Obstacle #4: Stress
Yep, stress can quickly shatter the resolve of the most dedicated dieter, in a matter of milliseconds! Whether it’s an outrageous gas bill, a two-year-old throwing the mother of all tantrums, or an angry tiff with your spouse, our old standby comfort foods soothingly call our names like a siren, promising refuge but leaving us crashed on the rocks! Not very strategic for reaching our weight loss goals.
If you are one of so many moms who has ever wrestled with comfort-eating, emotional-eating, eat-everything-in-sight-stress-relief, whatever you want to call it, I have news for you – you CAN overcome this. It is a mental game more than anything and, when conquered one day at a time (or one minute at a time), creates a new habit that will help you accomplish your weight loss goals and make you thin. The secret is to PREPARE YOURSELF.
If you want to lose the weight and become a lean, strong mom, try this: Daily prepare yourself for the stress you will inevitably face (I actually prefer to prepare myself the night before):
1. Identify what relaxes and energizes you by finishing the following sentences:
When I’ve had a chance to _________________, I feel energized to face whatever comes my way.
I always feel better after I’ve __________________________.
If you would like some great suggestions for simple ways to get energized, check out this list I found online: Improve Your Mood in 5 Minutes
2. Daily remind yourself of not just your weight loss goals but also the MOTIVATIONS behind your goals, in other words, the BENEFITS you will experience as a result of losing the extra weight and becoming thin. It even helps to write yourself a letter, in the present tense, describing how you feel, in the present tense, as a result of accomplishing your health and fitness goals. For example, recently I was stuck in a post-partum weight loss plateau and so I set a small weight loss goal of 5 pounds to lose and I wrote down the benefits of reaching this goal and on the next page I wrote a page long journal entry, describing how proud I felt for reaching my goal and how worth all the hard work it was.
3. Make a list of all the possible things you can do INSTEAD of reach for that 2nd piece of cake, or that bag of chips, whatever the yummy temptation might be. Right now some of the items on my list are: write a letter or send an email to an old friend, do the ten-minute/trash bag tango (which involves clearing out some clutter from your house), go for a walk (never hurts to get up from your cubicle at work, either!), learn something new about my camera (I’m interested in photography), do a load of laundry (hey, keeps me moving in the opposite direction of the fridge!). Having alternatives to excessive snacking or stress-eating will help you to make choices that will contribute to your weight loss.
Writing ideas and strategies down can be a real help for reaching your post-partum weight loss goals. Losing weight, as with any goal, involves engaging your MIND. It is okay to play mind games with yourself, talking to yourself about what you plan to accomplish, or even changing your thinking as if you ALREADY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED your goal. Stress can be a real sabateur of weight loss and the only way to combat it is to prepare your MIND ahead of time so that stress will never again be an excuse for abandoning your goals.
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