Day 8

Clothing. Threads. Duds. Laundry. Our wardrobe has an immense impact on our sense of self. Some people take tremendous care to choose clothes that best reflect their inner selves. Some people choose a wardrobe that reflects how they want to be perceived. Some people buy clothes in bulk and are happy if they fit and adequately cover their naughty bits. I am not going to suggest today that you buy anything new, or change your basic clothing philosophy. But I would like to suggest that today you stop slobbing around your house in pajamas, sweats, or other comfortable "home" clothing. It is possible to be too comfortable.

My problem is that I spend a lot of time working from home. There is little reason for me to ever put on clothes that are constricting or structured in any way. When I do leave the house, I am either exercising, and therefore still in the same kind of clothing, or I am dressed up to hit the town. But when I am around the house, I am usually in baggy sweat pants and a large t-shirt. I think that habit has become destructive. It is easy to forget your body when you are wearing loose sweats, and indeed that is kind of the point. When I did work at an office I remember how wonderful it was to come home, immediately shed the office-casual black pants and button down shirt I usually wore, the black shoes that had begun to pinch, and set myself free in a sea of terry cloth or jersey cotton. I might feel great in those clothes, but there are two problems. When I look at myself in the bathroom mirror, I look like a slob. When I see myself as a slob it takes my self-esteem down a few notches, and I am less likely to value myself. Secondly, it makes it physically easier to overeat, and to conceive of eating more and more. Loose clothes and overeating go hand in hand, and, unfortunately, ugly clothes and low self image also go hand in hand. My challenge to you today is to stop with the oversized sweats, and put on something that not only makes you feel comfortable, but also makes you feel sexy. I would never suggest that you wear tight dress pants and a constricting office-worthy shirt when you are trying to unwind after work. That would be torture. But I would like to suggest that you wear something nice looking that reminds you of how you want to be perceived.

As I have said before, weight loss is about changing your mind. Your mindset can be largely manipulated by clothing. For example, I am far less likely to eat a box of doughnuts if I am wearing a chic little satiny robe with my hair done up in a bun, than if I am wearing my ex-boyfriend’s sweat pants and a giant t- shirt with a stretched out neck and pit stains. With my chic robe I feel like a sexy, confident, icon of myself. With sweats on I feel like a slob who eats doughnuts. Thankfully my robe is just as comfortable, if not more, than my sweats, so I have not compromised there; it also makes me feel like a person who values herself, which helps contain the impulse that I am not constricted by anything and therefore should no longer eat.

Change your clothes, change your mind, change your weight.

Day 7

Today we channel our inner badass. Picture the icon of badass that most inspires you to shed your weakling tendencies. It could be anyone from Aeon Flux to John Wayne. But these people make the base of your gut feel like you want to conquer any challenge. You even want people to challenge you with how much you can take on. For me, I have Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill. I have a picture of her on my desktop. I enjoy her so much as my icon of badass. Not only can she take care of herself, but she has discipline, training, and the perseverance to stick to a long-term, difficult goal. Whenever I need the gumption to forget my clingy hang-ups and destructive circles, I can pretend I am Beatrix Kiddo, and suddenly I don't have the same set of weaknesses. Suddenly I have discipline, training, and perseverance. Doughnuts? Screw doughnuts. I am the deadliest woman in the world, and I need to go work on my Kung Fu.

Day 6

Today is about shedding old skins. We all gain habits, hang-ups, and hurts that prevent us from living to our potential. These layer onto us like skins that we can't seem to shed. We all know that we can't move forward when we are holding on to the past, but something tends to stop us from letting go. It might be a fear of reaching out to the right person, it might be a fear of looking within too closely. Whatever it is, the art of shedding skins is something to be practiced and valued.
One of the most memorable passages in the C.S. Lewis series the Chronicles of Narnia is in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Eustace's dragon skin is shed by Aslan. I read those books over and over when I was growing up, and there are many passages that I remember, but that one in particular was burned onto my memory. Or rather, that one in particular felt very real and applicable to me. For those of you unfamiliar, Eustace was a spoiled greedy and selfish child. He is on an adventure with some other people but separates himself from the group. He ends up in a dragon's lair surrounded by treasure, which he proceeds to claim for himself. This dragon-like behavior magically manifests in him actually transforming into a dragon. It is an awful fate, and Eustace is horrified of himself. Through some adventures in the story he relegates himself to his new form and tries to make the best of it, but at some point he is in the presence of Aslan, the lion king of this world (and in the spiritual sense of these books, a symbol of God). Eustace really wants to bathe in a very inviting pool, and he realizes that he is shedding a skin. He scratches and scratches at it, and manages to get one layer off, but stepping into the pool he realizes that he is still very scaly. He tries many times to scratch and scratch and shed this skin, and is marginally successfully but essentially he remains the same. Aslan steps in and helps him. It is very uncomfortable, because Aslan uses his strength and his claws to do a much more thorough job. Eustace must be wounded, and Eustace must have help to get this thick skin off of him, so that he can start fresh in the pool, very like a new birth. That is the consideration for today. We all have skins that we would like to shed. We all have behaved poorly, and not taken care of ourselves to gain these layers of hurt and baggage. We try like hell to scratch and stretch and purge them off ourselves, and it only gets us so far. Sometimes we need help, and sometimes we need to expose ourselves to potential hurt. Think about someone who could help you shed your old skin. Think about why you have been afraid to reach out to that person. Think about what happened, what dragon's lair, what impulse, what emotion, what hurtful event layered on to the human experience to cause you to take your current form, and what kind of help you might need to feel more yourself. What midwife do you need to help you be reborn into a fresh start, smack you on your behind, and tell you that you are loved?

Day 5

Preservatives are a daily food for most Americans. Even the most natural-looking foods we buy can have preservatives in them. Today, check into all your food that you eat, and list the different preservatives that you consume.
The goal of course is to limit preservative intake as much as possible. It is a lot to ask in our fast-pased world to be completely preservative free, but it is a noble goal to get there. I am not suggesting that we become paranoid about preservatives (after all, salt is a preservative, so is citric acid which is found naturally in fruit) but the chemical compounds in artificial preservatives are potentially dangerous. Why take the risk? The intended effects of additives are not worth the risk. The foods that are best for you don't need chemicals to achieve their purpose. The goal here is to take a look at what you are eating that you are assuming is whole and healthful, and double check. I have already begun compiling my list of preservatives found in my food today, and I am appalled. I will be posting my list later in the day.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has an easy-to-use, measured, and hype-free list of food additives, with a list of uses and scientific findings. They break it down into groups of safe, questionable, and those to avoid and cut completely: CSPI: Chemical Cuisine

Day 4

Today is about thinking of things other than ourselves. Often when we are actively trying to become healthier, and make change in our lives, we become self-obsessed. This self-obsession refocuses us from being productive, well-rounded, and healthy people with an important place in families and societies. When we focus on the health and well-being of others, some of that energy is transferred to ourselves, often in a more powerful and lasting way than if we simply focused on ourselves. Today is a great day to volunteer for an organization that you have never helped before. For those of you who are very accustomed to assisting others, whether it is your family, a client, or if caring is built into your career, the challenge today is to find something you have never done before. Even the most selfless endeavors can start to lose that fresh sense of purpose after even a short time, and feel like merely work or habit. Find something new to do today.
Look for a local organization to volunteer some time. Visit a nursing home. Go to the local animal control or Humane Society and walk a dog or visit with the cats. Here is a wonderful website that can give you ideas for things happening in your area: VolunteerMatch
Try not to think of today's theme as adding another burdensome responsibility to a likely at-capacity to-do list. Today's selfless act can be a fulfilling, life-long association with an organization or a person, or it can be as simple as an act of kindness. Buy someone lunch or flowers for their desk. Go outside of your workplace, to your kid's school, or around your neighborhood, and pick up litter. Give someone a pre-paid gas card. Donate some of your things to a local charitable thrift store. I would urge you, though, in the spirit of Changing Days, to reach out to someone you don't know or have never helped before, or perform a totally new and fresh act. Buying lunch for your best friend or your child might be a very nice thing to do, but it isn't a challenge. Change yourself, challenge yourself, add something fresh and selfless, and you will feel the positive effects immediately.

Day 3

Two things happened to derail this blog. Ironically, I was hit by the 2-day syndrome I describe in the philosophy section of this blog. Blogging: an interesting weight-loss distraction. And sure enough, it lasted for exactly 2 days. I could quit, ashamed at acting out my own failings, but I have chosen to simply accept my foibles and failings and persevere. The second event that derailed this blog was a family vacation. I should have waited to begin after I returned, but I was sure I would be inspired and creative every day I was away from home. It was not the case. As happens so often on vacations we let our health take a back seat to the pleasures of the day. The "I'll start tomorrow" syndrome hit big time. But as we all know, there is no starting and stopping to health and happiness. There is only choosing health and happiness in each individual moment.
And so, mindfulness is today's theme. Stop thinking in terms of dieting. There is no dieting, there is no program to start and stop, there is no daily regimen. There is only living in the now, and mindfully choosing what is going to help us maintain our best health and happiness. Similarly, this blog is not to be thought of as a gimmick, a diet, or a regimen. It is a tool to help maintain mindful living-in-the-now health.
Slow down your pace. Live life in slow-motion, look about you and breathe deeply. Choose to be your best self in every moment, mindfully choosing what you say to others, what you choose to eat, and how you treat your wonderful body. Take your time and enjoy yourself.
Here is an interesting article on living in the moment. Read it slowly, or if you prefer, a couple of times. Today is about not skimming over anything!
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/enlightened-living/201106/5-steps-being-present

Day 2

Today we think about preparing for a journey. You have to carry it all with you all the time, so what will you pack? What is worthy of the prime real estate on your back? How can you lighten your load metaphorically and literally? Look into the baggage that you carry with you in your daily life and analyze it from the perspective of packing light. What can you lose and still have the essentials?

Day 1

Today is the first day of this blog, and so it is appropriate that we consider that today is the first day of the rest of our lives. Today we focus on not only a beginning, but also that we have a lot of time in front of us that we must take care of. Consider that you are in a raw new world, with no one in it but you. All you have to do is create; set a standard for the rest of time. What kind of standard will you set? Your legacy for the rest of not only your life, but every life you create will be born from this first day. Be careful with your new world! Take some time to consider what you want to populate this fresh place. Create beautiful things, like fresh flowers, books full of wisdom and philosophy, and art that moves you. You could literally procure these things for your home, or you could create a mental retreat to come back to when you feel yourself needing to get away. Give your place a name that you can write, post, paint, or say out loud or to yourself to retain the mood of "new" whenever you need it.
This is a good opportunity to clean up some leftover clutter. Even if you have to pile things haphazardly in some old paper bags, get rid of the old legacy from that stranger that inhabited this place before you. You are the new guard, the new authority, the new creator. But don't obsess over cleaning your space. Choose one thing (I am choosing my desk) and get on with your day of making a difference, working, and taking care of yourself and your loved ones.

Statement of Purpose

"Changing Days" is about fresh inspiration; thoughtful themes that change with each day. It is primarily geared toward weight loss, but these ideas can be applied to any goal. Pleasures are to be valued and moderated. Unfortunately, people are very prone to overindulgence. We are not using this blog to work toward being thin, but are trying to overcome our selfish overindulgence that results in waste, weight gain, disease, and self-conscious unhappiness. This blog is about being fulfilled with thoughtfulness and happiness instead of excessiveness.