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Reframing Thoughts

watchI am reminded constantly of how it’s my thoughts that need changing as much as anything else, if not more. As I seek to find some kind of balance in what I’m doing for my health, I need to remember to change my way of thinking away from fear-based thoughts.

Today I think about the whole concept over “I can’t have ______” versus “I can have _______ , but I don’t want it.”

I was inspired by watching the documentary called Hungry For Change, which is one of about 5 or 6 food-related documentaries that really have shifted my thinking.

On one level, I want to be like a lot of the people in these movies, who seem not only disciplined about eating healthy food, but very happy to be eating the way they do. What they have to say in these movies, which also includes Food Matters, Vegucated, Forks Over Knives, and Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead, I sense a lot of truth to it.

On the other hand, I’ve struggled with trying to maintain a strict food lifestyle that matches up with this truth. I want to feel happy with what I’m doing in those times, but my mind goes back to the I CAN’T mentality.

In search of the balance that I seek for the present moment, I know I need to chart my course toward the destination I want to reach, which is a lifestyle that supports optimal health. I tried to speed toward that abruptly, and it led to so much anxiety.

I will get there. I will work on thinking “I can have _______ , but I don’t want to.” I will celebrate the good choices and try to find peace with the poor choices, and hope for those poor choices to be less over time.

I will try to crowd out the poor choices by adding in new good choices.

So to reframe this week’s goals:

I can have sugar, but I don’t want to this week. If I do, it’s okay.
I want to record my calories this week. But if I forget, it’s okay.

 

By J. Parrish Lewis

J. Parrish Lewis was born and raised in Maryland. In his youth there, he and his brother had many adventures in the dogwood forests near his home. His nostalgia for these adventures has strongly influenced his characters, their relationships, and their perspective on the world they inhabit. He moved to California’s coast to earn his degree in communications and now lives with his family in the San Joaquin Valley. Lewis is profoundly deaf and uses American Sign Language to communicate. He enjoys hazelnut coffee, captioned movies, and walking his dog.

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