Link to the first session hereSince our last session, I've hired a personal life coach, through which process I've learned more about my deep desire to lose weight. I was anxious to take some steps toward my goal, and began to take an early morning walk every day, in addition to my daily teaching of a Nia class. This created an opportunity to learn that my sabotaging eating had lots to do with two things: time alone and self-care. When I began the walks, the 10 pm gremlin just went away. I discovered I was using food at 10 pm as a way to create some intimate alone time that felt like nurturing myself. The walks satisfied that need, as well as began each day in the positive light of self-care, which was easy to continue throughout the day. In the course of 3 weeks, I lost 5 pounds. Victory!
Then, just as I was feeling great about myself and my daily routine, I began to eat more all day long! I was feeling so good and it was fun! For a time I just noticed this, watched it happen, and watched the scale creep back up. Ultimately, it was very disappointing.
Through some great conversations with my coach, I've learned that my desired weight loss is about more than just vanity (though there's some of that as well!), but also that my body reflects in a very literal sense, my integrity and alignment with what I believe is my life's purpose. So I began again. The walks continue, and so do several other things that support my efforts. So, this week, I've lost 5 pounds!
Six months ago, my mother was dying and my husband & I were separating. It was a very painful time for me. My sister and I are very close, and we took to smoking cigarettes together for some relief and companionship. And I continue now, with her, and alone. It was with great embarrassment and shame that I confessed this to Meg.
Meg helped me to see the benefits of smoking for me right now. One of them is valuable alone time. It has supported me through some tough times, and I'm not quite ready to give it up, though at the beginning of the call I thought I was. I know that when I do quit, I want to be successful. So Meg and I talked about when that might be, and what kinds of things I might want to have in place to support me when I do. It became clear that one thing I need is a get-away. When we talked about that, I immediately had more energy and enthusiasm for quitting.
Since our conversation, I've planned three non-smoking, fun trips to take place both before and after a smoking friend comes to stay with me for a week next month. It seems unrealistic to try to quit for good before she comes. The last of these trips is a week-long women's backpacking retreat in Utah! I'll need to do some physical training beforehand, and I'm confident that I'll return having done some mental, physical, emotional and spiritual healing, and smoking will be behind me. And, I'll be ready for some continuing coaching to help me through the desires that will undoubtedly come up for me.
http://www.coachmeg.com http://www.wellcoaches.comhttp://www.harvardcoaching.orgTo listen to a recording of this 50 minute coaching session,
click here