Weigh This Instead!

I woke up very early this morning and immediately knew today I was at risk for binge eating. I was feeling that antsy, anxious, “it’s just a matter of time before I give in and eat” feeling. It’s a feeling we emotional eaters feel everywhere in our body. It’s a palpable state of risk that every binge eater knows well!

The food thoughts had started…

I asked myself my usual questions,

“What am I asking the food thoughts and the food to do for me?”

“Why am I feeling at risk right now ?”

The answers to those questions are not always obvious but today I knew.

Today is the

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Last night, I was telling my friend Heather that I’d had one of those weeks where the littlest things ticked me off.

For example,

• On Wednesday I spent way too much of my time writing a long vitriolic email (the subject could have been addressed in just a few sentences) about something that happened eight months ago.
• On the way to meet a friend for dinner a driver in the car next to me flicked a cigarette out of his car window and it hit my car. I have always abhorred littering, but my reaction was way bigger than the act deserved. I got furious… started saying in my head, “What an ass. How could be do such a thing? Doesn’t anyone care about our environment anymore?”  My blood started to boil.
• Earlier in the week I found myself still ruminated about something a friend of mine said days before.  I experienced one comment she made as politically incorrect…and decided this was evidence of her true nature and therefore I could not be friends with her anymore. Talk about blowing something way out of proportion and not letting it go?

I used to get angry like that a lot, back in the days when I lacked healthy skills and tools to manage my emotions (especially bad when I was PMS-ing). Back then, all I knew to do was stuff those emotions down with food. But today I have skills and tools that work so much better than emotional eating. So what was up?

Last night my friend Heather hit the nail on the head!  She said, “The same thing happens to me when I don’t exercise. It’s like I get all this pent up energy in my body and
it has to go somewhere. So, it comes out as anger.”

Immediately, I knew that she was right on!  I had not gotten any real exercise last week…just very quick walks with my dog to take care of business. Exercise is still something I have to remind myself to build into my life. For me, getting exercise still does not come to mind naturally, like it does for some people…and to be honest, while I appreciate the importance of it, I still don’t enjoy exercise or make it priority, even though I have learned it makes me feel so much better.  This is something I’m still working to improve…

So, when I got home last night my dog Emma and I went for a real walk!  I felt better, my mood felt lighter, almost  immediately.

Today, we’ll do even better. We’re going to the park!

What role does exercise play in determining your mood?

(Want to learn more about the emotional regulation skills and tools I teach. Check out the Free Trial in our Members’s Circle.)

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Ellen Shuman is a Life Coach who specializes in empowering people who are working on emotional and binge eating recovery. She is the founder of A Weigh Out & Acoria Eating Disorder Treatment, Immediate Past President of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), and Co-Founder of the Academy for Eating Disorders Special Interest Group on “Health at Every Size”, ellen@aweighout.com

______________________________

Ellen Shuman is a Life Coach who specializes in empowering people who are working on emotional and binge eating recovery. She is the founder of A Weigh Out & Acoria Eating Disorder Treatment, Immediate Past President of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), and Co-Founder of the Academy for Eating Disorders Special Interest Group on “Health at Every Size”, ellen@aweighout.com

I have been letting several errands pile up. Basically, I’ve been avoiding doing them…

To avoid doing these simple but boring everyday errands…to distract myself from the discomfort I feel about not doing them, I go “mindless”.   And of course, “mindless eating” has always been my #1 go-to strategy to accomplish “mindlessness”. So, when I avoid doing errands, my emotional eating increases.

So as soon as I woke up today I said “enough”. I made a list of everything that’s currently draining my energy; two overdue catalog returns that need to be packed up and dropped off at The UPS Store, many things to purchase at Costco. I need new bed sheets with deeper pockets to accommodate a new mattress topper. So I’ll stop at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and I’ll remember to take a coupon this time! I’ll stop at Walgreen’s. I had a horrible headache last Wednesday. But I had no Tylenol in the house, so I just lived with the headache.  That’s crazy! That’s NOT self-care!

This morning I spent just 5 minutes or so organizing these errands on a piece of paper. I numbered them in order of how I can do them most efficiently; get them all done today in time to pick up Thai food for dinner at 6pm. I’m having company tonight and we’re going to watch a movie. I want to be present tonight…not mindless and disconnected because another day has gone by without practicing SELF-CARE.

As I write this, I feel better already! I have just committing to this plan. NOT doing these things has really been draining my energy. Enough! Done! I can already feel some positive energy coming back! I’m off to do my errands…

Is there anything you’re avoiding that may be driving you toward emotional eating?

(Want to read more about overcoming emotional and mindless eating? Learn how you can get private access to A Weigh Out’s Weekly Empowerment Tools. )

______________________________

Ellen Shuman is a Life Coach who specializes in empowering people who are working on emotional and binge eating recovery. She is the founder of A Weigh Out & Acoria Eating Disorder Treatment, Immediate Past President of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), and Co-Founder of the Academy for Eating Disorders Special Interest Group on “Health at Every Size”, ellen@aweighout.com