Emotional eating and overeating often happen when we aren’t giving ourselves what we REALLY need. Food can so easily be over-used as a comfort or a replacement for something else; as consolation or as a reward.
Many times we overeat because we tell ourselves that we are too busy to step back, identify what we really want or need and figure out how to give it to ourselves. In a crunch, turning to food might feel quicker or easier, but in reality it’s a trap that doesn’t get us where we want to go.
Question: What are the things, activities, rituals, or behaviors that happen on a regular basis and that allow you to feel really great or nourished or rewarded? Asked another way, what are the ways you feed yourself—your soul and your spirit, your senses and your needs, without using food?
Today I challenge you to think about and list the ways you allow yourself to feel good that don’t include food.
Here’s a list I came up with of ways that work for me:
* Putting on great music
* Making time for physical activity that I really enjoy-a walk, a run, dancing or some great stretching
* Getting outside
* Carving out regular time alone—even if it’s just ten minutes
* Spending a little extra money on some great scented lotions and soaps
* Staying in contact with friends and people I enjoy and making regular dates to get together
* Reading a great book I can get lost in—again, even for just ten minutes
* Stopping in the afternoon to make a cup of hot tea. It’s the ritual–the stopping and the warmth–that feeds me.
* Making sure that my office is a place that I enjoy. I keep it organized and have things that I enjoy around me. Occasionally I buy flowers to have there.
I’d love to hear about what you do.
Take good care,
Melissa
Do you need to add some more self-care to your list? If you could use some help or a jump start, you might want to think about signing up for my free five lesson Self-care Package—weekly audio tips that are emailed to you and are designed to help you boost and fine tune your self care.
