Where
do I begin to tell my weight story? For
as long as I can remember, I have thought that I was fat. I’ve always been bigger than the little twig
girls that you see and that difference, in my head, made me think that I was
fat. Now, if you go back and you look at
pictures of me as a kid, of pictures of me as recent as a few years out of high
school and you’ll know that what my mind saw was very different than the body
that I had. I was an active child,
always playing sports, always walking somewhere, always riding my bike, always
exploring. As I entered high school, my
activity level started to slow down, but still I was active enough with all
that I was doing that the weight didn’t pile on. During my twenties it slowly started to creep
and then when my mother died it felt like all I did was eat. I eat to combat stress. I eat to make myself feel better. I eat when I’m overly happy and I eat when I’m
sad. I eat to celebrate. I eat to drown sorrows. I eat when I’m bored and I eat when I’m
depressed. I eat to keep myself awake
and I eat to keep myself motivated. All
the very wrong answers for eating.
Eating is a necessary part of life, but it’s only real purpose is to
fuel our body. To give our cells the
energy that they need to function. It
won’t give you a hug. It won’t make you
laugh. It won’t lend a supportive
word. It will pack pounds on your hips
and clench your heart. The sad part for
me is that the more weight I gain, the more discouraged I get about losing it. I think some people see a number on a scale
and think, holy hell, I need to get that down.
And though I have moments of that, I mostly see that number and think,
what the hell is the point? So, we have
the unhealthy relationship with food. We
have the discouragement that the number presents and we have a recipe for
disaster. That’s where I’m coming
from. That’s where I am. I can’t wait to see what will happen when I
stick to this program. Maybe food will
be put back into its proper place.
Nothing tastes as good as being healthy feels.
My January One Thing
One
of the things that I really need to change when it comes to my problem with
over eating
is
the constant need to be chewing something while I’m watching tv. Television is a destructive hobby that I’ve
indulged in for way too long. It’s not
productive. So, the one thing that I’m
going to focus on this month is to not sit in front of the television except
for Friday laundry nights and other times that are pre-planned. No more wasted time this way. The added bonus of not doing this is that I
won’t be eating. And as far as eating is
concerned. No eating in front of the tv,
unless it’s popcorn (unbuttered) on tv night.
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Move More, Eat Well is a class designed by Cathy Zielske for Big Picture Classes. For more information, go here.
I have a recommendation. Obviously you know from our recent conversations that I'm biased in this area but... I think it might help.
ReplyDeleteLearn to knit or crochet.
1. You can do it while you watch tv so it makes watching tv not a total waste of time. Because you're still DOING something and will eventually have something to show for all that couch time.
2. You can't eat and knit at the same time because you don't want to get your knitting all oily or dirty. Especially since the longer you knit the pickier you get about your yarn. Once you've used "good" yarn you won't want to use the cheap stuff anymore. And when you're knitting with yarn you paid a bunch of money for, you won't be getting food on it. I promise you.
3. Knitting travels well. Since you travel so often, you can take it with you to do on the plane if you want. In the airport. And then when you're in your hotel room, again watching tv... its there for you, keeping those hands busy.
And then after all that tv watching you have... gifts. :)
I'm just saying... ;)
SG