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. )
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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
