Little Engine That Can

A few weeks ago, I wrote about being stuck at Complacency Crossroads and that I needed to get my train to jump tracks to the Can Do Expressway. So what happened? Apparently as my train was jumping the tracks, it became derailed.

It’s been a mixed bag kind of a week. One day I felt energized and focused and the next day I felt distracted and tired. This whole week has been magnified by a revisit from my pesky little friend, my facial neuralgia. I’ve had some type of pain every day this week. When it’s hot out, I have pain on the top of my head and my front facial nerves and eye spasm like crazy.  Sunday was one hot bugger of a day, and I tried to stay outside at my son’s baseball game, but I paid for it later. When it’s cold, damp and rainy (and boy we’ve had plenty of that), I have my worst pain, it’s a shooting pain behind my ear that radiates up the back of my head. This week’s crazy up and down temperatures have been a killer. When I’m stressed or tired, my face spasms and droops and I have nail-tapping like pain on the top of my head. Fun for days!

The good news? Acupuncture is still working. The pain I experience is far less severe than it ever has been. My pain can be controlled fairly quickly so I can get back to living my life.  The bad news? My chronic pain is SUCH a trigger for overeating. I’m sure many of you reading this can relate. We all have something that triggers us to overeat. Many of us self-medicate with food to help heal our mental and physical hurts. When we’re knee deep in pain, sometimes we simply don’t have the wherewithal to stop and think “eating is not going to solve my problems”, we just eat, and eat, and eat. And oh yeah, then eat some more.

I mentioned that it’s been a mixed bag kind of week for me. Why? Because I’m fighting a battle and thankfully the healthier me is winning. As I’ve written before, usually when I have neuralgia pain, I turn to food for my comfort. But this week (and every week going forward), I refuse to let food win. When the pain came, I fell into my old ways, grabbed my favorite comfort foods and started to dig in, but something really cool happened- I stopped. I did have it within me to stop my overeating, even in the middle of physical pain. I stopped. Here’s what I did instead---

I journaled. I started a food mood and face feelings journal. There I began to capture how I was feeling about food and what I was going to do about it. I also noted my levels of face pain to keep myself grounded that things could be worse. I exercised. Exercise not only reduces my face pain, but it gives me that energy boost and focus that’s needed. Even if I only have time for 20 minutes, I get my body moving. I talked it out. My husband is an awesome listener. After 23 years, he knows me better than I do. Make sure you have someone you can talk with about your struggles and have that person hold you accountable for your actions. I prayed. When I felt overwhelmed, I stopped what I was doing and grabbed my bible. I always feel at peace after a little chat with God. He is my comfort and strength.

I’m so happy to get my little engine that can back on the right track. Will you join me?

Ask for help. Make the choice. Commit to the choice. Continue with courage.

Hugs and friendship,

Tara