Day 14: Bad Habits Die Hard

Today was a little bit of a slow day and something that I needed to own. Of course, we need to have some downtime time however what I have started to recognise in myself is just how destructive I have been to all three of my zones of mind, body and spirit. When left unmanaged I was not nourishing them appropriately and then one would have a knock on effect to the other, the balance between them lost. Falling back into my poor diet habits of just not to eating clearly sent my body into shock as it was enjoying its new diet. This is surprising as I have been feeling great after eating breakfast and a healthy lunch and a balanced dinner and today I did not eat until early evening(if that is what you’d call it), as I consumed two pieces of toast with cheese just before bed. Having explored my diet with Victoria this was one bad habit that I fell back on and the result was clearly not great for my motivation or my sleep. However, this time was slightly different as I chose to consciously feel the effects on my body and mind and I could see a negative correlation. This has been a pattern that I have been doing over the last couple of years blind to the real impact that it was causing. In my first consultation with Victoria, we discussed the importance of nourishment and what the right food brings to the bodies and the impact it has on our wellness. From my perspective, I often fall into bad habits just at the brink of introducing a new one that would benefit me. The question I have been challenged with is – why? I have worked on several organisational transformation programmes and found the answer in the people and businesses that I have worked with over the years and those of which have been challenged by change. Even though the current environment is not benefiting us, it offers comfort in the fact that we know what we know and we know what we get. So often we will either stay in or return to this behaviour as we draw comfort from it. In many cases, we will extend our reach just far enough to get to the edge of our comfort zone and then return home. As a species, I guess this is something we have been doing since our hunter and gatherer days and the early formation of cultures and communities. This cycle just repeats itself whether it be a single individual or a company – reinforcing my point that businesses behave like humans because they are driven by humans. My advice to organisations that want to embark on any transformation is to ensure that you choose the leaders to manage the change carefully as it takes an inspirational leader that is not challenged by risk and has the resilience and open mind to drive it through to the end and beyond.

Mantra: Feed my spirit with the foods I eat.

Day 2: Feed My Face or My Body?

I started to feel better today and made the decision to focus a little more on research around my diet. It has become clear that I have been managing this aspect of my life much more poorly than I ever thought. As part of this research, I have begun reading several articles on diet and different foods that benefit and stimulate a healthier mind and body. Through a new lens, I have started to explore my own diet and see that my yo-yo eating pattern has not been feeding my body the right levels of nutrients needed and how this has extended beyond the body to both my mind and my spirit. I have been treating healthy options as a tick in the box exercise and seeing not eating as an option for weight loss. There has been no consistency and my approach to diet has resulted in my body not knowing when to burn energy, when to save it and when to even ask for it. As a parallel to wellness across an entire organisation how many leaders and employees are living their daily existence in this manner. This clearly has not worked as the right food is not just about feeding my face it is about helping the body fight illness and making it stronger. As with an organisations approach to wellness it is not just about ticking the box, it must be a lifestyle change. I see that I have lots to learn here. It is both important and also fascinating to explore what different foods give the body the assistance or repair its various moving parts. I encourage others comments and advice on more tips for healthy options and how to introduce better eating patterns to others. The science of food is definitely something that I have ignored and therefore have not been benefiting from. I also kick-started my first PT session with Tom which went well and I am sure will be highlighted more in future days.

Mantra: Food is Energy

Talk to us