There was a time when I believed that eating after 8 pm made you fat. This belief was supported by many people in the health and fitness industry who encouraged those wanting to lose weight to stay away from food at night. I bought into it and it became my belief.
When I begin to do my inner work on food, weight and body issues, I realized that the belief I wanted to hold deeply, ” I eat when I am hungry and I stop when I am full,” conflicted with the belief, ” Eating after 8 pm makes you fat.” Holding both beliefs at the same time was not going to work for me.
I wanted to honor my body and its needs. If my body was truly hungry at 8:02 pm, 10 pm or 2 am I wanted to honor its call and eat when I was hungry and stop when I was full. Holding two conflicting beliefs inside of myself created a tug and war which left me anxious and stressed about food. One of the beliefs had to go.
The first thing I did was take a position of doubt around the belief that eating after 8 pm makes you fat. Then I began to look for proof that eating after 8 pm was okay and wouldn’t put weight on my body. And you know what? There are many health and wellness experts who hold the same belief as I do. Eating at night doesn’t make you fat. Eating when you are not hungry puts on the pounds. These experts believe just as I do that as long as you eat when you are truly hungry your body and system is being honored and your weight will be stable.
As a result I re-engineered my belief system on this very subject and to this day I eat when I am hungry no matter what time of the day it is.
Why am I telling you this story? This past weekend I attended Blissdom Canada a blogger conference and one of the speakers urged the audience to take some time and examine their beliefs. It was a good message because we don’t do it enough.
Most of you know that my passion and life’s work is helping people examine and change their beliefs. The majority of people explore their beliefs only when something is not going well in their life or if they are stuck and repeating the same limiting patterns over and over.
Very rarely do we sit down and set aside time to examine our beliefs just on a whim to see if they line up with our 2011 lifestyle and way of being.
For instance at one time I did not believe in past lives. Today not only do I believe in the concept I help people connect with their past life experiences. Not believing in past lives was certainly not harming my life but when I sat down and began to examine that belief, where it came from, other opinions on the subject and checked in with myself to see what was true for me. A shift began.
Just as we were urged this weekend to always be looking at our beliefs I too want to encourage you to spend time examining your beliefs and thoughts in key areas of your life.
Areas such as money, business, relationships, men’s and women’s roles in society, love, health and illness. What do you believe about the world, the unknown, other people, the food you eat or are depriving yourself of? What opinions do you hold about a certain political party, corporation, the state of television, social media, clothing styles, religious organizations, spirituality and 2012?
Most importantly what do you believe about You? This is an area where I had to make a big shift in order to lead a more joyful and peaceful life.
When you examine your beliefs start by doubting them. Ask yourself, “Is this really true? Could there be another way of looking at this subject?”
Then ask yourself if your belief is your own or if you inherited from someone else and if it is true for you today?
Check in and notice if your belief is outdated. Long after the world was discovered to be round many people held firm to the belief that the world was flat. Clearly an outdated limiting belief.
Does your belief on that subject support you in achieving your goals? Or does it hinder you? If the belief you are exploring is no longer working for you, what belief will? Then change the belief.
Instead of waiting for trouble to strike before you examine your beliefs. Make it a practice of doubting the thoughts which fill your head to see if they are appropriate for you and your well being.
~Love, Esther
great post. It really speaks to me… I am currently going through a journey of really looking at my beliefs and my approach to life. We all need to be doing more to improve ourselves and our lives. Thanks
Thanks Christy for the comment and I love that you are spending time reflecting on your beliefs. It is amazing what we come up with when we take the time to really examine them.
great post. It really speaks to me… I am currently going through a journey of really looking at my beliefs and my approach to life. We all need to be doing more to improve ourselves and our lives. Thanks
Thanks Christy for the comment and I love that you are spending time reflecting on your beliefs. It is amazing what we come up with when we take the time to really examine them.
What an extraordinary post Esther – and some very powerful advice
Laurie: this is the one time doubting self is good.
What an extraordinary post Esther – and some very powerful advice
Laurie: this is the one time doubting self is good.
Great post.
I find having a flexible approach and realizing everything in the world is “the way I see it” makes me more open to others’ views (which is good when you want to reexamine your own beliefs).
My biggest challenege is usually self doubt “you can’t do this etc.” Being able to hear that voice, asking myself who told me that along my journey or why I still believe it now (when I know its not true). I can thank that thought for trying to keep me safe, tell it there’s no need to protect me and then feel confident that I’m just changing and everything will work out just the way its supposed to.
Excellent Greg. It’s good that you can do this yourself. Many people are in collusion with their own beliefs and then need someone to help them sort it out.
Excellent Greg. It’s good that you can do this yourself. Many people are in collusion with their own beliefs and then need someone to help them sort it out.
Great post.
I find having a flexible approach and realizing everything in the world is “the way I see it” makes me more open to others’ views (which is good when you want to reexamine your own beliefs).
My biggest challenege is usually self doubt “you can’t do this etc.” Being able to hear that voice, asking myself who told me that along my journey or why I still believe it now (when I know its not true). I can thank that thought for trying to keep me safe, tell it there’s no need to protect me and then feel confident that I’m just changing and everything will work out just the way its supposed to.
Excellent Greg. It’s good that you can do this yourself. Many people are in collusion with their own beliefs and then need someone to help them sort it out.