I love being a Spiritual Counselor and am grateful for each session that I have. I learn so much from each person that I see. The healing that happens is a two-way street. Everybody wins.
Recently, I had a session with a client who was experiencing frustration over a self-sabotaging cycle of addiction. What I left the session thinking about was my own self-sabotaging cycle of eating. The word accountability kept coming into my awareness. I wasn’t creating accountability for myself. As a result, my self sabotaging behavior regarding food was continuing. In fact, my eating was out of control, and I was at my heaviest. I went to bed that night thinking about that.
I woke up the next morning with accountability still on my mind. How could I continue asking Spirit for help and create a method of accountability that would suit my personality? I realized that both had to happen for me to be successful.
I can tell you right now, that restrictive “you can’t have” diets DO NOT WORK for me. It may be possible for a short amount of time. It is not sustainable over the long term. My desire was and is long term, attainable, everlasting change.
I started to think about what had been successful for me in the past. The answer that came through was counting calories. I like being given a “budget” to stay within and enjoy getting creative. And I can eat what I like while I stay within my budget. Counting calories encourages me to get creative and use different ingredients instead of the fats and sugars that I had allowed to become my defaults. While counting calories, I can still have my treats, just less. That morning, I installed an app on my phone for counting calories.
I was already walking daily and wearing a Fitbit. The calorie counting app, syncs with my Fitbit. If I go above 12,000 steps, I’m given bonus calories. That satisfies the part in me that likes having a reward system. And walking more steps is a win/win.
I also felt a nudge to check out Hello Fresh. I discovered that they had the calorie counts for their meals and offer vegetarian options. What drew me in was the variety they offered: Thai, Mexican, Italian, Indian, etc… This felt like a reward as well! And the bonus was that the meals offered gave me the chance as a single woman to enjoy something that I made without having to eat the same thing all week because of leftovers. I purchased a plan.
Being on the plan is actually saving me money! First off, I’m not ordering out. My monthly expense for that was equal to the monthly cost of Hello Fresh. Not proud to admit that, just being honest. And I go to the grocery store for a few things now rather than a bunch of impulse purchases. AND I feel satisfied because the Hello Fresh meals have carbs.
When I asked Spirit to show me how to create accountability that would work for me, I was shown those answers. In a few months, I may move on from Hello Fresh. I may explore other meal services. Or I may replicate the recipes that I have experienced and strike out on my own. (I’m saving the recipe cards)
The healing I received from the session I gave to my client led me to a two-pronged approach for accountability: Asking Spirit for guidance and working with, not against, my personality type. My client left feeling supported, and I was given the gift of a healing as well. Win/win!
At this point, I’m two and a half weeks into my new accountability approach, am not feeling deprived or hungry, and am down 10 pounds. YES! Thank you, Spirit, for the reminder that healing happens for all involved in each connection we make. Just another reason that I LOVE my job!
Everybody wins!
