*Series in progress* This entry is part of a series I’m writing
leading up to my running (walking…but hopefully mostly running) my first
5K. For more information on this series
check out the introduction here or just continue on reading this
entry. I have also included links at the
end to the other entries and to both the Terry Fox Foundation and my run
fundraising page.
When I think of the things that I have learned that have made the
biggest change in my life it has been the idea of tracking. I have kept a journal in some form or another
since sometimes in elementary school…grade 3 I think, so the idea of recording
at least thoughts was not strange to me.
As I have moved my way through Weight Watchers I had to use tracking as
a way to be accountable for what I was eating.
So when I started working out this time around I decided that I wanted
to keep track of what I was doing and how I was feeling about it. It has proved to be the most rewarding tool
that I have found so far on my journey.
The first thing I did was found a notebook that I loved because I knew
it was going to be something that I would have to keep handy. The practical side of my brain found
something that was small and hard covered so that I could take it to the gym
without worrying it would get wrecked or in the way. The girly side of me made sure it was purple
and flowery. Then I figured out what I
should track. I settled on recording the
date, activity, time, calories burned, heart rate at 15mins, distance travelled
and then of course a spot to record any comments on the activity especially any
aches or pains. I made sure that after
each work out I recorded as many of the details as I could. (As a side note I have evolved this tracking
to record it on my phone and just transfer it to the book so that I can
actually do the recording as I wind down my workouts and make sure I capture
all the important feedback that comes off the machines at the gym especially.) At first this just seemed like an extra task
but after about a month or so I realized the power that came from this task.
I woke up one day in a bad mood.
I was tired and cranky. It took
all my will power to get me out the door and onto the treadmill at work. On the treadmill I did a workout that I had
been doing for the past week but couldn’t find the joy or ease in it. The whole workout was a struggle. My legs were moving but for the first time I
felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere. It
was a day where I realized just how long my journey to healthy is going to be
and it felt incredibly daunting. At
lunch time I sat down at my desk and pulled out my book and began to flip
through the earliest entries. My very first entry I recorded I did 30mins on the
treadmill on 2.0miles/hour with a 0% incline.
I wrote about my back being sore and feeling tired. The day that I was struggling I did 35mins on
2.2 miles/hour with a 2% incline. I
wrote about being in a bad mood but there is not a single mention of any aches
or pains (which I always record if there are any). Looking back to the first entry made me
remember back even further to when I got my fitbit, which really was the first
step in tracking. I remembered barely
being able to walk on the spot through the commercial breaks without feeling
like it was the biggest chore in the world.
Suddenly my bad day felt better.
Sure it wasn`t my best workout but at least I wasn`t back where it was a
struggle to get through a few minutes. I
was able to see that I actually was making progress.
This little journal has come in handy over and over on bad days as a
way to remind myself that I am moving forward even if I feel like I’m standing
still. I think sometimes it is easy to
forget where we started or how hard it was when we took the first steps. It becomes easy to take for granted that
where we are now is where we have always been.
I think it is because when you are working towards a goal you push
yourself. You don`t really let yourself
get comfortable. While I have been
learning to run if my workout gets easy I make it harder so that most of the
time I feel like I’m struggling. This
sounds worse than it is because we need to struggle to get better but
constantly being there does make it seem like it will never get any
better. I quickly realized that I needed
to change that mindset and that I had to find a way to negate some of the
negative feelings that were coming my way because I am always having to fight
my way forward. Looking back on
everything has become my solution. Reflecting
through my workout journal allow me to see that I have actually moved from
where I started. It reminds me not only
how hard the journey can be but it also shows me that what was once hard gets
easier if you just hang in there. That
truly is one of the most powerful lessons that I constantly try to remind
myself of. It is the idea that there is
a light at the end of the tunnel and that one day I will reach this goal just
like all the small goals I have already crossed off my list.
To donate and check out my progress please visit my page here.
For more information on the Terry Fox Foundation and the run check out
their page here.
Finding My Running Legs Previous Entries
A journey in accepting myself for who I am now while working on making myself into the person I see in my future.
Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tips and tricks. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Finding My Running Legs: Lessons Learned on Picking Goals
*Series in progress* This entry is part of a series I’m writing
leading up to my running (walking…but hopefully mostly running) my first
5K. For more information on this series
check out the introduction here or just continue on reading this
entry. I have also included links at the
end to the other entries and to both the Terry Fox Foundation and my run
fundraising page.
As I talked about in my last entry I am not a natural goal setter and I think one of the reasons that I never took to goal setting was because I never actually knew how to set goals that were realistic and achievable. In today’s entry of Finding My Running Legs I’m going to talk about the process I have been using to make my goals. I don’t know if it would work for everyone but in picking and setting my goals I have found that it has been incredibly helpful for me. My ideas on goal setting are not new or probably all that innovative they are simply what I have found leaves me feeling the most positive about what I am doing.
The first principle I applied was the idea of picking a goal and setting a time frame on it. I am one of those people with lots of big ideas but I don’t usually apply them to anything. This time I took that idea and changed it into my goal – to run a 5K – but at first I still didn’t have a timeframe on it. Running a 5K is something that I have always wanted to do but obviously without a timeframe I hadn’t managed to do it yet, even though I have talked about it off and on for the last few years. So I went searching for 5Ks that I could run. I settled on the Terry Fox Run for a couple reasons, one of which was that it was far enough in the future I figured I had lots of time to get ready. This gave me something that I could happily call a goal because it had not only the idea of what I wanted to do but it had a date in which I would need to do it by.
This led me to my first true lesson about goals and that is while having a big goal is great it at least for me was not motivating in a tangible way. After I wasted away the first month doing nothing to get ready for the run I quickly realized I needed something more that would actually get me doing something towards my big goal of the 5K. So it only made sense to set some more goals. So I basically made a to-do list of all the things I needed/wanted to do to get me from the couch to running. I didn’t necessarily think of these things as goals at first but that is what they became. I sat down and brainstormed all the things that would get me where I wanted. I included the smallest of details including things like join a gym, go to the gym, and actually try running. There were even a few that seemed a bit silly but they still go on the list things like buy a good pair of runners and figure out how to track my intervals. Once I had my list of things than I gave myself deadlines because as a procrastinator it is easy to keep putting things off but with deadlines I was more aware of them.
The second lesson that I learned in setting these smaller goals or tasks was that this list had to be a little more flexible then my big goal, although even with my big goal I have tweaked it since I first set it. As a perfectionist this was a struggle because once I put my mind onto something I really want to make sure I get it and do it 100%. I keep reminding myself though that the reality is that I have never done anything like this before and so I didn’t really know what all the little tasks should be. I learned that I needed to be able to not only add new tasks to the list but also change some of the deadlines I had already set for myself as I learned what I was capable of. I quickly realized for example that my ability to move through the interval training was going to be slower than I had hoped. In my head one week would be enough to transition my running up to the next level but the reality was my body was not that quick to be able to adjust and do it. This realization also ended up causing me to re-evaluate and modify my first goal of running a 5K to just being able to complete the 5k as quickly as I can while doing as much of it running as I can.
So with a little trial and error I was able to come up with a list of things in my head that I knew would help get me where I wanted to go…crossing that finish line on the 14th. The best part is setting small goals is that working on them seems so much easier and less daunting than thinking about running a 5K. I know this topic is probably not the most exciting but I hope that it helps. I can honestly say that while having a big goal is important there is nothing wrong with breaking down into little mini goals that will help build towards that big goal but also remember to cut yourself some slack and allow for at least a little flexibility in those goals (as long as you are still actively working towards them…hehehe).
Tomorrow I will be writing about one of the things that I think is making the biggest difference not only on this goal to run a 5K but also in my ongoing journey to lose weight and become healthier…it is the idea of tracking.
To donate and check out my progress please visit my page here.
For more information on the Terry Fox Foundation and the run check out their page here.
Finding My Running Legs Previous Entries
As I talked about in my last entry I am not a natural goal setter and I think one of the reasons that I never took to goal setting was because I never actually knew how to set goals that were realistic and achievable. In today’s entry of Finding My Running Legs I’m going to talk about the process I have been using to make my goals. I don’t know if it would work for everyone but in picking and setting my goals I have found that it has been incredibly helpful for me. My ideas on goal setting are not new or probably all that innovative they are simply what I have found leaves me feeling the most positive about what I am doing.
The first principle I applied was the idea of picking a goal and setting a time frame on it. I am one of those people with lots of big ideas but I don’t usually apply them to anything. This time I took that idea and changed it into my goal – to run a 5K – but at first I still didn’t have a timeframe on it. Running a 5K is something that I have always wanted to do but obviously without a timeframe I hadn’t managed to do it yet, even though I have talked about it off and on for the last few years. So I went searching for 5Ks that I could run. I settled on the Terry Fox Run for a couple reasons, one of which was that it was far enough in the future I figured I had lots of time to get ready. This gave me something that I could happily call a goal because it had not only the idea of what I wanted to do but it had a date in which I would need to do it by.
This led me to my first true lesson about goals and that is while having a big goal is great it at least for me was not motivating in a tangible way. After I wasted away the first month doing nothing to get ready for the run I quickly realized I needed something more that would actually get me doing something towards my big goal of the 5K. So it only made sense to set some more goals. So I basically made a to-do list of all the things I needed/wanted to do to get me from the couch to running. I didn’t necessarily think of these things as goals at first but that is what they became. I sat down and brainstormed all the things that would get me where I wanted. I included the smallest of details including things like join a gym, go to the gym, and actually try running. There were even a few that seemed a bit silly but they still go on the list things like buy a good pair of runners and figure out how to track my intervals. Once I had my list of things than I gave myself deadlines because as a procrastinator it is easy to keep putting things off but with deadlines I was more aware of them.
The second lesson that I learned in setting these smaller goals or tasks was that this list had to be a little more flexible then my big goal, although even with my big goal I have tweaked it since I first set it. As a perfectionist this was a struggle because once I put my mind onto something I really want to make sure I get it and do it 100%. I keep reminding myself though that the reality is that I have never done anything like this before and so I didn’t really know what all the little tasks should be. I learned that I needed to be able to not only add new tasks to the list but also change some of the deadlines I had already set for myself as I learned what I was capable of. I quickly realized for example that my ability to move through the interval training was going to be slower than I had hoped. In my head one week would be enough to transition my running up to the next level but the reality was my body was not that quick to be able to adjust and do it. This realization also ended up causing me to re-evaluate and modify my first goal of running a 5K to just being able to complete the 5k as quickly as I can while doing as much of it running as I can.
So with a little trial and error I was able to come up with a list of things in my head that I knew would help get me where I wanted to go…crossing that finish line on the 14th. The best part is setting small goals is that working on them seems so much easier and less daunting than thinking about running a 5K. I know this topic is probably not the most exciting but I hope that it helps. I can honestly say that while having a big goal is important there is nothing wrong with breaking down into little mini goals that will help build towards that big goal but also remember to cut yourself some slack and allow for at least a little flexibility in those goals (as long as you are still actively working towards them…hehehe).
Tomorrow I will be writing about one of the things that I think is making the biggest difference not only on this goal to run a 5K but also in my ongoing journey to lose weight and become healthier…it is the idea of tracking.
To donate and check out my progress please visit my page here.
For more information on the Terry Fox Foundation and the run check out their page here.
Finding My Running Legs Previous Entries
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Turning Negative into Positive: Reframing Weight Gains
I am trying to live a more positive life and shed the negativity that I
feel has held me back in my past. My
weight loss journey is full of ups and downs and used to be full of negative
emotions usually stemming around setbacks on the scale. The reality of my weight loss journey (and I
suspect I’m not alone) is that gains happen.
It took me a long time to come to terms with that simple fact. It took me even longer to figure out a
process that allows me to work with the weight gains and turn it into something
I can learn from.
Once I accepted the fact that gains happen I was able to let the frustration of the gain go, especially as I began to see patterns in the gains that I could predict. This has proved to actually be very liberating for me. It has allowed me to look at it more objectively. It gave me the room I needed to step back from the emotions and really look at what is going on. I think the process needed for this will be highly individual but I thought I would share mine.
The first step I always take when trying to figure out what is happening is to look at my trackers – my food tracker and my Fitbit. These two things have been incredible tools in helping me evaluate the things I have done. They keep me honest. I mean it’s hard to argue a weight gain when you look back and your food tracker shows you had desserts every night and ate more points than you are allowed.
When it comes to my food tracker the most common sign I know that I’m going to be up is that I either didn’t fill it out at all or I only half-filled it out. These are two signs that I have usually decided that I don’t care what I’m about to do – it is my rebellious side sneaking out (and yes she exists even if she doesn’t show herself very often).
My Fitbit is still a tracker I’m learning about. I haven’t had it long enough to develop the patterns that I know will either equal a weight gain or loss. If I have a gain though and my steps are down I figure it is probably a safe bet that I should have tried to find more time to move during the week. There may be outside reasons/excuses for my steps being down(-30 degree temps for example) but sadly my body doesn’t care about the excuses – it won’t do what I want it to if I don’t do the things I know I need to.
Often looking at the trackers is enough to satisfy my need to know why I had a gain. When I first started this process once I had an answer I would stop looking. I discovered the problem with this is that I would repeat the mistakes over and over again. I knew I needed to change this so I added the second part to my process. After looking at the trackers now I sit down and take time to reflect. Not only do I look at the mental side of my week (stresses, mood, ect) but I also try to figure out what triggered whatever my trackers are showing me. This step is where I have really begun to learn about my body, my habits and my triggers.
The art of reflection is a powerful skill but sadly not one that comes easily at least to me. I have found though that if I put in the effort to reflect on anything that it has always paid off for me. My tool for reflection is a pen and a paper. My journal is a spot where I write everything out in my brain and then I can actually look at it with a little distance. It is a scary twisted book but the ramblings on the page allow the novelist in me to look at myself as a character I need to fix. This way of doing it won’t work for everyone but I would be lost without it. I’m a firm believer change can’t happen without some sort of reflection.
This week is the perfect example for how I use my process. I knew even before going to weigh in yesterday that the scale was going to be up. I can generally know what the scale is going to tell me and it is usually because my gains are now predictable. First I looked to my trackers and not only was I down on step totals each day but my food tracker is blank except for Monday’s breakfast. Mentally my mood was down this week and I didn’t have any motivation.
The reflection part of the process was a bit more challenging because I ask every kid’s favourite question, “Why?” When I first start to write the easy answers spilled onto the page – I was scrapbooking, it was too old outside – and although these are logical reasons to me I can’t accept them and call them excuses. (My definition of an excuse is a reason that I have no control over.) The reality of my life is there will be more scrapbooking retreats and winter lasts forever so unless I’m willing to accept more gains I need reasons that I can actually fix.
Digging a little deeper I was able to find a clearer, more fixable issue. In stepping back and looking at all aspects of the past week I realized that going into my scrapbooking weekend I gave myself permission not to care. I didn’t want to have to worry about tracking my food (or even paying attention to the food choices) or trying to get my 10000 steps. This would have been fine if I could have limited this attitude to the weekend.
The problem is I have a hard time starting up again if I shut off. I came to realize after last weekend that I actually subconsciously write off the whole week because I have thrown away the weekend. Looking back on past experiences I’m not sure why I didn’t see this sooner but it makes perfect sense and is something I have done quite often. This is a problem that I can find a solution for and prepare for though. Luckily it is also a problem that I have time to work on before I’m presented with a similar situation again.
The quick solution though to get me back on track is to pull out some of the tools I regularly use. So even before weighing in on Saturday I pulled out my meal plan template and recipe books to plan food for the upcoming week. I did a proper shopping trip on Friday night to stock my fridge with yummy, healthy fresh food. I also promised myself to do better this week so that no matter what the scale says next week I know that I did the right things.
Before I end this little blog entry I should put a caveat on this process though. My process doesn’t always work. There are times in my journey where I have done everything right and still had the number on the scale be up. These are still frustrating to me but because I can look back and see when they happened over time (because of my obsessive tracking skills) I was able to find a solution to at least some of them (damn hormones!). The times when the process doesn’t work for me at least though I can step away from it knowing that I have done what I can to ensure that I have the success I want. Not finding answers doesn’t mean the process failed it just means that maybe the answer is still waiting to be found later.
Working through the problem (ie weight gain) has become something I have gotten pretty good at. It has taken time, practice and lots of patience to figure it all out. I use the tools I have at hand and make them work for me. They will show me the truth of what is going on versus whatever story I may tell myself. The one thing that I stand by though is that turning negatives into positives is powerful, liberating and motivating all at the same time. It has always proved to be worth the effort in my opinion. We might not be able to avoid the negative side of life all the time but at least we can find a way to make it work for us.
Once I accepted the fact that gains happen I was able to let the frustration of the gain go, especially as I began to see patterns in the gains that I could predict. This has proved to actually be very liberating for me. It has allowed me to look at it more objectively. It gave me the room I needed to step back from the emotions and really look at what is going on. I think the process needed for this will be highly individual but I thought I would share mine.
The first step I always take when trying to figure out what is happening is to look at my trackers – my food tracker and my Fitbit. These two things have been incredible tools in helping me evaluate the things I have done. They keep me honest. I mean it’s hard to argue a weight gain when you look back and your food tracker shows you had desserts every night and ate more points than you are allowed.
When it comes to my food tracker the most common sign I know that I’m going to be up is that I either didn’t fill it out at all or I only half-filled it out. These are two signs that I have usually decided that I don’t care what I’m about to do – it is my rebellious side sneaking out (and yes she exists even if she doesn’t show herself very often).
My Fitbit is still a tracker I’m learning about. I haven’t had it long enough to develop the patterns that I know will either equal a weight gain or loss. If I have a gain though and my steps are down I figure it is probably a safe bet that I should have tried to find more time to move during the week. There may be outside reasons/excuses for my steps being down(-30 degree temps for example) but sadly my body doesn’t care about the excuses – it won’t do what I want it to if I don’t do the things I know I need to.
Often looking at the trackers is enough to satisfy my need to know why I had a gain. When I first started this process once I had an answer I would stop looking. I discovered the problem with this is that I would repeat the mistakes over and over again. I knew I needed to change this so I added the second part to my process. After looking at the trackers now I sit down and take time to reflect. Not only do I look at the mental side of my week (stresses, mood, ect) but I also try to figure out what triggered whatever my trackers are showing me. This step is where I have really begun to learn about my body, my habits and my triggers.
The art of reflection is a powerful skill but sadly not one that comes easily at least to me. I have found though that if I put in the effort to reflect on anything that it has always paid off for me. My tool for reflection is a pen and a paper. My journal is a spot where I write everything out in my brain and then I can actually look at it with a little distance. It is a scary twisted book but the ramblings on the page allow the novelist in me to look at myself as a character I need to fix. This way of doing it won’t work for everyone but I would be lost without it. I’m a firm believer change can’t happen without some sort of reflection.
This week is the perfect example for how I use my process. I knew even before going to weigh in yesterday that the scale was going to be up. I can generally know what the scale is going to tell me and it is usually because my gains are now predictable. First I looked to my trackers and not only was I down on step totals each day but my food tracker is blank except for Monday’s breakfast. Mentally my mood was down this week and I didn’t have any motivation.
The reflection part of the process was a bit more challenging because I ask every kid’s favourite question, “Why?” When I first start to write the easy answers spilled onto the page – I was scrapbooking, it was too old outside – and although these are logical reasons to me I can’t accept them and call them excuses. (My definition of an excuse is a reason that I have no control over.) The reality of my life is there will be more scrapbooking retreats and winter lasts forever so unless I’m willing to accept more gains I need reasons that I can actually fix.
Digging a little deeper I was able to find a clearer, more fixable issue. In stepping back and looking at all aspects of the past week I realized that going into my scrapbooking weekend I gave myself permission not to care. I didn’t want to have to worry about tracking my food (or even paying attention to the food choices) or trying to get my 10000 steps. This would have been fine if I could have limited this attitude to the weekend.
The problem is I have a hard time starting up again if I shut off. I came to realize after last weekend that I actually subconsciously write off the whole week because I have thrown away the weekend. Looking back on past experiences I’m not sure why I didn’t see this sooner but it makes perfect sense and is something I have done quite often. This is a problem that I can find a solution for and prepare for though. Luckily it is also a problem that I have time to work on before I’m presented with a similar situation again.
The quick solution though to get me back on track is to pull out some of the tools I regularly use. So even before weighing in on Saturday I pulled out my meal plan template and recipe books to plan food for the upcoming week. I did a proper shopping trip on Friday night to stock my fridge with yummy, healthy fresh food. I also promised myself to do better this week so that no matter what the scale says next week I know that I did the right things.
Before I end this little blog entry I should put a caveat on this process though. My process doesn’t always work. There are times in my journey where I have done everything right and still had the number on the scale be up. These are still frustrating to me but because I can look back and see when they happened over time (because of my obsessive tracking skills) I was able to find a solution to at least some of them (damn hormones!). The times when the process doesn’t work for me at least though I can step away from it knowing that I have done what I can to ensure that I have the success I want. Not finding answers doesn’t mean the process failed it just means that maybe the answer is still waiting to be found later.
Working through the problem (ie weight gain) has become something I have gotten pretty good at. It has taken time, practice and lots of patience to figure it all out. I use the tools I have at hand and make them work for me. They will show me the truth of what is going on versus whatever story I may tell myself. The one thing that I stand by though is that turning negatives into positives is powerful, liberating and motivating all at the same time. It has always proved to be worth the effort in my opinion. We might not be able to avoid the negative side of life all the time but at least we can find a way to make it work for us.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Keeping Stress at Bay
Stress is such a huge trigger for so many people I know who are dealing
with weight issues. I think stress eating is one of the topics I seem to talk
the most about with people. It
fascinates me how each individual reacts and deals with stress. For myself I’m trying to make sure that
stress and stress eating will not define or derail my weight loss journey,
which is much easier to think than make happen.
This last week put all my stress strategies to the test. It was one of those weeks where things out of my control started going on around me. Although I didn’t have control over them happening they were adding to the stress and tension I was carrying around. First was the news that my Nan had to go back to the hospital again, and at 94 years old no matter the reason this is not something I take lightly. This news was followed by discovering my car had scratches on it in about the same spot that I had fixed in December. This left me thinking and feeling like the repair shop had ripped me off. Next was finding out that we were being reclassified down at work which means that my title changes and I become red circled. Essentially it means that I will not be getting a raise for at least six years (if my math is right). Finally the last event was going to the repair shop and being made to eat a little crow when they showed me that the damage on the car was actually new damage. So not only did I feel bad for thinking they had ripped me off but it also meant someone else had hit my car.
Historically a week like this last one would have sent me into binge mode. I would have turned to all my favourite, fast, fatty and bad-for-me foods. Things like chips, pizza and wings would have been at the top of the list of what my brain would tell me I was craving. The weigh-in that would follow such a week would have been a nightmare and very much dreaded. I’m sure others can relate to this where everything just gets derailed and you are left trying to clean up the wreckage after the fact. This would generally lead me to even more frustration and feelings of disappointment in myself.
The reality of this past week for me though was actually quite different this time around. I spent a great deal of my time acknowledging what was going on. I made choices that helped guide me successfully through the week. They were based on strategies I had come up with prior to all of this. Preplanning these strategies quite literally saved this week for me from being a train wreck and I figured if there was ever a topic I should write about my stress strategies is probably an important one.
Strategy 1 – Writing
This last week put all my stress strategies to the test. It was one of those weeks where things out of my control started going on around me. Although I didn’t have control over them happening they were adding to the stress and tension I was carrying around. First was the news that my Nan had to go back to the hospital again, and at 94 years old no matter the reason this is not something I take lightly. This news was followed by discovering my car had scratches on it in about the same spot that I had fixed in December. This left me thinking and feeling like the repair shop had ripped me off. Next was finding out that we were being reclassified down at work which means that my title changes and I become red circled. Essentially it means that I will not be getting a raise for at least six years (if my math is right). Finally the last event was going to the repair shop and being made to eat a little crow when they showed me that the damage on the car was actually new damage. So not only did I feel bad for thinking they had ripped me off but it also meant someone else had hit my car.
Historically a week like this last one would have sent me into binge mode. I would have turned to all my favourite, fast, fatty and bad-for-me foods. Things like chips, pizza and wings would have been at the top of the list of what my brain would tell me I was craving. The weigh-in that would follow such a week would have been a nightmare and very much dreaded. I’m sure others can relate to this where everything just gets derailed and you are left trying to clean up the wreckage after the fact. This would generally lead me to even more frustration and feelings of disappointment in myself.
The reality of this past week for me though was actually quite different this time around. I spent a great deal of my time acknowledging what was going on. I made choices that helped guide me successfully through the week. They were based on strategies I had come up with prior to all of this. Preplanning these strategies quite literally saved this week for me from being a train wreck and I figured if there was ever a topic I should write about my stress strategies is probably an important one.
Strategy 1 – Writing
I always deal with
things better when I see them written.
It takes it out of my brain and calms me down. It gives me a little space from the problem
and lets me look at it like I would a character in a story I’m writing. It helps me to work the problem rather than
get lost in the emotion of it.
Strategy 2 – Reading
When I had written
my emotions and thoughts out but was still struggling I decided to pick up a
book and tried to lose myself in the words.
Fiction has often saved me from things going on in my life by giving me
a place to escape to; a world that I can always shut down if it is not going my
way. This week I found that wasn’t
working all that well either. I had a
hard time focusing on the words and found reality kept pulling me out of my
imagination. Luckily I had one more
strategy ready to go.
Strategy 3 – Distraction
For this last
strategy I turned to one of my favourite computer games, Sims 3. The mindless distraction of controlling a
digital person was a great way to keep my mind off wanting to eat the entire
chip aisle at Safeway. I can lose hours
playing the game which normally isn’t a good thing but when I am trying to
protect myself from my old habits I’m not going to complain. It ate up time that would have been used for
stressing by keeping my hands busy.
The results of these 3 strategies for me this week were amazing. It was a huge boost to my confidence because
it validated the work I had done on planning my strategies ahead of time. I was put to the test and I survived. It was proof I needed to know that the
changes I’m making are sticking and becoming a part of my daily lifestyle. It also left me feeling like I had some
control instead of feeling like I was just spinning out. Of course the most obvious benefit for me
(but not the most important) was the fact that it also left me with a weight
loss this week, which is always a huge bonus.
I wanted to share my strategies because stress control/management is
not something unique to me. All week I
watched fellow co-workers deal with the news of reclassification in different
ways. It is around us all the time and I
think whether you are dealing with weight issues or anything else stress sneaks
in to affect us all. So I end this entry
with a question/challenge – what are you strategies for dealing with stress? Share them with me so we can all learn from
each other. If you don’t have any
strategies in place I highly suggest taking some time to come up with some that
will work for you. Stress in inevitable
but it doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
It can be controlled and overcome with a little work, support and
practice.
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