2 days ago I decided to begin losing weight after seeing a photo of myself from last year. I looked remarkably different. I lost 15 pounds a few years ago using myfitnesspal religiously, and fell off of it. It was disheartening to see that I had undid the progress I had done, but know exactly what I need to do to get back on track. So I did.
This time, though, I really wanted to come at the weight loss from a place of understanding what it was that made me gain the weight (aside from no longer tracking). I had an epiphany.
A few months ago, I moved across the country for a year-long job contract. I began a long distance relationship with my boyfriend, and am now living somewhere with not a single friend or family member. To say it has been difficult having zero support system or friends would be an understatement. I have a lot of nice colleagues, but I haven't made many friends and haven't felt really incentivized to since I am halfway through my contract and plan on going home immediately after it's up. As a result, I spend a lot of time being lonely and bored. As a result, I've picked up a habit of filling my alone time by trying new restaurants around the city, street food, local desserts, etc.
90% of my destinations when I am lonely, sad, or homesick are to places where I will eat something. I'm gaining weight because I use food as a friend in times when I don't have any. I have developed a serious sugar addiction as a result, and use it as a distraction from how friendless I feel. Not only is it terrible financially, it's destroying all my hard work in staying trim.
This has been game-changing for me! I always thought of weight gain as just something that happened because I wasn't paying attention, but now I know it's really a by-product of my loneliness. Knowing it now, I'm able to identify moments where I'm feeling lonely and figure out a different activity to do instead of finding a restaurant I've never been to. Or, if I really want to, going to a coffee shop with a book and ordering an herbal tea. I'm also able to identify times when I reach for sugar and have decided I need to cut all added sugars from my diet until I can get past what truly feels like an addiction. Lastly, I'm back on myfitnesspal because CICO works for me.
I'm really hoping this begins a more mindful & long-lasting weight loss journey now that I have begun to address the root issue. On top of this, do you have any recommendations for ways to combat temporary loneliness when you've been inside your house for too long?
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2rs74tg
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