MyWeightLossForLife.com

Feel Good About Yourself and Lose Weight

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about feeling positive about myself and how that affects how well I do with my eating and exercise. (Note I didn’t say diet.) I believe a diet is temporary but making small changes isn’t.

I am very much an emotional eater. Happy? Celebrate by eating out. Upset? Comfort myself with something sweet. Bored? Salty junk food. Tired? Sugary energy fix.

You get the pattern.

What I’ve also realized is that when I feel good about myself, and what I’m doing, I tend to stick with my healthy eating plans much better. Afternoons are prime snack times for me because I get run-down, so I try to be aware that I tend to do that. I also know that taking a break from my computer around that time will re-energize me better than a trip to the vending machine will.

Evening are a time when I indulge in salty snack foods. I combat that tendency by keeping my hands (and head) busy with something else. I write (this blog is just one thing I’m doing), and I knit. Both keep be occupied so that boredom eating doesn’t overtake me
nearly as often.

It’s tougher to manage my upset moods. I tend to reach for something comforting with hardly a thought, and that’s the pattern I try to break. I try a little trick of making a deal with myself. I give myself five minutes to wait, and if I still want the treat, I get it. No guilt. Often, five minutes is enough for me to realize the treat isn’t really what I want, or I calm down enough to do something else that I’ll find soothing. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s something I continue to struggle with.

Please share some techniques you use to keep yourself from eating to comfort or entertain yourself.