I'm bored, tired, stressed....let's eat!

[Meerkitten]

Hi y'all,

 

I guess I've been reasonable fit and healthy for most of my life, although I have experienced a number of periods where I have let myself gain some weight, for various reasons.

 

I love exercise, but I also love sugar. Normally I can keep my Sugar Addiction under control, unless I'm feeling very...

 

Bored

Tired

Stressed

 

Hunger has nothing to do with it most of the time. 

 

I've just been through a very stressful 3-4 months at work and last year was a stressful year personally.... and there's a fundraising chocolate box about 5 steps away from my desk at work. Needless to say, I've indulged rather a lot the past year. I even bailed on exercise altogether for a while there. Plus I'm in a new relationship and my partner isn't particularly fitness-inclined. And I suffer from an anxiety-disorder that has flared up a bit lately. I feel like I was using up all the willpower I had, trying to manage my anxiety, in the past year. 

 

Yeah, yeah, I know. These are all reasons for my weight gain, but I know they're not valid excuses. Now I feel like I'm doing better with managing my anxiety. So it's time to tackle my flabby belly.

 

Getting back into exercise is fairly easy - I've been back on the horse for a few weeks. Stopping my frequent visits to the snack box is less-so.  Ditto refraining from raiding the lollies in my partner's cupboard at home. 

 

Anyway. This is Day One of Mindful Eating. AKA Reducing The Amount of Junk That Goes In My Tummy.

 

And here's my first goal: Stop raiding the chocolate box at work. Period.

 

Slightly longer term goals:

 

1. Get flat stomach

2. Be able to do 10 pull-ups (overhand) and 2 x 8 chin-ups (underhand). I KNOW this is achievable because I've achieved it before. 

3. Be able to run for 30 minutes without feeling like I am going to pass out. And run, I mean, be able to do intervals of sprints (15-16km/hr) with recovery jogs (9km/hr), without feeling like passing out. 

 

I will give myself 12 weeks to achieve at least one of these 3 goals. Then 12 weeks for the next, and so on.

 

I'll let you know how I go...

[Raincloak]

congrats on deciding to eat mindfully and reduce junk. I can suggest a couple steps to make your path easier.

Are you allowed to move the chocolate box at your office further away? Best is if it goes out of the office entirely, but at the very least, get it away from you. It should go in the break room or on someone else's desk (preferably someone you do not work with.) If the fundraiser needs a bribe, you could even offer to make a direct donation, long as the candy goes away.

Even people with fairly good control of their eating habits can fall prey to an open box of candy; it's just human nature, so you want to practice a little judo/aikido/Tao/thing. What I mean is, your instinct to eat available candy is older and stronger than your will to do otherwise. If it wasn't, you wouldn't have a problem. Your frontal lobe (where willpower lives) is not going to beat your animal instinct with simple denial for very long. However, you can dodge or outsmart the animal brain in a number of ways, such as by making the candy unavailable.

another way is if you feel an urge to eat candy, get up and have a glass of water or take a short walk. Again diverting the animal brain, this time with a distraction. The animal brain has a short attention span.

you mention a "new relationship" but your partner is already stashing candy at your place ... ? You must know each other moderately well then. Maybe he will get interested in fitness if he sees you doing it. (Or she; whatever.) You might want to have a talk with him/her and discuss the sugar situation. A good partner will want what is best for you, and if you feel that it is best for you to not have any sugar nearby right now, he should respect that and work with you to come up with a compromise. Possibly he could keep his lollies somewhere outside the house, for instance.

[Jett]

Welcome to Nerd Fitness!

If you want, you could join our 6-week challenges. Next one starts on April 13. Your goals would be perfect for a challenge, and the main benefit is jthat you can get people who will hold you accountable to sticking to your goals.

 

Thinking along the same lines as Raincloak here, I have a suggestion:

If it's a fundraiser candy box, does that mean you have to pay money to get candy? Is there a person that takes your money? If so, give them like, $10 and tell them you're NOT allowed to have candy. Then they can scowl at you every time you approach, since you already made your donation, and you'd be going back on your word.