When your jeans don’t fit

Having just got back from a week’s holiday where we ate and drank very well, I was mildly anxious about trying to get back into my work clothes on Monday morning. I wasn’t going to deny myself the pleasures of eating out and enjoying different foods and wines.  We had everything from English, French, Greek, Mexican, Italian and Indian cuisines.  More often than not three courses too.  I also enjoyed cocktails before dinner and wine with dinner. I was on holiday.  I wasn’t going to spend it calorie counting. I’d put on about 6lb, which was about what I’d expected, knowing full well that when we got back home, I’d be back to calorie counting and being more careful what I eat.

I must admit, I was rather glad when the trousers I’d picked out to wear to work didn’t cut off the circulation. A little snugger than usual, but I could breathe.

I know that on my return to routine, I’ll get back to that sweet spot when I experience the flow of life, where I’m eating the right things in the right amounts. There was no need to spiral into doom, gloom and despair.  It’s about learning to be comfortable in your own skin, even when there’s a little bit extra around the middle.  If the trousers didn’t fit, I’d simply change the outfit.

In order to find that sweet spot, podcast favourite Tonya Leigh suggested that we need to be honest and respectful of ourselves.  What happens in our own mind is the worst thing that can happen if we let it.  It would be impossible to get back to that sweet spot if we thing of not getting into our jeans as a failure. We need to recognise that our bodies fluctuate and see it as a sign that we need to get back in touch with our body and tweak one thing at a time, rather than try to tackle it full on.

Getting to the sweet spot requires self-awareness and curiosity.  If we’ve fallen off the wagon, TL suggested asking yourself the following questions:

1. What’s been going on?
2. What have you neglected?
3. What do you need to let go of?
4. What do you need to add?
5. What are you going to do next?

Often its about more than just food but with a new awareness and a few simple tweaks we can get back on it quickly. TL suggested that everything you desire lives within your sweet spot.  It doesn’t have to be a struggle to find it.  You can’t live in it 100% of the time; life has its ups and downs.  It can be fun to explore and be curious about yourself.  It can take a lifetime of practice to get there.  Everyone’s sweet spot is different but when you get there you can be energised full of passion and excitement and can be unstoppable (if you want to).

TL concluded that living in the sweet spot required elegance, an internal sophistication of confidence and mindset.

I am confident that by the end of the week, I’ll have lost most, if not all of that holiday gain as I’ll be back in the zone of opting for healthier foods, I’ll certainly be drinking less and not having three course meals every evening. I’ll be back in my sweet spot by the weekend.

What does your sweet spot look like?