Day 14 of 100 It's ok to be you.

Give yourself permission.   There is a lot of judgment and shame in our world.  Expectations to live up to guilt placed on our shoulders.  Of course we do need to obey laws, and there are consequences to our actions.  But that doesn't mean that our journey will look exactly the same as someone elses.   Nor should it.   We are all different for a reason.   Our differences give variety and spice to life.   We can learn from those differences.

At the No Excuses Wellness Retreat I attended 2 years ago...that sure went fast!  We were setting goals to attain in the next month, 6 months and year.   I felt that I "should" put desserts only once a week.  Now this is something I had tried for a year...it would work for a little while, then I would binge, or feel deprived.  I was really struggling because it felt like it was the thing that would lend itself to my success.  I asked coach Erik.  I told him I felt like I needed to do it, but I knew it was hard for me and I felt it wasn't possible.  He told me to give myself permission to let it go.   Permission.  What a great word.  I gave myself permission to not focus on desserts.  How freeing.  This weight that had been held over my head for a long time suddenly was gone.   Shortly after that experience I was introduced to intuitive eating and learned that there are no good or bad foods, there are only foods!  Even more freeing.   Truth is, it doesn't matter what you eat.   (ok food nazis hear me out!)   Everything has a purpose.  You have specific tastes based on what you grew up with.   Just because someone has lost weight on a certain diet with certain foods does not mean that it is sustainable for you, or will work for you.   

I have used the word permission a lot since then.  Give yourself permission to do what is right for you and your family.  Permission to live your life the best you can.   Permission to choose what is best for you, instead of feeling the pressure of the shoulds in the world.