Take Care of Tomorrow

Let me begin by saying how much I appreciate all of the great comments and welcoming words from my last post!  I have been slow to respond to all of them, but let me tell you, each one brings a big grin to my face.

Next, let me say this is not what I had planned on sharing in my next attempt at getting back to writing here.  However, I tend to share in “real time” with what is going on rather than planned posts (like the professionals do . . . (; ) We all know that’s not the case, so bear with me here.

I have written about being an emotional eater in the past.  And while I have done a really good job of working through that and NOT letting that monkey out of the bag, let’s just say that I am human.  Not a robot.  I am all soft and squishy at times.

So, I had a day this week.  It was a real day.  Not gonna lie.  It made me want to devour this . . . .

Looks pretty tasty doesn’t it?  I have gotten rid of most sugar in our house and, likewise, any sugar cravings.  But this was a birthday treat for my son so there it sat.  Waiting.  Tempting.

I am all for celebrating and enjoying food.  I hope you’ve gotten that message from me.  But, in that moment it was not about celebrating or enjoying a treat for the right reason.  It was in response to sadness, stress, anxiousness, and a million other emotions I had swirling around in my head.  Chances are I could have devoured that entire decadent,  brownie thing and not even tasted a bite and would have likely wanted another.  Is any of this ringing true for you at some time?

Since I’m embarrasing myself spilling it all out here, I surely hope someone out there can relate. . .

But, here’s the thing.  Over the past several months I’ve also been working really hard on listening to myself, tuning in and being more mindful.   My husband used to say, “analysis is paralysis”.  Maybe in some instances that might be true if it stops you from taking action.  I, however, think a little analysis can go a long way to helping you figure out why you do what you do.  If you are self-sabotaging (which I can do quite successfully) then taking the time to sit with it, pick it apart, and understand the why can only help you figure out how to handle the situation in the future.

As far as the future, that is how I handled the impulse when I was having my “day”.  I took the time to think about how I would feel the next day if I inhaled that enormous mound of chocolate, nuts, sugar and goo.  I knew I would wake up with a brick in my stomach.  I’d have a huge sugar headache and feel pretty lousy.  Later that night, I was in the midst of a show on Amazon Prime.  It was a great distraction.  After one show I really wanted to just sit right there, numbing out to another episode.  But, thankfully, I thought about the next day.  I knew if I stayed up I would not want to wake up early the next morning, would likely miss my morning workout, be tired and start the day the wrong way.

I’ve talked about taking care of your future self before.  I love this concept.  It’s why we set the coffee maker the night before, it’s why we put out our gym clothes, it’s why we do not have that extra glass of wine, and for me, at times, that third cup of coffee.

What we do today and the choices we make today set us up for tomorrow.  Taking care of tomorrow is such a great way to think about your today.  Even if today you are having one of those Alexander the Great, no good, very bad days, you know that tomorrow can be better.  We can do things today to make sure that we set ourselves up for a better tomorrow.

Whether it be eating too much, drinking too much, staying up too late, too much negative talking, wallowing too much, pretty much “too much” of anything, let’s take a minute to consider tomorrow and do the best we can to take care of ourselves.