Two things you wouldn’t expect that help keep my weight down

September 15, 2016 Ashley 0 Comments

Up until recent times, I was a life long moody muncher.

Oh… what’s that? You’re a stress eater at heart too?

Well, Pavlov’s salivary bells – let’s rectify this ravenousness, shall we?!

But I’mma need your assistance.

The best way, I suppose, to fix this issue is to first look at the issue. What are your typical triggers for feeling-eating? Now, these might be different for you than for me. But for this chick right here, it’s generally a sense of loneliness, social exclusion, hopelessness, purposelessness, and a synthesis of similar words that make the musicians in my head strike up the violin band to play “Wrist Slitter’s Canon in F sharp” on permanent loop. You know – all the members of the depressive’s lexicon. Lots’ve downer nouns. Alright… so what’s the positive solution, then, to all my overeating Eeyore-esque stimuli? Well, the complete opposite of those things – like acceptance, connection, and hope. Right?

Alright. Fair enough.

But… how does anyone get that?

I took a little while myself (and more than a few meditative sessions) to figure out the first facet to the answer for myself. But what it boiled down to was willingness to try something new. Because clearly what I was doing wasn’t the answer. How do I have a purpose? For me, it meant hitting Indeed.com and Craigslist and calling places I wanted to feel purposeful at – raping their desks with my resume – until someone finally called me back. I interviewed until I landed a job at which I felt needed and appreciated – and that, above all, I liked. Boom. Purposelessness solved. (Hopelessness sentiments decimated too, inasmuch as I had both A.) a steady income B.) a means of self support and C.) a job that paved the way to a career.)

(Protip: if you’re mimicking any of these dames’ mugs from 9 to 5 each day, you’re in the wrong spot.
Probably.)

And the second thing?

Positive social connection.

This one took me even longer. Why? Because, when you’re in a fairly interactive job, it can get easy to fool yourself into thinking you’re making authentic connections with others. But, the truth is, those people (most’ve ’em) don’t care about you outside’ve a business atmosphere. Because they’re douchenozzles? Of course not. Because they’ve got their own lives, families, and friends. So, while keeping things positive at work’s definitely helpful, investing in authentic friendships and connections on a more personal level is absolutely crucial. After finally applying this rationale to reality, I began to slowly realize how worth my while it is to make time for fam or friends who elevate my mood. Mind you, this goes against everything I tend to want; my tendency’s to cocoon between to-do’s. So, this is a habit I’ve been trying my best to break. Why? Because isolation is an ideal recipe for disconnection, loneliness, and – ultimately – treating chocolate truffles like your best buddies.

(Who you eat.. so they can never love you back.)

“If I look sexy doing it, the calories don’t count, riiiight….?”

But, after a night out with the girls or even just a brief, midday, uplifting chat with my mom between work shifts – that hateful craving dissipates. I’d say it’s ’cause connection aligns my cardiac chakra or solar plexus or some such spiritual verbage. And, actually, that’s probably true. But, for those who aren’t fluent in Hippie-nese (I enjoy being poly-jargon-lingual; helps me connect and consort with all sorts’ve folk), that’s just another way of saying that you’re releasing those coveted cuddle hormones that are typically missing when your brain’s in a state of stress and eyeing sugary pie shoppe slop concoctions to try and fill the visceral void in vain.

So what’s the takeaway?

If you wanna avoid ordering takeaway fries or fried cheesecake to abate anxiety, invest long term in these two things:

Procure a purpose you believe in… and a worthy social circle.

(Plus the two duh’s: eating healthy and exercising.
And if you’re smart, you’ll seek out pals who like doing those things *with* you.)

’cause ever since I got busy with a good gig and surrounded myself with people I dig…

I don’t really feel like abusing food these days.