Back in the 90’s I had a colleague, who shall go unnamed, that had a very irritating voice mail greeting. The beginning of the greeting was standard “Hi, you’ve reached such and such. I’m unavailable to take your call at this time. Please leave your name, number and a brief message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” And then…the clincher… “make it a great day!” Now say it out loud in a high-pitched and overly cheery voice “make it a great day!” Ugh!!! It annoyed the living daylights out of me. I mean didn’t it occur to her that when I called and got her voice mail that potentially, on occasion, especially at work….MY DAY WASN’T SO GREAT!?!
These past two weeks haven’t been so great for me, as a matter of fact, they’ve been downright stressful. I’m not going to fill this page with my whining, moaning and complaining, but please do let me get out of my system. Whine. Moan. Complain. There…I feel MUCH better now!
What I will say is that, even though I’ve lost 30+ pounds and am a Weight Watcher’s evangelist who practices what she preaches (for the most part). Stress can get the very best of my well intentioned eating habits. What happens to your healthy eating habits when it’s not such a great day?
As I’ve mentioned a time or so in this blog, many of us, including myself, use food as a medication to fix our pain, soothe our souls and ease our hurts. But let’s get real here. You know, as well as I do, that food is not the fix. You may be thinking to yourself “girl, I have so much pain right now, and am so caught up in a cycle of over-eating that I don’t know where the pain ends and the food begins.” And for that I can truly say, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re hurting so bad that food seems like your only friend and solace. I’ve been to that painful place and on occasion, I go back there; but I don’t stay as long as I used to.
The good news is there’s a way out. YOU can break this cycle. You have the power right in between those beautiful ears of yours- your mind. You can use your mind to develop a strategy (or a variety of strategies) to help you cope with your overeating triggers. And you don’t have to go it alone. Enlist a friend or reach out to an expert in wellness. There are endless resources out there designed to help you regain control, to lose and maintain your weight. I just happen to be a proponent of Weight Watcher’s. Whether it’s group meetings, one-on-one counseling, online tools, books, church- there is a system out there for you that WILL work for you.
I’ve certainly had my ups and downs over the past few weeks. I’ve had days where I made unhealthy choices and I’ve had days where I was a wellness rock star (in my mind at least). The point is we’re all going to have days that just plain annoy the living daylights out of us and stress may just win. It’s about having more good days than bad and finding ways to manage those rough days instead of letting them manage you.
Ask for help. Make the choice. Commit to the choice. Continue with courage. And don’t forget to “make it a great day!” J
Hugs and friendship,
Tara
No comments:
Post a Comment