Read from Part 1
So I was all set to write about how I now have a canister of chocolate in my freezer, and how I can have a single piece with my coffee and enjoy it and not have it constantly, lovingly calling me to it from that dark cold place...wait...what was I saying?
OK, so I might not have this thing completely figured out. But here's what I do know is true, for sure, for me:
1. When I eat carbs late at night, I have trouble sleeping.
2. When I have had a bad night's sleep, I tend to overeat, especially carbs and sugar.
3. When I eat carbs and don't burn them off with exercise, all I want is more carbs to eat.
4. When I drink a lot of diet pop, I crave sugar.
5. When I do overeat, it is not because I am weak or lazy or bad or a failure.
6. Food affects my mood.
There is absolutely no doubt that my emotional state has improved dramatically since I started exercising and eating better. Situations that used to set me off are no big deal (most of the time). People who annoy me still annoy me, but I can take things in stride (most of the time). And while I do eat well most of the time, when I don't - like today when one piece of chocolate from my stash turned into many - I don't beat myself up about it. I do what I can to slow the tide, wait to eat until I get physically hungry again, and move forward.
Right now I've got healthy chicken breasts baking in the oven, I am drinking my water and my gear is already laid out for my early morning workout. That's moving forward.
Let's face it...food is pleasurable. It is meant to fuel our bodies and be enjoyed in moderation. Decades of dieting had turned my relationship with food into a perpetual battleground. It doesn't really matter what comes first - the mood or the food. What matters is breaking the cycle so food once again becomes what it was intended to be.
Keep trying until you figure out what works for you.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
What comes first...the mood or the food? (Part 2)
Read Part I
What I don't remember about the Great Donut Incident of 1984 is what I ate the night before, how I had slept, or even what the heck was so aggravating to me that morning. If had I arrived at work at 8:00 in a good mood, having had a good night's sleep and perhaps a decent breakfast, what could possibly have happened in one hour to turn me into a raving psycho eating machine?
A recent incident really got me thinking about the mood/food cycle. A few months ago I had a one of those life-changing decisions to make. It seemed to be the right time for me to overcome my fears (some of them admittedly irrational) and purchase a home. I was working against some emotional issues as well as the practical ones - the economy, the burst housing bubble, job security. For several weeks I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't working out much and my eating was way off track.
After my first attempt at a purchase fell through, it was as if all my fears were justified. Emotionally, I took a huge step backwards. And for several days I indulged my cravings for sugar and carbs. I was convinced that my place was in renterville and always would be. But at some point I started to calm down, eat better, exercise more and finally got some better sleep.
And then one Thursday morning, after a particularly intense early workout, I was suddenly and supremely confident that it was time to move forward again. The practical considerations had not changed one bit, but my fear was completely gone! Before lunch time I had an appointment with the realtor, and in less than a week I had seen seven places, made two offers and signed a purchase contract for the place I am writing from now.
If I could bottle and sell the feeling I had that Thursday morning, I would be a gazillionaire!
(continued)
What I don't remember about the Great Donut Incident of 1984 is what I ate the night before, how I had slept, or even what the heck was so aggravating to me that morning. If had I arrived at work at 8:00 in a good mood, having had a good night's sleep and perhaps a decent breakfast, what could possibly have happened in one hour to turn me into a raving psycho eating machine?
A recent incident really got me thinking about the mood/food cycle. A few months ago I had a one of those life-changing decisions to make. It seemed to be the right time for me to overcome my fears (some of them admittedly irrational) and purchase a home. I was working against some emotional issues as well as the practical ones - the economy, the burst housing bubble, job security. For several weeks I wasn't sleeping well, I wasn't working out much and my eating was way off track.
After my first attempt at a purchase fell through, it was as if all my fears were justified. Emotionally, I took a huge step backwards. And for several days I indulged my cravings for sugar and carbs. I was convinced that my place was in renterville and always would be. But at some point I started to calm down, eat better, exercise more and finally got some better sleep.
And then one Thursday morning, after a particularly intense early workout, I was suddenly and supremely confident that it was time to move forward again. The practical considerations had not changed one bit, but my fear was completely gone! Before lunch time I had an appointment with the realtor, and in less than a week I had seen seven places, made two offers and signed a purchase contract for the place I am writing from now.
If I could bottle and sell the feeling I had that Thursday morning, I would be a gazillionaire!
(continued)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
What comes first...the mood or the food?
In my never-ending quest to figure out this food thing, I have come to realize that I may have had it backwards all along.
I have always been a moody person. We're talking serious mood shifts, sometimes from hour to hour. Just ask my friend and co-worker Stuart who, in an act of self-preservation, made a sign for my cubicle so I could warn whoever approached what they were in for:
The mouth part was actually a wheel behind the face part that I could turn to indicate my mood. Stu's a clever guy, but a so-so artist (he got the brows right, but my nose is nowhere near that big).
A sad or worse mood was most often "treated" with food. I remember one incident from very early in my career when I was so aggravated by 9:00 that I left the office, went to the convenience store, purchased a box of those big chocolate donuts and ate every one of them in the car before returning to the office.
And guess what? It calmed me down. I was able to go back to work and be productive, at least until the sugar crash came later. But what a cost for that mood fix - 2400 calories, 160 grams of fat and 136 grams of sugar in about 20 minutes. (Yes, they still sell those donuts and kindly provide that "nutrition" information on their web site.)
So it's no surprise I that my weight continued to climb. The last year on that job I put on 100 pounds. And that was the last year because I was fired - specifically because of my erratic moods. I was trapped in a vicious cycle of "emotions-food-emotions" that has haunted me to various degrees for over 20 years.
But what if the cycle is actually "FOOD-emotions-FOOD"?
(continued)
I have always been a moody person. We're talking serious mood shifts, sometimes from hour to hour. Just ask my friend and co-worker Stuart who, in an act of self-preservation, made a sign for my cubicle so I could warn whoever approached what they were in for:
The mouth part was actually a wheel behind the face part that I could turn to indicate my mood. Stu's a clever guy, but a so-so artist (he got the brows right, but my nose is nowhere near that big).
A sad or worse mood was most often "treated" with food. I remember one incident from very early in my career when I was so aggravated by 9:00 that I left the office, went to the convenience store, purchased a box of those big chocolate donuts and ate every one of them in the car before returning to the office.
And guess what? It calmed me down. I was able to go back to work and be productive, at least until the sugar crash came later. But what a cost for that mood fix - 2400 calories, 160 grams of fat and 136 grams of sugar in about 20 minutes. (Yes, they still sell those donuts and kindly provide that "nutrition" information on their web site.)
So it's no surprise I that my weight continued to climb. The last year on that job I put on 100 pounds. And that was the last year because I was fired - specifically because of my erratic moods. I was trapped in a vicious cycle of "emotions-food-emotions" that has haunted me to various degrees for over 20 years.
But what if the cycle is actually "FOOD-emotions-FOOD"?
(continued)
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