The stories we tell ourselves...

We tell ourselves some pretty messed up shit. We are mean to ourselves. We would never in a million years say things to our friends/family/loved ones or even strangers that we say to ourselves.

Why in the world do we do this? Because we've been programmed to. We have social media, movies, tv shows, commercials, and society telling us certain things since the time we were young, and it's something that has become a truth to us. But it doesn't have to be our truth...

This hit me pretty hard today when I went to get dressed and put on a belt and I could barely wrap the belt around myself. What the hell? The belt fit me just fine 2 weeks ago, how could this happen? Immediately my thought process started telling me - I've got to eat less, I've got to exercise more, I have gained weight, I am doing something WRONG. But then I got to thinking...

I am putting my body through a lot right now. I'm trying out some medication to fight my gut issues, I just stopped nursing my daughter, I just came off my depression pills -- all these things are going to fuck with my hormones and my body. My body has to adjust. And being a wellness coach, I know damn well that working out even harder and eating less IS NOT GOING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

We MUST start re-thinking the things that we've grown up thinking/knowing. Those things don't have to be true to us as we get older. They don't have to be things that we believe as an adult. We are in charge of our emotions, feelings, and mindset. So next time you start thinking negatively towards yourself, ask yourself WHY you are thinking those thoughts and if you truly believe them. Dig a little deeper to figure out where they are coming from.

I saw a quote yesterday - and I can't find it again (of course) but it said something along the lines of this:

The first thought that we think of something is what we have been programmed to believe. If we have a second thought about that same topic - that is where we want our mind shift to go, and those are our new way of living. My example of this is when my belt didn't fit anymore I told myself I needed to go to extremes to lose weight (programmed), but when I thought about it a second time I realized that I need to talk to my dr about the affects the meds are having on my body and remind myself that as long as I am taking care of me as I see fit that's ALL THAT MATTERS (new mindset).