{"id":27697,"date":"2012-01-12T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T16:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=27697"},"modified":"2012-01-11T09:48:36","modified_gmt":"2012-01-11T17:48:36","slug":"the-challenge-is-always-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.110pounds.com\/?p=27697","title":{"rendered":"The Challenge is Always There"},"content":{"rendered":"

The struggle with food never really ends. Even after losing a tremendous amount of weight and keeping it off for three years, there are still moments when the challenge presents itself again. I’m fortunate in that it doesn’t happen often and I usually get a handle on it pretty quickly so that it isn’t an issue. I feel like I’ve changed a lot in the last few years and my relationship with food is much healthier.<\/p>\n

Everyone has a normal amount of stress and anxiety in their lives. Maybe they suffer from depression from time to time or maybe the stressful cycles are seasonal. I definitely suffer from stress and anxiety but having a healthy exercise routine keeps that at bay. And when things “get tough”\u00a0occasionally, there’s nothing like a really good sweat session to get it all out. I don’t turn to food as much to put a salve on those feelings. The exercise gives me a boost of endorphins and happy feelings, and it releases whatever stress and anxiety was clogging my brain up.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, when something out of the “norm” in terms of stress pops up, it’s easy to get derailed. Recently I had one of those “derailing” moments. Michael went to Costco and I’d already eaten a very satisfying dinner. I didn’t even WANT to eat candy but I did. Michael recently bought a 6 pound bag of Gummy Bears at Costco. I don’t even LIKE Gummy Bears but those suckers are in the house taunting me. Same with a freakin’ Costco bag of M&M’s (which I do like).<\/p>\n

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[blackbirdpie id=”156603496743968768″]<\/p>\n

I stood at the kitchen counter and instead of measuring out serving sizes, I stuck my hand in the bag and poured the M&M’s into my mouth.\u00a0I probably ate 2 servings. Did I track them? Nope. Did I measure? Nope. That was as close as I’ve gotten to my old days of “bingeing” and it wasn’t pretty. Did I enjoy the M&M’s? Not at all. Did I feel bad after I ate them? Yes.<\/p>\n

[blackbirdpie id=”156603597914771456″]<\/p>\n

And I did go swimming. And I avoided the candy at work, only ate one serving of those stupid Gummy Bears and tried not to beat myself up about the misstep.<\/p>\n

I realized that too much of my life has been obligations lately. This is not to say that I haven’t had fun. I’ve loved snowshoeing<\/a> with Michael, celebrating the holidays<\/a> and of course the recent buzz<\/a> my little story received. I still love working out, despite the fact that this time of year it’s more annoying trying to get a machine in the gym. But once in awhile exercising feels like a chore or obligation. When the fun has been taken out of it, it’s time to think of something different to do. Exercise can’t ALWAYS be the solution.<\/p>\n

It’s important to find a balance in life and when the scales are not balanced it starts to show the effects. Stress eating, exhaustion, sickness, depression, lots of things can happen as a result of not taking care of ourselves. My counselor gave me a list of “Adult Pleasant Event List<\/a>” and suggested I try doing some of these things to find a balance in my life. I’m going to skip #115 “Eating gooey, fattening foods” and try to incorporate some of the other things into my life. For example:<\/p>\n