Just re-read my post! Rambling...still warming up from five hours in the mud and rain and wind at a high school track meet...Brrrrr! Forty degrees, rain, wind, and mud...NEED COFFEE TO WARM UP!!!
Mandalinn! OUCH!
My son took a slice out of his finger on the table saw in the wood shop last month, and we spent about the same amount of time in the ER. Hope yours is fine. His is pretty much back to normal. The skin has almost completely grown back. The body is an amazing thing!
On the topic at hand...
Dr. Phil says that to make a change you must replace one habit with another. I'm replacing using food for comfort with learning other ways to comfort myself, to release stress, to deal with anger etc. For me, just realizing that I was actually USING FOOD AS MY COMFORT, ETC. was a huge eyeopener for me! I was shocked that I was doing it.
That's how far into it I was! After I read that people do that and I was one of those people, it was a lot easier for me to stop myself and turn to some other method.
Here's my overall NEW plan:
When I am sad I read the Bible or I read the newspaper to find all the people who have a much worse life than I have. Praying definitely helps as well!
When I am angry I clean or go out walking. By the time I'm done I don't have any more energy to support the emotion of anger!
When I am lonely I write in my journal, visit this site, watch TV or do another workout.
I've worked too hard to let food be my boss anymore. I boss it now. Sure I have slip-ups, but I really don't have many EMOTION-BASED slip-ups anymore. If I have a binge (as in my chocolate free-for-all with the foil-wrapped Easter eggs a few days ago!), it's because I JUST LOVE CHOCOLATE! Haven't had any chocolate eggs since, and I'm still alive!
Tonight I picked up Crispy Chicken BLTs, fries, and hot coffee from McDonald's for the throwers on our son's track team. I honestly didn't even THINK to order anything for myself! We came home, and I made coffee. (getting warmer! At least I can feel my fingers now!) I picked up a pizza and a salad for my skinny husband, and am sitting here enjoying my coffee. I'm done eating for today. The key has been eating enough throughout the day so that I am never starving. I also make sure that I have enough protein and some fat, too. Fiber helps A LOT, too. Staying away from sugar with its empty calories has helped me as well.
As many here have said, you know that you are succeeding in replacing a bad habit with a good one when you don't have to struggle as much with the decision. Sometimes you just NEED to eat a certain something. If you do, all is NOT lost. You just don't eat something else. It's all about tradeoffs.
My youngest son and I worked all morning and into the afternoon finishing up the grass, finishing the last part of the mulching, trimming trees, and edging. While I was up taking my shower he made a delicious macaroni and cheese dish with fresh broccoli and roast turkey. He had the table set and lunch on the table when I came down. Now, was I going to say, "Oh! I think I'll just have a salad with fat-free dressing for lunch?" NO WAY! I would NEVER hurt his feelings! He was proud that the dish had turkey (lowfat), broccoli (yum and nutritious) AND had put it in a serving dish so that I could take the amount that I wanted. It was A LOT more carby and had more fat than anything I would have made, but I ate it and THOROUGHLY enjoyed it!
The trade-off was I had an apple and some carrots for dinner because I had used up my calorie allotment for the day. I'm enjoying my coffee AND feel proud that my son would be so sweet!
Cheryl