Everyday Baby Steps

Well, I’ve been working on my goals for about a week now.  And, actually, things have been going quite well.  Okay, moderately well.  My biggest downfall has been that dirty four-letter word, my diet.  Food is my weakness.  Especially sweets.  My husband swears I’m going to become a diabetic.  He’s probably right.

But at least I’m aware of my food issues, and I’ve taken steps to nip them in the bud with my favorite strategy, finding a book about it.  And I’ve found a fabulous book.  Not the traditional weight loss program we’ve all tried (Atkins, Weight Watchers, South Beach, yada yada yada . . . ), and you know you’ve tried ‘em, The Writing Diet: Writing Yourself Right-Size   by writing guru Julia Cameron (author of The Artist’s Way) actually seems different.  I’ll admit that I haven’t finished it, but just reading the first few chapters has made a difference already - I can’t wait to read the whole thing.  When I do, a complete review/progress report will follow.

This book doesn’t make you count calories or points, measure your food, or cut out everything even remotely tasty.  Cameron focuses on using the creative outlet of writing to tackle your food issues.  Lord knows I have issues.  The chapters I’ve read so far are “The First Tool: Morning Pages”, “The Second Tool: The Journal”, and “The Third Tool: Walking”. 

The three tools alone are just the “baby steps” I needed to get me motivated.  If you’ll remember, I’m allergic to wheat and milk, which makes eating right darn near impossible.  But it’s not impossible with some creative planning and tactical grocery shopping.  So after filling the cupboards with foods I can eat and looking through my wheat and dairy-free cookbooks, I was ready to tackle the tips given in the book.

The Morning Pages are basically a free-write you do each day.  The premise is that letting the words flow onto the page will lead to insight into your daily struggles and problems.  My writing led me to see that I’m really struggling with a loss of identity since leaving my job as well as feeling a bit lost due to lack of structure.  So I’m focusing on my new job title of aspiring freelance writer and sticking with the routine I set up in my goals.  The Journal is basically a food journal.  But you don’t just record what you’re eating; Cameron encourages you to write about your feelings or thoughts regarding the food.  This leads to more insight.  Per her suggestion, I’ve also taken out my journal when a “Snack Attack” hits.  And it’s actually helped me to avoid bingeing on the yummy things I shouldn’t have.

My favorite part, so far, is Walking.  Just twenty minutes a day, according to Cameron, will not only improve your body, but also promises to lead to a flow of creativity.  I was skeptical about this.  I’ve always enjoyed walking.  In the past it’s helped me to clear my head.  But by focusing on creativity rather than all my worries, I was actually able to come up with the idea for a whole new format for my blog, which I will unveil next week.  I mapped out the whole thing while on a quick, twenty-minute walk.  I totally recommend checking out this book.  It’s a whole new way of looking at weight-loss.