It's natural to evaluate our activities in life.  But when that capacity for self-evaluation turns harsh and we begin to label ourselves with generalizations such as, "I'm stupid," "I'm a failure," I'm fat and ugly," that's judging yourself, and

"When you judge yourself, you break your own heart."

I work to defuse negative judgments and avoid putting myself in a mental box.

To avoid this mind litter, I say to myself:

"That's not me."

The harsh voice itself isn't really me. That voice is just an echo of past insults,
maybe from a parent, a sibling, etc. that I wound up mentally adopting. Just a bunch of mental toxic refuse
that has nothing to do with the true essence of who I am.

What the voice is saying also isn't accurate. We can't sum up one person, especially ourselves, with a single word or label. People are much more complex than a harsh judgment, or even for those reverse generalizations such as,
"I'm great." "I'm the best." "I'm better than..." Those can give needless pressure to live up to them,
disappointment when we fail to do so, or arrogance when we do.

We can get out of the mental box by refusing to label ourselves, and refusing to adopt labels others try to apply to us. We can just do what we need and want to do with our attention in the present moment. Then, see how it goes, evaluate what we did, and move on.  It will lighten your load. 

But if "That's not me," then who are you?
What is the true essence of a person?

I believe that If my mind is clear and positive, I tap into the power of something vast and awe-inspiring, something far more powerful and capable than I can otherwise consider. My capabilities and sense of well being grow.

But if my mind is full of static and commotion, caused by negative self-talk, I’m out of the frequency of that power, which makes me more likely to experience misery, negative emotions  and a view of myself as small and limited.

During an online discussion of fasting in a forum I frequent,
one of the participants wrote:

"I don't think fasting works for everyone. ..
some people find that they are so hungry the day afterwards
that they eat more that day to compensate for the fast.
I suspect that, for people like this, fasting is simply not a helpful tool.

I've talked to lots of people about fasting
...which is a common practice here in India...
and I've never run across someone who found it difficult
and was hungrier the day after who ever really got used to it."

Based on my own intermittent fasting experience..which is extensive...
and my observations of others,
I tend to agree.

Although intermittent fasting has sometimes been useful to me as a maintenance tool,
my body has never become accustomed to it,

I have to be EVEN MORE CAREFUL to consciously moniter my food intake while doing this,
because I am always more hungry during for a day or two following a fast,
no matter whether the fast is 19 hrs, 24 hrs, or 36 hrs,
and if I left it up to the desires of my body, I would always overeat after a fast.

Of course, if I overeat the day BEFORE a fast,
I'm not as hungry as usual at the very beginning of a fast,
because my body is still digesting the food from the day before.
However, this does NOT mean that fasting is beginning to reduce my desire for food,
and I am always more hungry during the following day or two.

It isn't how hungry I am at the beginning of a fast that is predictive of overall success.
It is how hungry I am during the day or two AFTER a fast, when I return to eating.

Anyone with a tendency to have binges..
...by which I mean short unrestricted, uncontrolled high calorie eating episodes...
must watch and moniter their subsequent food carefully,
or intermittent fasting will simply become a "binge-fast" cycle...

In time, when it becomes extremely difficult (almost impossible) to fast,
this pattern can easily transform itself into a cycle of "normal eating & bingeing".
This "normal eating-binge" pattern is also a major difficulty
many very obese people have when following a "vanilla" No S Diet plan
and...in my own experience, and my observation of others...
this is NOT ALWAYS self-correcting...even after a lengthy trial period.

                     
Human beings have this unique ability
to focus on things that aren't happening right now.

That allows them to reflect on the past and learn from it;
it allows them to anticipate and plan for the future;
and it allows them to imagine things that might never occur.

While we may believe we want to live in the moment....
most of us share the philosophy portayed by the following cartoon.

BUT, of course,
the only time each of us really has is right now.

  Thank You for coming here to read my Thoughts,
and
Thank You to those who share your own Thoughts with me.