I’m over 3 months into the Level 2 nutrition coaching course from Precision Nutrition and we have not discussed a protein, carb, or fat yet! We have discussed topics like behavior awareness, mindfulness, and more recently self-compassion.
Seems a little different, right.
But different by design. How many times have you googled the “perfect diet” or asked if you should be eating 39 grams or 40.25 grams of carbs? Be honest.
How has that worked for you? I ask this not to be confrontational but to help you no longer waste precious time and energy doing things like calorie-counting when we know that it does not work.
Could there be another way of approaching health, wellness, and body composition that we need to address? Try this simple thought experiment right now. It’s free, quick, and simple. You can do it anywhere.
(Plus, it’s right from the PN Level 2 super-secret nutrition coaches so you know it works)
Self-Compassion Drill
I know we’re done with the compassion weeks, but I wanted to share a self-compassion trick that might sound a little fluffy but is just basic affective neuroscience.
Most folks can feel compassion and care for others, even if they find it hard to do the same for themselves.
So, use that “other-centered” compassion to sneak self-compassion in “under the radar” before your brain wises up and goes back to criticizing you.
Try this little exercise:
- Imagine something or someone about which you easily feel love, care, concern, compassion, etc. Like your child, or your spouse, or your little old grandma, or a fuzzy kitten who is sad, whatever. (See attached photo if you’re having trouble there. Look how sad that kitten is!)
- Focus on feeling that compassion and care for your chosen subject. Love bomb that fuzzy kitten in your mind. Do this for 10-20 seconds. Really warm up that love train engine.
- Then, once the good vibes are humming, switch the focus briefly to yourself. Maybe 5-10 seconds.
- Then go back to the fuzzy kitten. Amp up the care and compassion again, in case you lost any compassion fuel when you focused on yourself.
- Switch your focus back to yourself, and see if you can catch the self-compassion wave again for 5-10 seconds.
- Go back and forth like this a few times. Even if you only focus the compassion on yourself for 5 seconds, it’s enough for now.
This exercise takes advantage of the emotional “lag time” we experience in switching emotions.
We can’t go from loving compassion to self-criticism immediately, so this “drill” helps us practice experiencing a feeling of self-care even if we can’t normally generate it spontaneously for ourselves.
Hope this helps you feel better!
