[RubyBlue]

Everybody has em. I just had one yesterday and I'm trying to pick myself back up again today. After getting into an argument I went made some bad food choices. But I forced myself to put my gym shoes on and walk and what happened? it rained on me!(very cold rain) OK It's kind of funny I admit I guess today the road ahead is looking just a little bit longer and bumpier. I just thought I'd throw this out here and see if anyone has some encouraging words or similar experiences. Thanks

I'm still in the game..hanging in there today

[jiffypop]

here's a hug for you, rubyblue... you did the right thing by putting on your sneakers and heading out, as long as you didn't catch pneumonia!!!

and great job for not beating yourself up over a slip. stress sucks. and it's
REAL HARD to manage when your best coping mechanism isn't available. we need to develop new ones, and it's not easy.

it's all part of the journey. i've tried sugar free gum [and i don't much care how loudly i snap it either!!!!] when i'm tense, and it helps. keeping that jaw wagging seems to do it for me sometimes.

and the hardest has been that i can no longer swallow my anger with food. or any other feeling for that matter. so i'm STUCK with them. and one and only one lesson has come out of that: THE WORLD DOESN'T FALL APART!!! sounds like such a simple thing, doesn't it?

but i'm telling ya, i always figured that if i spoke my mind, or argued, or lost my temper, all kinds of horrible things would happen: people would hate me, i'd lose my job, my family would stop speaking to me [hmmm. would that be SO bad???], whatever.

so, ruby, i hope you made your point[s] in that argument, and now, it's time to leave them there and move on to happier things.

[Sandi]

I have been there. Having a good day, head on straight and then something really stressful happens and "whoops" there it goes. You did the right thing by talking a walk. So maybe you got a dose of Murphy's Law...You still did the right thing!! It's the small positive choice that add up.

[snowball1]

Oh, I think we've all been there. Stressful days are tough when food isn't there to bury it all, kwim. anagram & Sandi gave some great advice. You did the right thing by going for that walk, even if it did rain. You STILL WENT! That's an accomplishment. It would have been easier to say "forget it", but you didn't!

I guess the only thing I've found out on this weightloss journey is that when I'm angry, sad, stressed, whatever & want to eat (not because I am hungry, but to bury the emotions), I'm better not to do anything with my mouth. I tried eating veggies, gum, etc. For me, those things never satisfied the "craving" to eat the emotions (I would want high, high fat foods to drown the emotions). So doing something completely different (like taking a walk, jamming some LOUD music, etc) to distract my mind works better. Then when I'm feeling a bit calmer, I can try to tackle the problem.

Anyway, that's my experience. I hope today is smoother for you

[RubyBlue]

Thank you all so much for your words-they really did help me! I went and made the next day better and took an even longer walk. It felt good. I think you guys said it perfectly by pointing out that my only way to cope w/ things is not there anymore. I'm just learning how much I depend on food to calm me with things. But like you said Jiffy I'm moving on past those emotions I don't need to use food to wallow in it. I'm searching for better ways to handle these craving now. I'm having about 60% success lately- but it's better than zero-what I'd been having for soooo long. As always it's a work in progress. Thanks again-I'm so glad I posted instead of "going it alone". Take Care everyone!

PS- No pneumonia just some very muddy shoes. The skies are clear today so I should be just fine

[jiffypop]

great job, ruby!!! you're on your way! more later. i hope. i need a shower.