The other day, I was listening to a podcast called Food Psych by Christy Harrison (it’s a really great podcast, btw, that focuses on body positivity and health at every size), and it was mentioned on the podcast that one step towards healing is to recognize the things you think about most in your life and how those things change how you feel and go about your day.
They talked about how everyone’s thoughts are somewhat repetitive every day. Don’t quote me, but I think she said something like 50,000 of our daily thoughts are some repetition of the same three things.
Everyone’s “Three Main Thoughts” are different, depending on who you are and what you care about. What’s good about recognizing your three main thoughts is you realize what is taking up your headspace. You may realize you’re spending too much of this precious space on things that are only weighing you down!
I tried to think about my “big three”. I believe my three main thoughts are food, friends/family, and the gym/my body.
1. Food
I think about food a lot. What I’ve eaten so far in the day, and whether I’ve been doing “good or bad” with my food choices. What/when I’m going to eat next, do I have anything going on tonight that would change my choices, or am I eating at home? I think about whether I “should or shouldn’t” eat every single thing that touches my lips. Every bite I take has thought behind it, either positive or negative.
I know this isn’t healthy, and I’m trying to change both the ways I think about food. I hope for the day I barely give a second thought to the food I eat. Hopefully, someday, food won’t even be on the list of my three main thoughts.
2. Friends/Family (and Social Media)
This is an easy one. My friends and I are almost always in contact through one form of social media or another. I facetime at least one of my friends every day, and am always snapping one of them. It’s the same way with my family. I Snapchat my sisters every day and we have a group chat with all of our cousins that is active every day. Needless to say, I spend a lot of time thinking of my friends and family.
I love my friends and family, and of course, I would do anything for them. I’m glad they’re in my top three, but I think it would be good for me to try to focus on myself a little more. I’ve been trying to lessen the time I spend on my phone every day because I don’t want to be so dependent on it. I know social media causes me stress sometimes, so I need to be conscious of how much time I spend on it. I love my friends and family, but I really need to be giving my headspace to something more productive instead of social media all the time.
3. The Gym/My Body
I think about the gym a lot because I spend a decent amount of time there. I’m usually at the gym for around two hours at least 4 times a week. I also think about different workouts I want to try, when I’ll be able to fit the gym into my schedule, and what part of my body I feel like working each day. I look at my body in the mirror a lot and think about how I want to change it. I’ve noticed my work at the gym paying off because I can now run much farther than I could before, and lift weights I would’ve never thought of lifting.
I’m enjoying the progress I’ve made at the gym thus far, but I know I think about it a lot. Now that I’ve been trying to give up the diet mentality and love my body how it is, I have given myself a little more slack with the gym. I no longer feel terrible about not going. I chose not to go today simply because I didn’t feel like it and haven’t given it a second thought. I do really enjoy working out, but I’m not sure this is something I should be spending so much time thinking about.
Ideally, my Three Main Thoughts would be about school, starting my business/furthering this blog, and maybe friends and family without all the social media. I know school should consume most of my thoughts, and I need to re-focus on it. My education is what will carry me through life, so I really need to try to make it the best education I can. Starting a business is really hard work, and I know it’s something I should be thinking about often, even now. I know this will come with time and learning. I’m okay with the people I love being in my Top Three, but I would like to focus less on social media. This will allow me so much more headspace to fill with things that really matter to me!
Think about what you think about. Is it really something you should be spending your headspace on? Are there different things you would like to focus on? Sometimes we get so caught up in our day to day lives we forget what really should be important to us. For me, the day to day struggle with my body and self image has taken over my thoughts. It doesn’t allow me to focus on other WAY more important things.
This is something I want to work on. If one or more of your Three Main Thoughts is something you’d rather not spend your time thinking about, try to refocus your energy on something more positive or productive and watch your life change!
I hope you all are having a wonderful day or night!
xo, Lauren
Lauren's Lovely Life 