New Day, New Perspective: Be Kind To Yourself

What a difference a day makes.

Last night, I posted about feeling the NEED to do some stress eating (link here). I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK you to everyone who sent kind words of encouragement my way. This community never disappoints...

I am not proud of the fact that, yes, I did go ahead and make the brownies. BUT, I am proud of the fact that the entire pan went straight into the trash once I took 2 bites and realized that they were NOT going to make my troubles go away. Pre op me would have plowed through the entire 9X9 pan in an attempt to drown my sorrows, even though they weren't particularly good. Post op me took 2 bites and realized, "This is NOT a solution."

I took Spencerella's advice and went to bed (thank you, Linda!). I turned on my sound machine and put my phone on silent. This morning, I got up and made myself an appointment for a pedicure that I enjoyed this afternoon. I went and spent some Khols cash that I got the other day on a new skirt and top NOT from the plus size section (I'm still not used that) and a pair of cute flats to wear with my new dress on Thursday. I pampered myself with something other than food. Truthfully, those 2 bites of brownie felt far closer to a punishment than a reward. Knowing that I was putting something into my body that can cause me to go back to where I was pre op? There is no reward in that.

I learned a valuable lesson. No matter how we feel about our given cir****tances, we must be kind to ourselves. There is no gain in beating ourselves up. There is also no gain in eating our feelings away... except a gain in pounds!

I've read a LOT of posts this month by people who have been having a tough time with both their weightloss and their personal lives. Here's hoping that things get better for ALL of us.

Be kind to yourselves, VSGers.

Well said, I am very proud of you! I would have done the same thing!! I can't wait to have surgery and walk in your shoes, you have been so successful!

Thank you :) I hope you are super successful!

I'm so proud of you!  You have shown real strength!  Thanks for sharing the follow up. I will learn from you too.   Keep up the good work!

Thank you! REAL strength would have been to not bake the brownies at all! But I'm calling not eating them a real accomplishment!

Bravo 

Keep rocking that sleeve, girl! 

Thanks :)

My motto for 2014 is to be more kind to myself.  Part of that is this surgery.  Part of it is taking steps to support my mental health too! 

I'm making it my motto for the year, too. Thanks :)

Good job Chrissy!  Spencerella's advice was spot-on; I sometimes go to bed really early if I find myself pacing the floor craving something bad for me.  

I have discovered that one bite of certain foods set off unbelievable cravings in me.  The longer I stay away from them the more manageable they are.

And stress - the kind of stress most people don't think of as stress, which is going into the office for me (I work from home or remotely most of the time).  I enjoy the social interactions with my coworkers, but they exhaust me too.  And there are way too many temptations, with a Starbucks in the lobby and a full cafeteria in the building.  But even there I'm getting better.  The Starbucks has tons of healthy options for snacks, and I now choose Chai tea (not latte) over a Venti Mocha.  

I'm going in to the office this morning, and will take your advice to be kind to myself.  That means eating breakfast before I leave, throwing a Quest bar in my purse for lunch or a snack, and getting my morning vitamins in (check).  I should have spent time on the treadmill, but oh well, can't be perfect!

Have a good day!