The joy of dieting

I’ve been comfort eating. I am unashamedly addicted to chocolate, it makes me feel better about my miserable job for at least… ooh 5 minutes.

A couple of extra pounds are sitting round my waistline and I feel lethargic and morose. I am not a happy bunny. What better week then to start my new blogging group book – The Joy Diet by Martha Beck. Although not strictly a diet book in the traditional sense; if I get it right I will hopefully feel less need to eat the brown sweet stuff.

The Joy Diet - find out more

Together with life coach Jamie Ridler and a group of inspirational bloggers/dieters – some old buddies and new friends in the making – we will work through each chapter that teaches us how to feed our soul all the nutrition it needs. We will learn how to make the most of our potential, what it takes to lift us from the arms of Morpheus each morning with a smile on our faces and a spring in our steps. In short, we will be mastering how to bring more joy into our lives.

I have read the first chapter which invites us to do ‘nothing’ which seems a strange start! Easier said than done though when you’re a Lisa. I thought at first we just had to still for 15 minutes a day which I’m sure I could just about manage… at a push… But no, doing nothing also means thinking nothing. We have to empty our minds; stop listening to the ticker tape of jabber; silence the inner critic; wipe the to do list off the brain’s blackboard. The benefits? Well, it's the place where you find your true self, your inner strength. It's probably best summed up in the words of Lao Tzu:

"We shape the clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want."

Worth thinking about for sure.

First attempt: I darkened the room and went all ‘new age’ with my background music. I relaxed and tried some of the techniques Martha recommends. My mind however, was still tuned into 300 channels (and a couple of muxes*) all competing for my attention. Doing nothing, it turns out, will take some perfecting… Tune in next Friday to see if practice makes perfect and the following weeks when joyful creativity, tenacious truth searching and brave risk-taking will abound.

I made this journal page a few weeks ago in a delicious moment. My creative inspiration melted on my tongue sending a rush of endorphins through my bloodstream and down into the paintbrush. It looks a bit of a mess but it was a rather joyful experience!

PS – I think the UK version of the book has a much more jolly cover dontcha think?

* Mux: technical term I picked up at work. It's a grey box - need I say more?