As you may already know, there are many positive habits a Pleasurista, or woman on the path of pleasure, can adopt while traveling on her weight loss journey (e.g. eating slowly, cooking nutrient-rich recipes, moving her body in enjoyable ways, etc.)
Also, there are some unfavorable habits she can gently and consistently work to release (e.g. dining with distractions, eating very quickly, not listening to her body, etc!)
One of the most detrimental habits anyone on any kind of weight loss journey can get caught up in, is to habitually think about how you will look and feel once you arrive at your target size and shape.
Although thinking positively always helps, the true secret to weight loss that is permanent (and pleasurable!) lies not in thinking, but in releasing the habit of all that extra thinking, and embracing the habit of inhabiting your body instead.
Inhabiting your body, or being in your body, triggers what I fondly refer to as the “pleasure chemistry,” or the relaxation mode.
This physiological mode is where your body metabolizes fat, burns calories and digests like one wild and sexy little animal. Also, this mode causes your body to produce a genius combination of chemicals that suppress hunger and keep you from overeating. (Pretty sexy, right?)
The relaxation mode is a pleasure-induced state – and inhabiting your body is one of the most powerful ways to feel oodles of pleasure, and thereby shifting your metabolism into weight loss gear.
6 Habits For Inhabiting Your Body & Getting Into The “Slim-Down Metabolism”
- Inhabit your eating habits. Nibble, savor and enjoy every flavor… in a nourishing environment. Also, it helps if you shift your food-attitude to seeing food as your friend, not your foe.
- Go walk, or frolic, in nature. Smell the fresh air, admire the intricate lines on the trees, listen to the birds, feel the grass on your bare feet and taste the berries (so long as they’re safe to eat!). When’s the last time you ate outdoors and felt the warmth of the sun while you chewed?
- Reinvent your body care/beauty routine. Be yummy to your body, and your body will be yummy to you. Just like an animal, she likes to be petted (wink) with fragrant shampoos, organic cosmetics and a moisture-rich lotion. Give yourself the gift of health-inducing touch and products. More on this in #6.
- Feel your feelings. Emotions do not float around in your head – they are right there, in your body! Ever felt a heavy-hearted sadness, an electrifying excitement throughout your body or a nervous fluttering sensation in your stomach? Yeah baby: feel your feelings, accept them as good and right, and you’ll inhabit your body, pronto.
- Touch. This does not only include touch that is sensual or sexual in nature (although that is highly encouraged), it includes platonic
touch: deeply hugging a friend, warmly shaking someone’s hand, or simply touching… yourself! One of my favorite ways to feel my own skin and trigger my fat-burning pleasure chemistry is by rolling around on the floor, after a few yoga stretches. (Also, I have a friend whose daughter visits her local animal shelter once a month, just to love up the kitties and puppies that don’t have a parent – how sweet and tender (and fulfilling) is that!)
- Appreciate the current state. When you’re in the present moment, you can listen to your body’s messages, focus on the pleasure of whatever you’re doing and even co-create your meals with your wise, intelligent body’s requests. Being grounded in the present state and listening to your body is much more beneficial, and enjoyable, than pre-planning meals in a disconnected, mental manner.
Hey beautiful, are you with me?
Let’s say it out loud: appreciate the present state, enjoy touch, feel your feelings, reinvent your beauty and self-care rituals, go out in nature and eat in an embodied, nourishing way!
These are just 6 of oh-so-many habits you can adopt to inhabit your body and trigger the biochemistry and metabolism of natural weight loss.
Remember, creating your pleasure chemistry is your choice:
What habit will you create, to inhabit your body, and by doing so boost your “thermic efficiency,” your body’s ability to burn calories?
Share your wisdom in the comments below – feel free to be open and candid; often, your genius insights can be a life-changing thing for another Pleasurista on the feminine path of weight loss.
In the Habit of Pleasure,
xo Jena
New York, New York
Jo Ann
Hi Jenna,
Once again you have inspired me! Great advice.
Jo Ann
Rhejcka
Hi Jenna,
this is a great, inspriring post, thanks a lot. I love your newsletter and really consider one of your online programmes.
I am, however, well… surprised by the photo accompanying this post. Apart from the lady on the right, all of the other ladies seem to be absolutely normal-sized. By seing the photo, I would never ever call any of them overweight or plus-size.
Please do not get me wrong, I do in no way inted to attack you, but seing mostly thin women attending a weightloss-class just seem to be contradicting everything you say… The message seems to be that everyone over a size 0 or 2 is overweight… Please tell me that I am wrong!
Lex
Mmmm. Yum. To everything.
“Feel your feelings”: Funnily enough, I’ve noticed that even my most trying feelings (anxiety, stress, loneliness, saddness) have a twinge of Pleasure in them…I mean, if I actually sit and be with them, I can feel them pulsating throughout my body, shifting, morphing, traveling, and changing. The feelings of allowing them to go through my body kind of feels good. My mind associates the feelings as something “bad”, but my body is saying “damn, darling, it kind of feels good to have your stomach drop, or your chest tighten and loosen…mmm….keep feeling whatever it is”
I’ve been trying to explore touch moreso with my food as well. I’ve even eaten some non-finger-foods with my hands as of late, just to play around and make it more sensual. Lovely 🙂
Great tips, beautiful.
Thank you, as always.
Angela Minelli
Great advice. So out of the box – and true! Everyone gets there eventually if they just don’t “fall off the wagon” with their thinking.
Jena
Thanks Jo Ann & Lex!
Jena la Flamme
Lex, I’m re-reading your comment. I’m really moved by what you shared. Thank you. I’m so proud of you. And what a great articulation of your experience.
Here’s to finger foods 🙂
xo Jena
Ricky
While getting your body into the habit to slim down you also have to keep in mind there are reasons why you don’t lose weight and that could just send you into a state of depression which makes you quit and pack on more weight! I saw a video that has the top 10 reasons why we don’t lose weight and I’ll just share it here!
http://youtu.be/hvDnLB_hPcM
-Ricky!
V
i love this post & these 6 habits!
i especially enjoyed “feeling my feelings.”
just today, i experienced the pleasure of accepting (instead of resisting, or trying to get rid of) my little worries & concerns, before teaching a class.
i just accepted my concerns as good & perfect, & it felt physically GOOD to just go with my flow.
my body thanked me, & relaxed — thanks for the wisdom!
susan
Hey Jena!
Once again, I just love your posts! I was so excited to read the suggestion of feeling your feelings! I am a spiritual life coach and IIN’er and I teach this same thing! It is so wonderful to know that you are spreading such a great message! In working with emotional eaters, I find this is one of the main tools to really help people let go of the charge so they can change the behavior!
It is so inspiring to feel this connection!
Yo go girl!
Susan
Alisha
Hi Jenna,
I discovered you through Renee Stephens. I just wanted to comment on today’s blog. A few years ago I went through some difficult feelings and found that the one place where I could be calm and have a few minutes respit from everything was in the butterfly sanctuary in British Columbia. It was as though all the cares of the world were lifted from my shoulders and I could breathe again. I highly recommend the ‘frolic in nature’ idea. There is just something soothing about knowing that the birds are atwitter.
Sally
thank you Jena, I love these tips. Spending time in nature, treating your body kindly both with touch, using yummy moisturizer and popping on some make up are all things that I love and should not be seen as a luxury but a great way to be kind to yourself and to build trust and love in yourself. Thank you xx