I thought a few stories from those who have used the cup to achieve their goals might be encouraging, or perhaps even inspirational. The people who wrote these letters include a wide range of ages, personalities, jobs, body types, lifestyles, on and on; surely, whatever your situation, you could fit right in.
What follows is in their own words:
Wendy, twenty-eight years old, real estate investment group: I have known the cup, and lived it with you for some time now…before it even had a name. It’s how I live, and it works as long as you live it. Fill Your Cup is not a diet, it's a lifestyle, a conscious, connected choice. It started for me when I stopped and asked myself to identify what my goals were for my body. What did I want my body to reflect? This internal check laid the foundation to make a major shift in my life. From there, using the proportion of my cup as my guide, I cut out what didn't feel good, what wasn't in line with my view of how good life is. I started to choose things that felt right, while keeping it all in the portion of the cup. Texting and twittering provided a support system. Before you knew it, I was down a jean size (and what motivation that is!!) then two, and also looking more closely at other areas of my life, always seeking to choose to live more consciously. I must repeat something I said earlier: Fill Your Cup is not a diet, it's a lifestyle decision for anyone who is ready to make a permanent external change, as long as you are committed to moving from the inside out. The beauty of this plan is that it has the side effect of spilling over into all areas of your life. Choose Fill Your Cup, and choose to live consciously.
Liz, forty-one years old, clinical psychologist:
I discovered you through a friend and I am so happy! I'm happy for me and happy
for you -- your way of expressing ideas is phenomenal. I am a clinical
psychologist (to be exact: Private Practice/Instructor in Psychology, Dept of
Psychiatry,
The
timeliness of this is really remarkable. I have been lying down, post-op from a
minor procedure, having to rest most of the day, every day for the past 2
weeks. In that time, I've had to let go of the exercise plan I had started:
workouts, which I had committed to 3x/week (20 minutes of interval aerobic
activity and 20 minutes of weight training) in conjunction with a 6 day a week
calorie budget of 1500 calories with one day "off". (I also have an amazing
amount of time to explore the Internet!) I have always been someone who
exercised to stay trim and didn't focus on eating all that mindfully or
intentionally regarding quantity and/or pace of eating. I have always eaten well
(whole food, organic). I have wanted to drop a minimum of 10 lbs and it has
been more challenging than ever before. I know that drinking more alcohol over
the last 18 months as the stress in my life increased tenfold is what has led to
the accumulation of this extra mass. I thought it would come off easily once I
stopped indulging so much. It wasn't so easy!
I
decided when I couldn't exercise anymore, because of the surgery, that I would
abandon my focus on eating mindfully and within a budget. This past weekend,
after 2 weeks, I decided to turn the ship around. Since then, I've been
investigating my eating and being mindful. I loved what you wrote about the
sensations in the mouth. I notice that my biggest difficulties are eating for
the pleasure of the physical sensations involved with eating and eating until
I'm full. It's not that I'm hungry, in a biological sense. I see that and yet I
just want to keep going anyway. I think it turns into a question of whether I'm
lovable at any size. Today I had this epiphany after reading your blog that it
doesn't have to be about deserving the extra food or not. It's not about that at
all! Your blog helped me feel less like I have to cut back because I
overindulged for too long and now I must be "good" and disciplined about not
eating extra. It felt like I was being really good to myself instead, which is
how I've been hoping I'd feel about it all but just hadn't. I hope this makes
sense!
I could
go on and on....
I will
be reading your blog regularly. Thank you for putting yourself out there! I
would love to be a sounding board/friend to you and would love to share my
thoughts on your ideas. It's a wonderful message and the imagery (2 hands cupped
by the flowing water) is very grounding.
Hope
you have a great day!