5 Thoughts & Things I'm Loving Lately
Hey friends! Happy Friday! I'm writing this sitting at one of my favorite coffee shops here in Westchester, NY. They have the BEST herby/floral lattes...something I'm currently really loving! I've had a lot of random thoughts and things I've been wanting to share with you and thought, what better than putting them all in a blog post for you! Here are 5 thoughts and things I'm currently loving lately...
1. WHO YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH (ON AND OFF-LINE) MATTER.
I did a little exercise for myself lately. I went through my Instagram and the people I follow and unfollowed anyone who didn't add to my life. So any feeds that didn't inspire or encourage me, or anyone who didn't bring me joy, I hit unfollow. Nothing against these people. I just found myself falling into the comparison trap that's so easy to fall into on Instagram. I also noticed that I was feeling really uncreative with looking at what everyone else was doing instead of paying attention to what my heart wants, or figuring out what I believe. So just like the phrase, "You are who you hang out with" rings true for physical relationships, it can be applied also to those you follow online. Because you're essentially "hanging out" with those people you follow. And they're either lifting you up...or they're tearing you down. I choose to be around those who lift me up.
2. SOMETHING I'M LOVING...READING AND LISTENING TO THINGS NOT RELATED TO EDUCATION, BUT ARE SIMPLY FOR FUN!
I'm a bit nerdy when it comes to business and nutrition stuff. I LOVE learning about the body and how food affects it, as well as learning more about business...a more recent interest! Buuuttt, I found myself filling my mind with SOOO MUCH information that I felt glutinous on education. I felt myself needing to have something light and fun to listen to or read. I craved something else...a different interest... to learn about or soak in. I've been in a book club with 4 other amazing women and have really enjoyed reading different books, books I wouldn't have typically picked up. So far we've read "If Beal Street Could Talk", "The Nest", and "Becoming" and we're reading "You" next. I'm also currently reading "Daring to Lead" by Brene Brown...so good! Some podcasts I'm listening to right now are The WANT cast (Women Against Negative Talk) podcast, Nourishing Women Podcast (nutrition talk but also talk on so much more such as sustainable living & mindfulness, and the Happy Hour.
3. SELF LOVE IS IMPORTANT...BUT WE CAN'T FORGET ABOUT LOVING OTHERS.
I love helping women learn self-love! Self-love and self-respect are so important in the process of giving up dieting and taking on an intuitive eating approach. But with this work, we can't forget about loving others and serving others. With our current culture being very much about finding and discovering yourself, self-care, and "fixing" yourself, it's easy to get very ME focused. I struggle with it. People I talk to struggle with it. We can and should love ourselves. But we also have to be mindful to take time and intentionally get out of ourselves and our work-on-me mentality to serve others. A balance of both loving self and loving others is what's most fulfilling. There are going to be times and seasons in your life where you're going to be maybe doing more of one than the other, and then they flip flop. But something I, personally, have been learning and convicted of in my own life is to do more in the way of loving on others. Just a thought.
4. SOMETHING I'M LOVING...MY MORNING ROUTINE!
I'm by far perfect at going through my morning routine! Hear me out! NOT PERFECT! But I've so enjoyed the days I do go through my morning routine right now. One thing I've realized is, again, life goes through seasons and it's quite possible that a year or even a month from now I may have to revise this routine. That's ok! But I'm finding myself loving the structure of having a morning routine. I've talked about mine in past blog posts, but basically I've been waking up around 5:15-5:30 each morning (I've always been an early riser!), spending a little time exercising or doing some form of movement (lately loving more strengthening exercises since I can't do much running outside with the current temperatures), and then showering, eating breakfast, and finishing by reading my bible, my current devotional book, and journaling. It works for me and I typically will go through all of this about 3-4 days out of the week...the other days I decide to sleep in a little just because. :)
5. YOU'RE BODY WILL CHANGE THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE...LOVING YOUR BODY IS A FLUID PROCESS, NOT SOMETHING YOU SETTLE ON
I'm seeing changes in my body right now, just subtle ones, but enough that I'd have freaked out in the past. I'm seeing more pudge in my belly right now, more curve around my hips and in my butt. With these changes, I began to think about how loving your body is not something you just achieve one day...it's an ever-changing, fluid action and decision that you make many times throughout your life! Because your body is going to be constantly changing, especially as a woman. This is NORMAL! I think it's important to bring to light the normalcy of women's bodies changing because too many women are afraid of change in their bodies. And that is when dieting becomes attractive...when the thought is that your body has to stay the same. Because then the pressure is on to control your body through food and exercise instead of allowing it to go through its changes and change shape in the way it's made to. So now, with winter, being indoors more, not being as active and eating more hearty foods, and even just growing into my healthy body, I can rest without worrying about these changes...I know that body change is ok! And you can know that too!
Hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you like these and I'll do more like this. I'd love to also hear from you with some things that have been on your heart or mind or things you're currently loving!
xo
Victoria