Here are 3 healthy living tips, 2 book recommendations (one self-improvement and one fun), and 1 journal prompt to ponder this week! 

*TBJ = Tips, Books, Journal Prompt

☀️ For those pursuing food freedom: as counterintuitive as it may seem, the goal is not to be in control of food. The goal is to be unfazed by food. You’re not using discipline or willpower to resist the cookie, rather whether or not you choose to eat the cookie, the decision no longer affects your day. This is freedom.

☀️If you’re struggling with food today, here are three things to remember: 

1. You don’t need to “be better” tomorrow, you haven’t done anything wrong today. 
2. You don’t have control over those automatic negative thoughts, but you do have control over whether or not you choose to engage with those thoughts.
3. You don’t need to make that food decision mean so much.

☀️How to quiet the food noise 

• Reframe: notice the negative thoughts you’re having about what you just ate and choose to shift the perspective with a new, more productive thought such as “I didn’t do anything wrong by eating that.” 
• Interrupt: notice the thoughts you’re having about what you just ate and choose to end the thought loop by interrupting the thoughts such as saying to yourself aloud “Nope, we’re not thinking that today.” 

Challenge: notice the thoughts you’re having about what you just ate and choose to question the truth of the thought such as “How could this thought be wrong or irrational?”

As a therapist, I appreciated this book SO MUCH. Dr. Julie Smith talks about emotions (and managing tough emotions) in a way that is easy to understand. Not to mention this book is FULL of practical skills to use to regulate emotions. If you struggle with emotional eating, definitely give this a read! 

Quick Synopsis (from Amazon): Your mental well-being is just as important as your physical well-being. Packed with proven strategies, Dr. Julie’s empathetic guide offers a deeper understanding of how your mind works and gives you the insights and help you need to nurture your daily mental health. Wise and practical, Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before might just change your life. 

FOR FUN

They Never Learn by Layne Fargo

Ohhhhh this is a fun read. The storyline is GOOD and extremely creative! If you like a fast-paced thriller, definitely pick this up next! 

Quick Synopsis (from Amazon): Scarlett Clark is an exceptional English professor. But she’s even better at getting away with murder.

Every year, Dr. Clark searches for the worst man at Gorman University—professor, student, or otherwise—and plots his well-deserved demise. Thanks to her meticulous planning, she’s avoided drawing attention to herself…but as she’s preparing for her biggest kill yet, the school starts probing into the growing body count on campus. Determined to keep her enemies close, Dr. Clark insinuates herself into the investigation and charms the woman in charge. Everything’s going according to her master plan…until she loses control with her latest victim, putting her secret life at risk of exposure.

Meanwhile, Gorman student Carly Schiller is just trying to survive her freshman year. Finally free of her emotionally abusive father, all Carly wants is to focus on her studies and fade into the background. Her new roommate has other ideas. Allison Hadley is cool and confident—everything Carly wishes she could be—and the two girls quickly form an intense friendship. So when Allison is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly becomes obsessed with making the attacker pay…and turning her fantasies about revenge into a reality.

⚠️ Click HERE for They Never Learn Trigger Warnings

✏️  Imagine you are sitting with 10-year-old you.

 What do they need to hear? What do you want them to know?

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I hope you have a great week!