Weight Loss Tip # 10: Practice taking a HALT. Never allow yourself to get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.
Many of us were raised in environments where we didn’t feel it was safe or appropriate to express our feelings. We learned to handle our emotions by eating certain foods that made us feel numb. Then we never had to feel hungry, angry, lonely or tired. We ate to escape these feelings. Some of us had different foods for different emotions. If we were really angry, we might want to chew on something crunchy. If we were tired but felt we had to push ourselves to work longer, we would grab for sugar and caffeine loaded beverages and snacks because we felt we always needed to put deadlines and projects ahead of our feelings.
If we are ever to have permanent success with achieving and maintaining weight loss, we must stop covering our emotions with food. We must face our emotions honestly. Since feeling our feelings is so new to us (some of us have ALWAYS used food to cover our feelings — others developed this habit later in life), we must take it slow. The feelings will probably feel pretty intense at first. The thing is — they are just feelings. Nobody else can see our feelings. And as we learn to deal with our feelings honestly, we will realize that we are allowed to have our feelings. Our feelings will not hurt us! Our feelings will not hurt anybody else, either! Only actions can hurt people. And we will learn that we can sit honestly with our feelings and take our time deciding whether or not we should take some sort of action based upon what we are feeling.
Just be aware of your feelings today. And be gentle with yourself. Don’t let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely or tired. Call a friend. Take a nap. Take a bath. Read a book. You do not have to eat over your feelings today! You are on your way to freedom and you deserve to have an honest emotional life.
Daily Inspiration: “I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.” ~ Pietro Aretino