Some days I am on-top-of-the-world invincible and I want nothing but to strengthen my body, to fuel it with life-affirming food. Spinach-berry salad, anyone?
And then there are other days--and they may or may not involve the sister letters P, M, and S--when any and all crap-food must get in mah bellay. Especially the afore-mentioned cookie or essentially any white flour/white sugar carb. Pizza, anyone?
Strangely, I don't have a problem still working out or running when I've had a crap-food day. Crap food = deep-fried anything, chocolate anything, or ice cream, but so far absolutely NO soda (so that's something, at least). In fact, I somehow rationalize eating the crap because after all I am working out so it won't be that bad if I indulge. Right? Right?
How backwards-thinking is that? Mostly it makes all my working out POINTLESS. I mean, I run anywhere from 25-40 miles a week and weight lift HARD 3x a week all to get my body back into some sort of recognizable shape. And then I go and muck it all up by letting a combination of butter, flour and chocolate in the door. The door which is my mouth, ahem.
These last 30 lbs are going NOwhere, they will just stay right here on my hips, thankyouverymuch. Dain-it!
The point is we all engage in backwards-thinking to some degree. I just need a little "A" to get me through a little "B" and that's where the negotiation kicks in. Where the importance of getting through "B" seems to outweigh any number of factors and therefore the need for any "A" is okay.
| A: | B: |
| cussing | stress |
| music (you know the kind I mean) | running |
| comfort food | stressful situation/bad day |
| book/medication | insomnia |
| medication | stressful situation/insecurity |
| sex | emotional stress/insecurity |
| speeding | being late |
| yelling (not that I, uh, er, that is) | STRESS |
Looking at these few examples, it's obvious that stress plays a huge role in how we rationalize the things we do. So right now I'm going to give myself a little permission to be stressed out and to realize that I will come out the other end of it - ALIVE, even - with or without the aid of one (or two, or three) Pecan Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies. And if I can manage it without turning to my ever faithful cookies then my hips, as I used to know them, may be back sooner rather than later.
How do you cope with stress?
