134. Selfcare is an Act of Kindness to Yourself: Why You Should Not Delay Rest and Selfcare Until You 'Deserve' It

Discover the key to unlocking a happier, healthier you!

Feeling overwhelmed by stress and neglecting self-care? In today's Health Bite, Dr. Adrienne Youdim sheds light on the importance of self-care for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. When we disregard self-care, we often resort to unhealthy habits like overeating.

Remember, self-care is not a luxury; it's an absolute necessity. Dr. Adrienne Youdim provides practical tips to incorporate self-care into our lives.

Learn to say no, grant yourself moments to pause, reconnect with nature, get moving, and nurture positive thoughts and self-compassion. These actions can diminish stress, enhance our mental and physical health, and help us avoid unhealthy behaviors like overeating.

Let's make self-care a priority and cultivate greater ease, serenity, and inner peace in our lives.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode

• Find out how neglecting self-care can lead to seeking external comfort through unhealthy habits like overeating.
• Discover practical ways to incorporate self-care into your daily routine.
• Create more ease, calm, and inner peace in your life by making self-care a priority.

"Remember, self-care is not a luxury; it's a necessity. It is not selfish but an act of kindness to yourself and to others." - Dr. Adrienne Youdim

 How do we practice self-care? The kind of self-care Dr. Adrienne is talking about.

1. Learn to say no.
2. Give yourself permission to pause.
3. Engage with nature.
4. Move your body.
5. Be mindful of your minds diet. 

Ways that Dr. Adrienne Youdim Can Support You

1. Join the Monthly Free Mind-Body Workshops: Participate in engaging mind-body practices designed to help manage your stress response. Register here.
2. Sign Up for the Newsletter: Stay updated with valuable insights and resources by subscribing to the newsletter. Sign up here.
3. Freebie alert. Register for our monthly free MindBody Workshop and receive a downloadable guide on emotional labeling to help you manage your emotions effectively.

Connect with Dr. Adrienne Youdim

• Website :https://www.dradriennespeaks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dradrienneyoudim/

Transcript

Selfcare is an Act of Kindness to Yourself: Why You Should Not Delay Rest and Selfcare Until You 'Deserve' It

This week a patient asked me, you should do a podcast on self care. What, I said, isnt that what I always talk about? But then I realized that we can all use a reminder, now and again. We can always use a reminder, a nudge to better care for ourselves. So consider this your nudge right now. We are going to talk about self-care, the real genuine kind.

Welcome back to Healthbite, the podcast for small actionable bites towards healthy living. 

I believe your relationship with food is a window into your relationship with yourself. In this podcast we will explore how to redefine this relationship so you can not only achieve your weight loss goals, but greater mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. In the end, that’s what its all about, isnt it?

I am your host Dr Adrienne Youdim and am excited to share with you this weeks bite.

Taking Time for Self-Care

So what does self-care have to do with our relationship with food? Our relationship with ourselves? With health and healthy weight? Well, our lives are busy, fast paced, filled with commitments and obligations, It can be alot and it is essential to take time to care for ourselves. Without it, without offering ourselves necessary care, we seek external comfort, we soothe with smoking, drinking, shopping, Scrolling, over-working and yes with food. 

So how do we do that? How do we practice self care? Yes a manicure or a massage feels good but that is not the kind of self care I am talking about. 

1. Learn to say no

I am always amazed by the many roles we carry: we are partners, business owners, parents and caretakers. We take on volunteering at school, helping a friend move, driving a parent to an appointment, Some of these are necessarily and essential. My kids have to eat, I often joke, but not everything is essential. Think about the activities you are engaged in and the things that you are saying yes to. Now if you are a chronic do-er, you probably are not really taking stock of all the things that you are actually doing. So take a survey of your day or your week. Write down all of your doings, every single one. Now how many of these activities are for others? You may find, if you are a chronic do-er, that the word is out that you are a do-er. Someone must be writing it on the bathroom walls, because you keep getting requests to do. Don't they know that I am doing so much, you may secretly think to yourself? The answer is no, they do not. And they cannot be expected to set your boundaries. It is your job to know you are overstretched and it is up to you to set the boundaries needed to to give yourself time and space.

1. Give yourself permission to pause

Are you a multi-tasking queen? Who isn't these days. You should see my laptop- there are usually over a dozen tabs open (you should see the tabs open in my brain) We are all over scheduled with work, projects, appointments, social obligations. Multiple activities and extracurriculars for our kids and social obligations in excess. And if that were not enough we use all of our in between time on our devices- emails, social media, news articles. We have virtually engineered all downtime out of our lives. Being on task all the time leads to burn out. NOt to mention leads to reduced focus, productivity and efficiency (an ironic but real side effect) And of course leaves us longing to soothe. So practice self care by giving yourself permission to pause. Put down your phone. Create scheduled breaks in your day for downtime. learn to be ok with declining invitations and obligations and consider even scheduling a day off from the office or if your day job is caring for the family consider booking a hotel and disappearing for 24 hours. If this sounds radical then you are exactly the person that needs to consider this. 

1. Engage with nature. Nature allows us to connect with something greater than ourselves and with the world around us. This feeling of interconnection that nature brings is grounding. It allows us to be in the present moment offering a break from the hustle and noise of everyday life. Nature is also a perfect space for introspection, self-reflection and self-awareness. Being with ourselves in nature also allows for mental clarity and an opportunity for new or renewed perspective that can be very healing and can support personal growth and self discovery.  

1. Move your Body- I say move your body, not exercise, because we equate exercise with dieting and weight loss. This has nothing to do with your weight. It has to do with giving your body an opportunity to move, circulate blood, release tension and stress, release endorphins and dopamine. But if you are listening to this podcast because of the weight loss angle, here is the thing, when you move your body and give yourself an opportunity for release as with all these activities, then you are less likely to need food to do the soothing for you. 

1. Be mindful of your minds diet. I still remember the first time I heard that someone say- you dont have to believe every thought that you think.  Really, just because I think it doesnt make it true? That was gold! The truth is that we think upwards of 60K thoughts per day and most of them are negative. Engaging in every one of those thoughts is a recipe for disaster. But we can take it a step further and actively cultivate positive thoughts and positive feelings. This is particularly important when come upon our mistakes and limitations. These are the times that we need to be extra careful with ourselves and yet we tend to be extra mean doubling down on ourselves in times of imperfection. Why did you say that, that was so stupid. Why did you eat that you’re so fat. Here is a better way. Approach yourself with words of kindness and self compassion. Remind yourself that you are human, like all humans you have missteps and offer yourself words of kindness and self compassion instead. Be proactive, start each day with a reminder of what you love about yourself and end each day celebrating your wins- what did you do or what happened that you feel really good about? Be your own advocate, be your own cheerleader, cultivate a self love and self compassion practice and be mindful of how and what you say to yourself, it matters and it is a matter of self care

The Impact of Self-Care on Our Health and Wellbeing

Remember, self-care is not a luxury; it's a necessity. It is not selfish but an act of kindness to yourself and to others. By taking care of ourselves, we are better equipped to navigate life's challenges and support those around us. And we are less likely to require substances or external things to soothe. 

Conclusion and Future Outlook

So, my friends, let's make a commitment to ourselves, to prioritize self-care and create more ease, calm and inner peace.

I hope I have made the case for engaging in a self care practice. WHat of these offerings do you already engage in? What might you incorporate, if you dont? I would love to hear from you. Feel free to connect with me @dradrienneyoudim on IG or join my newsletter and send me a note. You can find the link in the show notes.