Monday, July 12, 2010

Shedding the Guilt...Not Just the Pounds

I wish I could tell you I enjoyed eating badly this weekend. I wish I could tell you that I ate my favorite foods--chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, thin crust pizza, croissants spread with a thin layer of nuttella. I wish I could tell you that, at least, I enjoyed the binge. But that is not the case.

Yesterday, I ate 3 packets of instant oatmeal, a few bags of popcorn, some dry cereal and the remainder of my jar of peanut butter (maybe 3-4 tablespoons). I did not enjoy any of it. But I was so consumed with the desire to eat and watch tv that I didn't care what I put in my mouth. This is very hard to admit, but when I'm in that mood I'll eat absolutely anything--even stale cereal. I hesitate to make this comparison, but I wonder if my problem with binge eating is anything similar to being an alcoholic?

Something I've learned from the Weight Watchers community is that slip-ups will inevitably happen, but the important thing is what you do afterwards. So, this morning I woke up early, put on my workout clothes and went to the gym. I did 30minutes on the elliptical and worked up a really good sweat. I also plan on going to my Body Jam class tonight. While the exercise probably won't erase the excess calories I consumed this weekend, I'm hoping that it will help me to refocus and get back on track.

It felt good to sweat this morning, and in a way I felt like I was sweating away the binge, my guilty feelings, and all the stressers in my life. Now, I feel peaceful and at ease with myself. I know that I am not perfect. And it's okay...because I'm back on track again.

2 comments:

  1. I still haven't figured out how to NOT eat in front of the TV, or how to NOT want that uncomfortably full feeling. So now if I want to eat something late at night while watching TV, I will heat up a big bag of steamfresh frozen vegetables and eat that. Great way to get in the GHG, plus I still get to overeat. I know, the whole point SHOULD be to not overeat anymore, but for whatever reason, I'm not there yet. So I improvised. :-) Sounds like you're doing great!

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  2. I think you are completely right in saying that slip ups are inevitable, and it just matters how quickly you get back on track. It's SO true. The fact that you woke up and went to the gym is awesome. Think about pre-WW and what you would have done... slash what you would have been bingeing on! It doesn't sound like it was that bad!

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