One of the benefits of having a popular weblog (not this one, obviously) is that your readers send you lots of interesting reading material. Here are a couple of blog posts that are actually closely related to each other:
First up, at Brazen Careerist, Penelope writes about four weight-loss tips from her month in the mental ward. This is raw stuff:
- Understand that any weight problem is an emotional problem.
- Take time off so you can change bad patterns.
- Don’t be a snob. (In other words: know thyself.)
- Stop using your life as an excuse.
Trunk writes:
I’m telling anyone with an eating problem — if you are overweight or underweight — [life] can wait. Stop kidding yourself that [other stuff] is more important. People are always worrying that they will mess up their career by stopping their work to fix themselves. But the worst job is the job that you use to avoid your personal life.
I immediately ordered Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, which somebody recommneded to me long ago, but which I’ve conveniently ignored. Emotional eating is what I do. I need to stop it.
Meanwhile, here’s a related article on creating a habit of self-regulation. The author writes:
If you do ANYTHING that requires self-regulation, then that makes it EASIER for you to have self-regulation in EVERYTHING.
Self-discipline is one of my weak spots. It always has been. I don’t know how to change it, how to improve. This article claims that even practicing good posture on a regular basis can improve self-regulation in other areas of life. I’m skeptical, but I’m willing to give it a try (especially since my posture is poor to begin with).
Someday I will be a whole, complete person. I just wish it were today.
(P.S. On a related note, Dave sent me this story about mindless eating.)
Yes, that would’ve been me.
Maybe start with the idea that you already are a whole, complete person and see where that can take you? I’m a firm believer that if I start with the idea that I’m whole (read: complete, of worth, not missing some part that would make me what I should or could be if only it wasn’t missing), I’m more likely to enjoy and love on myself by taking care of myself. The days I’m able to view myself that way (instead of as an incomplete work or something that needs fixed), I tend to live healthier (physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially and all the other “-allys”).
I’m pro-HAES (Health at Every Size), and believe that eating well and moving your body is way more likely to bring good health than weight loss ever will. Not only is dieting actually a consistent predictor of future weight gain, weight loss or, more accurately, our attempt to lose weight, is more likely to cause health problems than help us avoid them. Repeatedly losing and gaining weight (some studies say even as little as 10 pounds) is linked to cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes and altered immune function.
I’m now stepping down off of the soap box… 😉
Hey, JD.
I think you will be intrested to hear that I am late on almost everythign I write. Late to the Boston Globe, to Yahoo Finance, to places that are huge and prestigious and anyone else surely would always be on time for. I also post late to my blog all the time — I know I should post before 9am and sometimes I post at 2pm. What a stupid time to post, right?
It kills me. Every day I tell myself I have to stop. Have to slow down my life and reorganize to stop being late.
And when you asked me to guest blog for you I was absolutely blown away by how organized you were. The self-discipline you exhibited when you went on vacation — and lined everythign up before hand — is incredible to me.
So all this makes me think that we each have our areas where we have great discipline and areas where we stink, and we need to apply the great discipline techniques to a wider range of areas.
I am rooting for both of us!
Penelope