Living Good with Livengood
Back on Track, 9/27/2010
Denise M.
on 9/27/10 11:05 pm
on 9/27/10 11:05 pm
Last night was another great meeting--back on track edition, where we addressed challenges that knock us off our path to health.
Here are a few concepts mentioned last night that affect our focus:
1. Conscious Living. Critical in staying on track, this means not living on auto-pilot or taking the path of least resistance. Make conscious choices to exercise or NOT eat junk food. Be aware and in the moment.
2. Emotional Eating. Clearly, we are all dealing with emotional eating issues. Surgery addresses your GI tract, but not your brain. And when under stress, it's not our pouch that tells us to turn to comfort foods, it's our thoughts.
Some suggestions to deal with the urge to eat emotionally? Note that your brain can only think of one thing at a time--find a way to re-direct yourself.
:: Feel your feelings (use the focusing techniques discussed at the September didactic session)
:: If you're not emotionally prepared to feel the feelings, try distracting yourself
-- journal/write about what's bugging you
-- take a walk
-- play with your pets
-- call a friend or write an email
-- choose ANY distraction technique you prefer that is incompatible with eating (it's kind of hard to eat while you're knitting!)
3. Have a specific goal to work toward, and do it with friends. Whether it's a marathon or just a routine walking schedule, it's easier to do things when you have a specific plan. "I'm gonna walk," versus, "I am going to walk 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week at the park down the street." Specific is always more helpful than vague.
To help with some of our walking goals, here are some helpful links:
:: Geodistance is one of many websites that allows you to accurately calculate the distance of your favorite walking routes. MapMyRun is another site, and it even lists the training route for the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon! Though I haven't fully checked it out, it also looks like you can set up an account and compare how far you've walked with your friends!
:: Invest in a good pedometer. The highest rated (and best in my personal experience) are from the company Omron. Click this link to see their entire line. They are typically available at stores like Target, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, and online at vendors like Amazon.com.
Okay, I just checked work emails and my boss is In A Mood. Trying very hard to not absorb HIS anxiety issues and not stress eat before work! Some days it feels like the little stress monsters are out there, lying in wait for us, huh? Maybe a nice walk will help chase them off . . . or at least maybe out run them a bit!
This was the last meeting for September and our next Monday night meeting will be on the 11th of October--the Fashion Show! It's going to be across the street in the Auditorium. Check with Pam for more details!
Here are a few concepts mentioned last night that affect our focus:
1. Conscious Living. Critical in staying on track, this means not living on auto-pilot or taking the path of least resistance. Make conscious choices to exercise or NOT eat junk food. Be aware and in the moment.
2. Emotional Eating. Clearly, we are all dealing with emotional eating issues. Surgery addresses your GI tract, but not your brain. And when under stress, it's not our pouch that tells us to turn to comfort foods, it's our thoughts.
Some suggestions to deal with the urge to eat emotionally? Note that your brain can only think of one thing at a time--find a way to re-direct yourself.
:: Feel your feelings (use the focusing techniques discussed at the September didactic session)
:: If you're not emotionally prepared to feel the feelings, try distracting yourself
-- journal/write about what's bugging you
-- take a walk
-- play with your pets
-- call a friend or write an email
-- choose ANY distraction technique you prefer that is incompatible with eating (it's kind of hard to eat while you're knitting!)
3. Have a specific goal to work toward, and do it with friends. Whether it's a marathon or just a routine walking schedule, it's easier to do things when you have a specific plan. "I'm gonna walk," versus, "I am going to walk 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week at the park down the street." Specific is always more helpful than vague.
To help with some of our walking goals, here are some helpful links:
:: Geodistance is one of many websites that allows you to accurately calculate the distance of your favorite walking routes. MapMyRun is another site, and it even lists the training route for the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon! Though I haven't fully checked it out, it also looks like you can set up an account and compare how far you've walked with your friends!
:: Invest in a good pedometer. The highest rated (and best in my personal experience) are from the company Omron. Click this link to see their entire line. They are typically available at stores like Target, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens, and online at vendors like Amazon.com.
Okay, I just checked work emails and my boss is In A Mood. Trying very hard to not absorb HIS anxiety issues and not stress eat before work! Some days it feels like the little stress monsters are out there, lying in wait for us, huh? Maybe a nice walk will help chase them off . . . or at least maybe out run them a bit!
This was the last meeting for September and our next Monday night meeting will be on the 11th of October--the Fashion Show! It's going to be across the street in the Auditorium. Check with Pam for more details!
