Hopefully you read the two previous entries about achieving goals and have a small goal in mind to work on, and a big dream to keep you motivated toward. My big dream is no pain. I have been tossing around a small goal, and I think I landed on eating less refined sugar. A friend of mine said she was going to eat less CRAP, defined as Carbonated beverages, Refined sugars, Alcohol, and Processed food. I like my bubbles, so not a fan of that first one. I don’t drink much alcohol anyway, so that one isn’t too hard. We had a short conversation about what we mean by processed foods. After all, peanut butter is a processed food, but we eat organic peanut butter with two ingredients, salt and peanuts, and it’s low salt. The smoothies we make with our powdered proteins, fruits and greens are also processed, and organic, whole foods dried and made into powder. Given these sort of foods we eat, it didn’t make sense to remove all processed foods. We landed on Processed meaning, processed with chemicals that are not natural to the body. That being the case, I do a pretty good job with that already, other than soda, which as I mentioned I am not ready to tackle. That brings me to Refined sugars.
I have been considering doing something about this for years, and I have been concentrating on it for weeks seriously. I began with a small step, something that was hard, but I thought I could manage. I teach goal writing and we talk about SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time frame.
My first specific step was to stop “Ice Cream Fridays.” For years I have eaten ice cream on Fridays. I also eat it other days, but it has been a ritual to eat a pint of ice cream on Fridays. I was eating two pints, but have already cut that to one. To be Specific, I would not eat ice cream on Fridays. I didn’t have any rules about eating it other days, just not on Fridays. The point being to break a habit that was very ingrained in my week. In the back of my mind I intended to not eat ice cream at all, but that isn’t what happened, and that is okay. My first goal was to break that habit. It was Specific, no ice cream on Fridays. It was Measurable, I either ate ice cream on Fridays or I did not. I could count my successful attempts. It was an action to see or not see, something you could keep score of. Attainable because I felt I was ready to break the habit, and I was just focusing on ice cream Fridays with no other conditions. Relevant because I believe that refined sugars cause inflammation, and my big dream is no pain. Less sugar, less inflammation, less pain, right? And my biggest downfall for sugar is Ice Cream Fridays. Unfortunately, when I ate that pint of ice cream, it often initiated a weekend long sugar, fats and carbs of all kinds binge. I believe that if I can stop that habit, I can reduce those sorts of binges. Time was about #1, the day of the week, and #2 I thought I would do it for 6 weeks before I added another goal.
I was successful at no Ice Cream on Fridays for 6 weeks. Awesome! The next step in my plan for no pain, keep working on sugar. I chose to add a new goal moving forward, no ice cream at home. One of the things that began to happen with “Ice Cream Fridays” was I had to do it alone because I felt guilty about eating a pint of ice cream all by myself, so I began to associate the ice cream with being alone and hiding. That is a possible reason it sparked a binge, the guilt, but also sugar spikes your body to want more food. Eating ice cream only in social situations seemed like a way to remind myself that I can still have things I enjoy, but I don’t need to go overboard to the point of feeling guilty about them and hiding them. My next goal to be Specific is, no ice cream unless out with friends. Measurable, I don’t eat ice cream at home alone, and only do eat it out with friends, or not at all. I can count if I follow that one rule or not. Ice cream at home with friends might also be okay. I would have to decide that based on what else is happening. Attainable, I have already started moving that way. It is another step closer to my big dream, so I can do it. Relevant, same as before, reducing sugar reduces inflammation. Time, no day of the week specifically, but let’s try this for 2 weeks and see where I am at then.
For you, use my example about ice cream and think of something small you can do to head you toward your big dream. Make it SMART, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time framed. Make that your mantra for a few days, just your actionable statement. My example would be, “I will only eat ice cream when out with friends.”
Mediation Mantra: Say your SMART Goal statement to yourself while you meditate. Think about if you meditate and say it to yourself at least once a day how you can change your ingrained thought pattern, that groove in your brain, toward something new.