Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Laura,

I have had two really sad things happen in the last month and I’ve been dealing with it by overeating.

Can you give me some ideas on how to deal with the pain without eating myself to death?

I’ve tried writing in my journal, playing video games, watching movies and exercise. They all seem to distract me, but don’t elevate my mood the way eating does.

Any ideas?

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Anonymous,

I wish I could say I had a huge bag of tricks to give you to deal with grief, but I don’t. Honestly, food is an intense mood enhancer for me and I resort to it more often than I should.

Second in line is exercise. The only problem with exercise (and you’ve probably encountered this) is that you can’t do it all day and the mood doesn’t last as long as overeating does.

Writing in my journal is also another way to deal with negative emotions, but it looks like you’ve tried that as well.

The only trick that I have that you haven’t mentioned is scheduling. When I’m really sad, I get out my Healthy and Happy List and schedule my day to include everything on that list. Now, what you need to be happy might be different than my list, but it’s a good place to start. Schedule the fun things as well as the work things into your life.

Then, follow the schedule.

Even something as small as getting up and showering can feel like an accomplishment when you’re really sad, so put it on your schedule and check it off when you do it. It’s the checking off that is pleasurable and you need all the positive in your life that you can get right now.

Try scheduling and tell me how things go for you.

Sending good karma your way,
Laura Moncur