One of the hardest hurdles to conquer when on a path to a
healthier lifestyle, for me, is overcoming the feeling of deprivation. While I
am generally comfortable with the 2-step decision making process of first, decide
what you want, then decide what you’re willing to give up for it, it still can
seem at times that very few things are worth forever foregoing pizza, chocolate,
margaritas, or anything else that sometimes just flat out makes a bad day
better.
In the midst of my search for practical advice on this subject,
I struck gold. I’m kicking myself now for not remembering who said it, but the
advice was this: rather than taking the all of the unhealthy things out of your
routine, put good things in. The theory
being that the reinforcement of good things, like a new sheriff, will run the
bad things right out of town.
So, practically, what does this mean? Let’s say your
favorite salad includes ranch dressing, blue cheese crumbles, and croutons
(things we know we should nix), rather than skip those ingredients altogether,
pile on extras like cucumbers, peppers, and fresh parsley. Gradually, you’ll
feel better and over time you may opt to stick with just the veggies all on
your own. Source: photoxyz.com via Danita on Pinterest
This week I conducted a little experiment to see if this concept applied to my emotional health as well. I had a busy week. Like, all cylinders running all day long busy. I was stressed and cranky, and I defaulted to believing that I needed some aggressive, high-impact exercise on which to take all of my frustrations out. Rather than attempting to ‘get the bad stress out’ I decided to reframe it, and ‘put the good calm in’. A little yoga, some singing birds, and my backyard nature preserve helped me to consciously add the calmness that I needed.
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