additional 20-30mins onto the exercise routines for swimming, coffee or just a sit down and catch up as it really adds the incentive to get to the session as well as go pretty hard in the session. I love it so much more!!

So, the upshot of all this – I am really loving my exercise again and each day, I look for more and more ways to inject a bit of fun into the routine – what’s life if it’s not fun, right?

Here are some questions for you to think about this week:

· How do you see exercise, is it a chore or a health gift to yourself?
· What can you do to make your exercise more fun?
· Can you get a network together of people to exercise with? Who? Write a list today and contact them!

Well, I am off for a walk with the gals, outside since the searing heat has subsided for the moment.

My thoughts and best wishes are with anyone who has been affected by the bushfires over the weekend – there are no words for what you must have been through.

Jodie Flynn
www.lapbandforthemind.com

That rollercoaster called life.....

After a lovely week of happiness, I had some news that threw me for a loop and has left me considering how I handle challenges these days. I used to eat lots and lots of food, that was my modus operandi, so what do I do now that I have the band and most assuredly can’t?!?!?

Well, my first step was to let myself crumble – I gave myself permission to lie on the couch and have a good old cry. It really helped to acknowledge that I am human and it is okay to feel sad, angry, disappointed and not to eat those feelings away – though I confess, I did have some chocolate.

Since that day, I have gradually picked myself back up. I made sure that I continued going to my Bikram Yoga classes. Boy, those classes are ridiculously tough and certainly one of the benefits that I’ve found is that it releases emotions. It certainly did a couple of days after the news when I hit some rough spots in the session and the emotions came bubbling out.

After that, I have had some great chats with some trusted confidante’s as well as my coach. This allowed me to work through the issues and start to plan for what I could do in the future. I started to gain back my hope and optimism.

So, whilst the past week has been an emotional roller coaster, I woke up yesterday feeling that I was moving past it. Instead of eating away my emotions, I have a new strategy for challenges:

1. Allow myself to feel whatever emotions have come up as a result of the challenge
2. Keep up the physical exercise
3. Speak to trusted friends, family and coaches to be sounding boards and to start looking to the future

One quote that seems to keep jumping out at me that I have found enormous comfort in this week is ‘this too shall pass’ – it is a great quote for getting through a tough exercise session, an emotional outbreak or getting through the Melbourne heatwave (I keep thinking that in a few short months I will be rugged up in my winter woollies at the footy with days on end 40+ temperatures a distant memory)!!

So the questions for you this week are:

· How do you comfort yourself when you are challenged?
· What is your strategy for moving past challenging situations?
· Who are your trusted people to help you move from despair to hope?

Thanks for reading and have a wonderfully cool and hopeful week!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

That lovely commodity - happiness!

That lovely commodity – happiness!

For me, the nicest part of having the band and doing the work of Lap Band for the Mind, is the turnaround that I have created in how I treat myself. I had always been my harshest critic and was always on some ridiculously restrictive eating plan (no salt, no sugar, no bread, no fat and of course, no taste) which made me end up eating the same things over and over again and doing punishing routines at the gym – sometimes I would be trying to do 2 hours a day plus ride my bike and walk at lunch time (rain or shine).

Whilst this may sound like I was really disciplined – what I have realised since is that the main motivation I had came from a want to ‘punish’ myself and not to support and nurture myself with healthy eating and exercise. This made life not particularly pleasant, especially as after a while of this punishing routine of exercise and restrictive eating could not last so the pendulum would swing completely back the other way and I would then go to absolutely no exercise and eating everything in sight (and the guilt – don’t get me started!).

The band and the Lap Band for the Mind work that I have done has put me into a place where I now choose to eat healthy food that is delicious. I don’t have anything on a ‘banned’ food list, I just eat small portions of the highest quality food I can find and I give myself the gift of Bikram yoga as my exercise along with walking – I specifically call it a gift to myself (though sometimes the yoga can be tough!!) and now whilst I am to get a certain amount of exercise done per week, I don’t beat myself up if I haven’t reached my huge expectations. Overall, I am a tremendously happier person as a result.

Usually each week, I like to do 4-5 sessions of yoga for the week. This week, I was going to do my fourth session on Sunday but woke up feeling completely exhausted – in that moment, I listened to my own needs and decided to have a real Sunday day of rest. This meant that I only did 3 sessions of yoga, which in the past would have ended in me beating myself up mercilessly, though this time I felt really good about the 3 sessions that I did in the week as well as the gift that I gave to myself of listening to what would support and nurture me – I smile a lot more these days, I can tell you that!

So, the greatest gift that the band has given me along with the wonderful work that Jen and I have done with Lap Band for the Mind, is really my own happiness.

So, the questions for this week are:

· What can you do to support and nurture yourself this week?
· How can you make yourself happy?

Til next time – have a happy week!

Cheers,

Jodie
www.lapbandforthemind.com

Overwhelmed, impatient, angry - what's a girl to do?

I don't know about you but there are times when I despair that I am ever going to get to my healthy weight range again. I look at the numbers that I have done so far on my program and then work out how many weeks at that pace it would take me to get to my goal. I usually am aiming for a particular event that I want to look good for or something like that and when I have worked out the numbers I will get very angry and impatient that I am not going to get to my goal ‘in time’ – many, many times in the past, this has been the point when I will give up the program – wow, is that crazy or what?

I had one of those times over the weekend, I was looking at the numbers and then thinking about how long it would take me to get to my goal and bam – I am overwhelmed, impatient and angry. Then I remember, there is nothing more certain in life that if you look at the big picture too long, you will get overwhelmed. So the answer to doing overwhelm is to break down the goal in to more bite size chunks. Focus on the small chunks and look at the next step in front of you only and you will find that the feeling of overwhelm dissipates nicely.

The feelings of impatience and anger didn’t go so easily – I had to put a bit more thought into it and my thinking went like this: Does it matter how long it takes? What is the alternative? Are you doing this for health? The great thing about weight loss surgery is that there really is no ‘giving up’ on the journey because I could never go back to my pre-surgery way of having a binge at this point, it is just not physically possible for me. However, it is really important to move your thinking there as well – this is where we all need a Lap Band for the Mind as well as for our stomachs!!

It is interesting the different strategies that we have to ‘get through’ the journey of losing weight. How about realising that the time that it takes to lose our excess weight is a critically important time in which to change our thinking and our strategies!! Here are some questions to ask yourself:

What is your strategy for getting impatient or angry on the journey?
What are some questions to ask yourself to move out of that strategy?
How can you use the weight loss journey to improve how you manage yourself?

Cheers,

Jodie

www.lapbandforthemind.com