The GIFT I Give Myself Each Day

Hi Friend,

Have you ever ended the day feeling defeated and telling yourself there was NO redeeming moment in the day?

Once I string a few of those days together, I can sense my emotions getting the better of me, and I start to spiral. 🥴

Have you ever thought back over a party or social gathering and thought “I can’t believe I said _____” or, “I wish I would have said __________” They must think I’m such an idiot. 🤦…

…and then replay that moment over and over again, losing sleep, and convincing yourself there must be something VERY wrong with you..

.. Or you choose to eat more than you know your body needs, and you feel like your whole day is defined by that one moment in time.

I get it!

Here's the GREAT news.

There’s a totally DOABLE solution.

One thing I encourage my clients to do is to set aside some time each day exploring the question…

How am I proud of myself today? — and ask them to come up with 3 examples

At first, this may seem difficult. Our brains want to fight against uncovering good things. Our brains are actually WIRED to be efficient, and uncover potential danger in order to protect us.

Have you ever wondered why your mind tends to focus on negative things more than positive things?

There’s a very good reason. You’re not broken. Your brain is working exactly as it’s supposed to.

One thing that is in your control is to intentionally DIRECT your thoughts.

It’s normal for us to pick out only the negative or the ways we messed up. Our brain is designed to seek DANGER and potential PROBLEMS that keep us stuck. It’s not our normal tendency to look for this type of positive evidence.

The good news is that this is a skill that can be developed.

I had a recent experience with this very thing and I’m so grateful for developing the skill of catching these now before I spiral.

One evening I overate celery and peanut butter and was completely convinced that this was the ONE thing that defined my day.

I went to bed disappointed in myself, my stomach hurt, and I felt defeated, and like a fraud.

The next morning I did what I always do, setting some time aside to work through my Daily Planner Sheet.

As I got to the part where I answered the question “I’m PROUD of myself because: …

all I could think about at first was now I messed up, and my mind had a hard time coming up with anything good.. at first…

But I've built the muscle of not giving up looking for ways I can be proud of myself.

This took time and practice to evolve. I used to think I was broken, and unable to ever figure this stuff out.

Here’s the magic part about this practice. When I take time to work on directing myself to be aware of what ELSE defined my day, I feel such amazing relief! 😌

Very often the reason we’re overeating is because we need relief from the judgement we heap on ourselves. This feels so HEAVY if we don’t ever challenge the validity of those negative thoughts, or ask ourselves, what else is true?

This is such an amazing skill to develop that will help you stop turning to food for that relief. It’s really possible to find that feeling of relief in your body from the way you decide to think about yourself.

My dream is for every woman to be able to come to a place of calmness and self love, no matter what.

The importance of my daily planning sheet is so much more than just a way to log food.

I see it as a way to ground myself. It gives me a more complete picture of what went on for my day.

Be patient. This work takes practice, courage, and compassion.

You’ve got this!

Amy