This has been a rough week. Lost a family member, and it was also my dad’s heavenly birthday. When it comes to emotional times like this, I would like to say that I am good at handling the emotions while sticking with my health and wellness goals.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
I have always been an emotional eater. Something to celebrate? Eat.
Bad day? Eat.
Frustrated? You get the idea.
The day after I found out a member of my family had passed
away, I binged on cookie dough and chips. And nachos. And chicken strips. And
potato wedges.
Again, you get the idea.
But here’s the thing.
I’m admitting all this to you because even as a health
coach, I’m still a human being who makes mistakes. I mess up. I let my emotions
override my good judgment and even though I have done incredibly well at
reaching my goals in the last couple of weeks, I “blew” all that by binging out
in a moment of stress, pain, and tears.
As a health and nutrition coach, I know the benefits of
eating healthy during emotional situations. I understand the chemical reactions
in the brain that are released when you exercise.
The benefits of using “healthy” methods of coping with
stress, grief, frustration, etc., are numerous and have been very well
documented. Logically, we all KNOW it’s better for us to cope with our emotions
in ways that don’t involve food.
But emotions are powerful and when you’re hurting, it can be
really hard to care about sugars, fats, or calories period. You just want what
tastes good and makes you feel better. The feeling miserable or actually
physically sick afterward is simply the price you pay for those few moments of
distraction.
All I can say is that these are the moments when you need to
give yourself GRACE. A lot of grace. On top of the difficult emotions you’re
already dealing with, don’t add beating yourself up to the list.
Accept the mistakes you made with your food choices and
start over tomorrow. If all you manage is eating a piece of fruit in an
otherwise non-nutritious day, then so be it. Then start over again the next
day. And the next. You will get to the point where you ARE back on track.
It's okay to make mistakes on your journey. Setbacks, obstacles, challenges, and even completely giving up are all part of the process. It doesn't mean you "failed". It means you're picking up where you left off before things in your life went awry.
Learning to deal with emotions without involving food is not an overnight situation, it takes time, and you CAN do it.
Just give yourself the GRACE to keep going.
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