The mini hershey bars were calling to me. Something was bothering me Friday night and I quickly swallowed three of the chocolate wonders, giving me a temporary respite from the emotional distress I was feeling. Then I remembered what I learned in the past year about weight loss:
By sheer will power I can lose weight. But unless I deal with why I overeat I’ll gain it right back!
This Spring I shed 35 pounds. According to Slimgenics, a weight loss program I followed, “Research has established that as many as 95% of individuals … regain their lost pounds within one year.” So true! It has happened to me in the past. It’s happened to friends of mine. It even happened to Oprah, with all the support she has (including a personal chef)
The key for me in weight loss is to get a handle on my emotional eating. I can follow a weight reduction program for awhile and lose the pounds, but the weight will return unless I get to the root of why I overeat. Some strategies that have helped me in the past year:
1. Look for other ways to deal with stress. I like to ride my bike on the many nearby bike trails in my neighborhood. The combination of physical exercise and being out in nature has a calming effect on me, and keeps me away from the refrigerator.
2. Awareness. When I am tempted to eat to stuff an unpleasant feeling, I ask myself “am I really hungry?” If the answer is no, then I try to deal with that feeling in other, healthier ways. Meditating. Writing in my journal. Talking to a friend.
3. Diets aren’t necessarily “bad”. There are many books out there proclaiming “Diet’s Don’t Work!” I have found weight loss programs, like Slimgenics or Weight Watchers which I have had success with in the past, are useful tools to teach me the right types of food to eat and the ones to avoid. They just have to be followed with the understanding of emotional eating issues. Consuming a whole bunch of grapes or other “healthy” food to stuff a feeling will still lead to weight gain!
As I journey through the Holiday eating season I have gained some of the weight back that I lost earlier this year. This time am confident I can quickly shed those pounds by working on my spiritual health. Seeing food in its right context, as providing wonderful treats to enjoy, but not as a means to anesthetize whatever is bugging me. There are better ways to deal with those feelings.
