Pick Up Toto…AND RUN!!

December 30, 2014January 11, 2015 | Robynn Coates

If you’ve ever seen the Wizard of Oz, you know that Dorothy was on a mission to find the Wizard. Throughout the journey she was presented with road blocks and, many times, the best plan in those situations was for Dorothy to simply pick up Toto and run.

Isn’t that the way life is? We try to follow a straight path, but regardless of how much we plan and prepare, we’re always faced with some type of obstacle or challenge along the way? Either that or being aware of potential road blocks cause us to give up before we even try! If you can relate to either of these situations, consider this…

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.
~George Patton

Often times the best medicine is to take action NOW instead of waiting for that perfect “someday”. Because we all know what happens to those “somedays”…We’re still waiting for many of them, aren’t we? Pick up toto

When it comes to Peace with Food, we hope you’ll be encouraged to start taking those small steps toward peace at this very moment. Don’t over think it, just do it. You can start small by committing to read our stories and strategies (blog posts) on a daily bases. That is all you have to do. We used the same approach three years ago. We took a few minutes out of every day to experiment ways to have peace with food. Nowadays, it is something we do that takes very little thought. By taking one small step today, you are planting a seed that, over time, will evolve into a lifetime of peace. And who doesn’t want that?!

Don’t miss your window of opportunity because you are waiting for the perfect moment. Start now.

Hit “Reset”

December 22, 2014December 12, 2014 | Robynn Coates

Today I wanted to pass along something that has been helpful to our family, but also when applied to Peace with Food. The other morning I was fixing Leanne’s hair. She didn’t like it and quickly combed out the braid I had just spent 10-minutes fixing. It upset me because I had worked hard on it and we were running out of time before the bus came. I told her she would have to figure out how to fix her hair on her own and walked into the other room, upset (probably not the best of parenting!). To my surprise she walked after me and asked,

“Mom, can we start over?”

I replied, “Sure!” She stuck out her hand and we shook on it.

She smiled.

In a cheery voice I asked her how I could help her get ready for school, and off we went. It was as if the short moment of frustration never happened.

The same applies to food. We can have days where we get off on the wrong foot with our eating or make a choice that we regret later because we are stuffed from overeating. Instead of throwing your hands up in defeat for the rest of the day, causing you to turn to even more food, opt for choosing to Reset. Hitting Reset allows you to erase what happened and continue on as if you were having a good eating day.

Are you going to make good eating choices if you already feel like you’ve failed for the day? Probably not. But instead of waiting for tomorrow to start over (which is what I always did in the past!) why not begin at the very moment you realized you got off track. Recognize what happened, hit reset, and start fresh. Think of all the calories and suffering you will be eliminating by using this tool to your advantage. Try it the next time you get of course and let us know if it helped!

Habits

December 19, 2014January 10, 2015 | Robynn Coates

So, we’ve spent the past three-plus years pursuing Peace with Food like mad scientists. If you had been in our laboratory it would have looked a lot like this:

Experiment – Fail – Adjust – Experiment – Fail – Adjust

But experimenting wasn’t the only thing we did. We studied the lives of successful people and how they overcame their obstacles. And one of the things that we observed was that they were all masters at creating habits that would serve their best interests. As we contemplated their lives, we realized that where we are today is the result of the daily choices we’ve made over the long haul. To bring about a new and better habit in place of a bad habit, we simply needed to begin practicing the new behavior we desired on a daily basis.

This reminds us of a piece of advice a Financial Planner gave to a bride and groom we know:

Invest a little over a long period of time.

There you have it. The secret to creating a new habit which results in developing a skill. But where should we begin?

Truth be told, most of us probably have numerous habits that aren’t serving our best interest, but we also have a limited amount of time and energy so it is important to choose wisely. One question we like to ask our selves is, “What one habit, if I had it, would bring about the biggest change in my life.” Put another way, “What one habit would give me a quantum leap in my life?”

That’s where we would begin. However, if tackling that habit is too overwhelming, you may want to take a different approach and build your confidence by focusing on developing a smaller and easier habit that will help get a success under your belt. Then you can move on to the more challenging habit.

Regardless what habit you choose, just begin. Time is ticking. At the end of the day, will you have invested a little towards that new habit? We hope so. 🙂

Take-Home Message:

Invest a little bit daily over a long period of time.

Closure

December 15, 2014December 15, 2014 | Robynn Coates

Every once in a while we have our kids go through their toys and pick the ones they are willing to donate. It is only natural for them to shed a few tears as they debate whether or not they want to follow through with it. In fact, there are times our kids have a full-fledged meltdown. It’s just hard to let go of things because the temptation to keep them can be overwhelming! But finally, yes finally, they reach out and give their toy one last squeeze, savoring the last few seconds before it goes into “the box”.

As any parent would know, once you secure the lid on top, it is crucial that you don’t open it back up. Just the slightest ribbon from an old doll—exposing itself through a small opening of the cardboard—could cause a child to lose it and demand for it back. This is why adults create good closure experiences for their children. We have them say their goodbyes, remind them the toys are going to a better home, and then secure the package so it is out of sight, out of mind. Life just seems to go better that way…when we use closure to our advantage.

Which raises this question: If we see how important it is to create a good closure experience for our children, why don’t we, as adults, do the same in regards to food? You wouldn’t dangle the toys and tempt a child after they already said their goodbyes, so why do we leave food out to torment us after a meal?

Take ice cream for example. Lara LOVES ice cream—Bunny Tracks to be exact. If she sits down at the table, puts a couple scoops in a bowl but doesn’t put the container away, there is practically a 100% chance she will open the lid and dish out more. Without realizing it, when she initially began eating, she was already telling herself she could have more by making it easily available to grab another scoop.

Instead, Lara could have dished up an amount of ice cream that would have been satisfying to her (read Bite #1 ) and put the rest away. By doing this, she would mentally prepare herself to savor what was in her bowl. Her mind would send signals saying, “Once it is gone, it’s gone. So enjoy it.” With every bite, the original scoop would decrease, and the final bite would be like saying that last goodbye. She could do it, because she prepared herself. She savored every part of the process and when it was time to let go, she was ready.

We understand this scenario can be harder than it sounds. BUT, if you keep applying our tools, in a way that gives you peace, you will find that many of them will eventually melt together. Before you know it, you’ll be making better decisions without even realizing it, simply because you took one small step every day.

Take a step today by creating a closure experience with one of your foods. And no matter what the end result is, do yourself this favor: evaluate what you did well and what you could improve in the future. Then, the next time you eat, apply those changes by improving your closure with food.

Over time, you’ll be creating positive closure situation without even realizing it!

Warmly,

Take-Home Message: