Looking for the Magic Quick Fix

I was having a conversation with a client the other day, and she said to me, “Nothing is changing, I thought something magical was going to happen and I would change overnight.” We have only been working together for several weeks and it inspired me to want to talk more about this. 

Why do we want the quick fix so bad?  Why?

Why does there have to be some quick fix to lose weight fast, to just stop emotional eating and to magically have the perfect body and happy life?

Why?

I feel like part of that answer is because we’ve been conditioned to not do the work. Not to do the life’s work which is the most transformational, fulfilling and beautiful work that you could ever want to do because it’s for YOU.

We’ve been taught to order everything online for convenience, to go through the drive through to save time and energy, to do this diet and lose 10 pounds in a week …. quick, fast, easy. Yes, I’m all for convenience with some things, but convenience does not always necessarily serve your health, well-being or your emotional and physical relationship with yourself.

As much as you may not want to hear it, I must share that the body does not want to be rushed.  Hormones can’t balance in a day. Your digestive symptoms won’t resolve overnight. I don’t say this to discourage you, I say it to help you understand that you’ve spent “x” amount of years or months ignoring or mistreating your body, so why should you expect that in a few days or weeks everything should just bounce back quickly, without doing the work.  Without really immersing yourself in building awareness and learning how to listen to your body. And learning how to have compassion for yourself if you get bloated or if your skin breaks out. And experiencing curiosity as to why your body is hanging onto protection versus being angry and ashamed that you don’t “look good”.

When you get a symptom I really believe it’s your body’s way of talking to you, communicating. Saying “hello, I have this symptom, I’d like you to know that we are having this symptom so you can hopefully take some action and investigate why it’s happening and we can resolve it.” This is a powerful thing. The fact that the body can give you a stomach ache to communicate inflammation or food sensitivities, or that you can be fatigued or crave salt because your adrenal glands are stressed … this is very POWERFUL.

Yet we view these things as annoying, frustrating or an inconvenience because it’s making life feel more difficult to work through. “I feel puffy so my clothes don’t fit.” “I’m too tired to work out today but I will push through anyway.” “Why won’t my body just WORK the way I want it to?!” I find then that the more we react, the more the symptoms of the body react and grow, and then we just get more angry and frustrated and annoyed, which this has a huge impact on our emotional health.

Some people may explore why the symptoms could be happening, while others really have no awareness or connection to the body (largely because we are never taught to learn how to listen to our bodies) and find it difficult to know what to do. We assume it is just the way it is, accept it, and just continue pushing on with life while possibly not fueling our bodies properly or often enough. Not drinking enough water.  Consuming too much caffeine, sugar, artificial flavors and fast foods.  Or conversely, starving our bodies because we need to “cut calories” because they read in this magazine “lose 10 pounds in 10 days” if you follow this diet.

There is such a deep, desperate need for people to go to extremes with their bodies because they want to be accepted. They want to be loved and to be deemed beautiful, perfect looking and good enough. Yet most people aren’t carving out the time or willing to take the time to spend to rest, hydrate, nourish and deal with stressors in a healthy manner. They just think their body will keep going and working for them.

I feel we need to give our bodies a lot more credit and to start thanking them for all they do for us without us even realizing it. If only our bodies could talk to us with words (instead of symptoms)! I could just imagine what they may say….let’s see. “Can you please give me some water, half a glass per day won’t cut it and this is why you are always so tired.” “Not another fad diet! Step away and feed me nourishing foods please.” “Shut off your phone and please put me to sleep, I’m tired.”

What I suggest, first off, is let’s take a moment to thank our beautiful bodies. “Thank you my beautiful body for having a wonderful beating heart, lungs that breathe the air and my wonderful hands for being able to type this blog. Thank you to my brain, my digestive system and to my cellular level, thank you for automatically doing all you are doing while I just type away on my laptop. I couldn’t do this without you my beautiful body, I am so grateful for you.”

Take a moment and thank your body.  What do you want to thank her/him for? Take a moment.

Next, you may feel frustrated with your body or angry because you have gained weight; are struggling with cravings and emotional eating; are experiencing symptoms like fatigue, bloating, pain or skin issues; or feeling frustrated that you aren’t seeing progress from your gym routine. Well, before you blame your body or get more upset with her/him, take a moment to get curious and ask, “Why?” “Why do I think I’m having these symptoms?”

How much time do you spend with your body on a daily basis checking in? Seeing or asking yourself, “what do I need?” Water, food, a little break or even checking in with your stressors or emotions? Most people don’t do this at all. So it’s a great place to start. Learning how to check in and become aware of your body will help you better understand your symptoms and emotions. It can also help you to start to understand if you are triggered to diet or emotionally eat.

The more you can learn to understand your body and have compassion, the less you will feel the need to push yourself to need the quick fixes. And the quick fixes don’t work. They often only make you feel more frustrated and fuel the vicious cycle of health and emotional struggles that are happening in the first place.

Taking the time to work through low self-worth, build body love and confidence and balance your physical body will change your life for life. By doing this you learn the knowledge and awareness that will move you away from quick fixes, diets and extreme actions that only stress out your body.

To put you on the path to success, here are three tips I recommend instead of quick fixes:

1. Set 3 self-care check-ins with yourself per day. Stop and ask, “What do I need?” It could be things like water, food, deep breathing or to stop working and go for a quick walk. Make sure to take the time to stop and ask.
2. Write or say out loud 5 things per day you are grateful for about your body. This practice will help you build appreciation and patience for your body. It will help you build connection and awareness and make you FEEL GOOD in your body. Gratitude is uplifting and full of joy. You deserve to feel this everyday as you live in your body and go through life’s experiences. This will also help you build self-love and inspire you to want to be more mindful versus mindless with your food habits.
3. Ditch the diets and stop the starvation. It will take time to understand why your body is hanging onto weight. Starving, depriving and shaming your body won’t make it easier or faster. Opt for more varieties of whole foods, proteins, fats, fruits, veggies and natural sweeteners. Also give yourself permission to mindfully indulge. Remove “good and bad, healthy or unhealthy, can’t and can” from your list of food vocabulary.

If you have been struggling with dieting and weight-loss for a while or what may seem like most of your life, this may be a great opportunity to get support. You can reach out and email me at [email protected] to book your 30 minute complimentary Body Freedom call and we can talk about what your health struggles and goals are, where you are seeking support and how I may be able to guide you on a wonderful transformational health journey.

It’s not about magic in the quick fixes.  The magic happens when you decide to make yourself a priority and learn how to take care of yourself and your body. When you start to acknowledge and have gratitude for your body, that’s when the magic starts to happen. This magic comes from within you as you give yourself more attention to support your health. Your body is a beautiful place for you to live in. Thank your body, bring in more patience, and take care of your body. You will notice a huge difference in your life.  Give yourself the gift of taking care of and honoring your body – trust me, so much changes when you do!

Love and body freedom,

Amber