When the Cookie Crumbles

Well, I haven’t posted for a few weeks and it seems like ages. I sure have missed writing about my random adventures. Life’s been a bit more chaotic than usual and I’ve been just holding on for dear life. Ok, that might be a little a lot dramatic. Things haven’t been THAT bad, but I do feel like I’ve been strapped into a Tilt-A-Whirl, a little disoriented, disheveled and uneasy.  And without sounding like a bad country song, let’s just say things have been extra stressful. I won’t bore you with the details…

What happens when the cookie crumbles? Or life gives you lemons? Or whatever other cliché for “life sucks right now” we want to <insert here>.  I don’t know about you, but when the cookie crumbles, I pick the crumbs up off the floor and eat them.  They’re still dee-lish!

But seriously, I’ve learned so much the past few weeks about how far I’ve come with my wellness skills, especially my number one biggie- stress eating. I have written about this before, I’ve been stress eating since I was in elementary school.  Food has always been my healing balm and saving grace, but I don’t need it anymore.  I’m not saying I’m cured. I am saying that I’m new and improved.

If I had a dollar for every time I wanted to turn to food this past month for comfort, I’d be building a nice little savings account. It has been really crazy, almost an out of body experience, to feel myself turning to food and walking away. Countless times each day, especially because I work from home, I’ve walked to the pantry or refrigerator to grab something “not so good for me”.  While sometimes I didn’t make a wise choice, most times I did, and that’s what counts.

I continually revisit non-scale victories with my Weight Watchers (WW) classes because it’s these non-scale victories that lead to scale victories and long term weight loss maintenance.  This week at WW, we’re talking about behavior. It’s that whole chicken-egg scenario- do you change your mind to change your behavior or do you change your behavior to change your mind? Both.

What’s important to remember is that just changing your mind isn’t enough. As I’ve posted before, willpower is overrated. If we could all think ourselves thin, we’d be at goal already.

It’s much MUCH more complicated than that. If we factor in the complexity of the human brain, body and emotions-how we’re wired and designed; along with outside factors such as our environments and relationship dynamics- where we work and live and with whom; we might just get to the root cause of why we do the things we do.

The reason I was able to a) walk away from food temptations and b) eat better foods when I wanted unhealthier versions and c) allow myself to enjoy but not over indulge--- these past few weeks is because I’ve learned (and relearned) through WW some really clutch behaviors and skills that help me to stay on track, even when I am my own worst enemy.

It’s not that I’m super strong or powerful, it’s that finally, after all these years, I am not doing the Weight Watchers program, I am living it. It’s simply become a part of who I am. So that even on the most stress-filled days, I am armed and ready for the fight and am in a position to win.

So even when life hands me lemons, I’ll plug them into my WW recipe builder and find a way to make them into something tasty and good!  

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

Hugs and friendship,

Tara