Have you noticed that the food we eat has a tremendous impact on us not only physically, but mentally AND emotionally?
I’m a sugar addict. I always have been.
In times of stress or exhaustion, I tend to use sugar as my crutch. It’s my drug of choice. Sure, sometimes I choose alcohol – or trashy television. But sugar is my biggest temptation. And once I fall off the wagon, it’s hard to get back on!
I recently had a couple of weeks where I truly gave in to the urge and gorged myself on sweets.
We had just had our daughter, Eva, and I was exhausted. Suddenly, sugar became my “thing”. I told myself that I “deserved it”, that I had “earned it” with all the hard work I was doing with the baby. Besides, it was one of the few things that made me feel good in those moments of stress when Eva was being really fussy and I couldn’t exactly leave my house (and baby) to go on a hike. Cookies were easily accessible – people kept dropping them off to help feed us during those early weeks. So my sugar addiction came back in full force.
And guess what? While it made me feel a little better in the moment, I felt WORSE afterwards. After two weeks of this, I decided that it had to stop. I felt crappy, I was even MORE exhausted from the sugar crashes and – perhaps worst of all – eating sugar was just adding a layer of guilt on top of my already bad mood.
So I made a commitment: No refined sugar for two weeks.
That was on a Monday morning, and by that afternoon I already felt MUCH better. Just making the decision to do something about my downward sugar spiral made me feel better.
Photo by AlexaMiller.com
By empowering myself again, rather than playing the victim and rewarding “poor little old me” with a sugary treat, I was back in control of my life. Turns out I had given control to the baby’s mood swings.
Sure, I can’t control whether or not Eva has a bad day. But I can control how I react to it. And when I choose positive actions, like calling a friend or going on a short walk with the baby, I have a huge impact on my own happiness.
Try it out for yourself and see – what is one area of your life where you’ve been berating yourself for some time? Well, what is it you really want? DO THAT.
Make a commitment to change your behavior and follow through on it….and notice how you feel. I bet that within 24 hours, you too will feel better!
To learn more about how to change your behavior, check out part 3 of my manifestation course (/products/create-an-ideal-life).
Please share in the comments below, what part of your life are you going to take back?
