Feeling hungry again? You’d be surprised to find out how many times you’re headed for the fridge or cabinets in search of something to eat, when what you really want is to handle something that’s bugging you.
http://thejuicywoman.blogs.com/my_weblog/2010/08/handling-your-bugems-before-they-become-binges.html
How many times do you find yourself completely worn out and frustrated, feeling unable to do anything about your circumstances, scrounging around desperately looking for something to eat to make you feel better? In these challenging times, the message is clearer than ever; take control of what you can and just let the rest go.
Take Charge of What You Can
One of the things that I’ve learned in my continuous quest to make peace with food and overcome emotional eating, is the importance of being able to take charge of aspects of my life whenever and wherever I can.
As a working mom, running a business, I know how easy it is to get lost in work, kids and hubby, giving everything to everyone, running here and there and feeling zapped at the end of the day. C’mon let’s be honest. Isn’t that when the chocolate and any other goodies beckon the loudest?
But that’s not your appetite or your body’s hunger that’s triggering those food cravings, it’s your overwhelmed and overwrought emotions, and feelings of frustration that are desperately trying to vent themselves.
If you don’t pay attention to their warnings, you’ll find yourself knee deep in donuts or stuck at the bottom of a carton of ice cream. So to ease the tension, you’ve got to think about what you can do to change things.
My Awe Inspiring Fire Island Weekend
Last weekend the family and I went to visit my brother-in-law, Tito and his girlfriend, Caroline in their home on Fire Island. Caroline was telling me that before she met Tito, she bought her home for pennies on the dollar and with the help of her family, she renovated it completely. When she showed me the before and after pictures, I was stunned, incredibly impressed and to be honest, a little green with envy.
Back in the days when I was managing three buildings, it was a no-brainer for me to call up any of my employees and ask them to fix, repair or replace anything for me. That was something that I took completely for granted, until I had that enlightening conversation with Caroline.
Throughout the weekend, she pointed out diy home improvement projects that she was working on in the house now and those she had done recently. She landscaped the yard, built a deck, and remodelled the bathroom. Some projects were done with help and others she did alone. She told me that when she first bought the house, aside of her father, brothers and uncles help, she often went to the library to find how-to manuals and video tapes teaching her how to do different projects. Now, she said, “all I have to do is go online, open up Youtube and do a search and I can learn how to do anything.” That got me thinking.
Take 100% Responsibility for your life: Make a bug list
As the first element of my 7 step RECLAIM system, I teach my clients to take a bigger bite of responsibility for their life and do what they can to change the things they can. One of the ways to do that is to first become aware of what’s bugging you. Make up a bug list of things that annoy, irritate and frustrate you, and then slowly chip away at it until each item is handled.
I don’t know about you, but my hubby isn’t too handy ’round the house and that often causes a lot of tension. And those things that he can do, they are the last things that he wants to do on his days off. Can you relate? So often things go left undone and that really ticks me off. And it’s holding onto that resentment that can often lead to eating more.
I’ve had a broken toilet in the house for over a month, and since it’s on the ground floor, everyone has had to either go upstairs or downstairs. It’s a pain. No doubt, but livable. I’ve been waiting for hubby to try to fix it but it’s reached that point of no return.
Today I walked past that bathroom and I said, “This is it. I’m sick and tired of having three bathrooms and only being able to use two. It’s nonsense and I’m doing something about it.” That’s when I decided to fix it myself. I’m off to Home Depot to purchase a Toilet fill valve and a flapper. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Now enough about me. How ’bout you? What things are buggin’ you? What can you do about it and what support is available to you to handle those buggems’ Let me know and share your story. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Jack Canfield, The Juicy Woman, Andrea Amador, Lovin’ the Skin You’re In: The Juicy Woman’s Guide to Making Peace with Food and Friends with Your Body, self reliance, confidence, body image, love your body,