The Therapist Takes Her Own Advice: Conquering Emotional Eating

The Plan is still going forward.  I haven’t lost as much weight as last week because I’ve been testing, and reacting to foods.  But, I’m still determined, and I still feel great!

Today was a challenge.  I got some very sad news.  My, cat, Sheldon is very ill, and he may not make it.  This happened out of the blue, and it hit us all really hard.  Sheldon has been part of our family for 10 years, and we love him dearly.  We are terribly upset about the whole thing.

So there I was standing in the freezing rain.  I had just loaded my toddler and Sheldon in the car, and my first thought is “there’s a Wendy’s just up the road.”

In the past, I would have gone without a question, but today, I didn’t.  A big part of not going had to do with not wanting to prolong the poor guy’s car ride (which he did not enjoy).  But, because the impulse to go to Wendy’s is so far outside of my current norm, I was able to think before acting on it.

I know that eating is my usual response to emotional upheaval.  When I used to go to therapy (oh yeah, did I mention I’m a therapist who is not currently in therapy) I would eat fast food on the way home…everytime.   But, recognizing the pattern  after eating the food doesn’t help reduce the size of my waist.  This time I caught myself before I did it.

I will say that I did go home and have a bagel for lunch instead of the recommended salad with roasted vegetables.  Still, I was back on The Plan in the evening, and all in all I put this day in the win category eating wise.  This was a silver lining to a very sad day.

To read more posts in The Therapist Takes Her Own Advice Series, go to Rebekahshackney.com