Faded Jeans Living

Howdy. Yes, I’m still on my mindful eating journey. Although on day 10, the wheels fell off, and I fell from my beautiful “pink cloud.” It was the perfect storm of lack of sleep and a stressful work situation.

I faced the storm by letting it control me. The news in my head was broadcasting stress, stress, stress, and I turned it up and played and read about it for hours. Instead of following my typical workout routine at the beginning of the day, I ran right into the eye of the storm. I sat myself right in front of it—my computer—and had my breakfast! After several hours, the work storm thrashed down even harder, “forcing” me to take shelter in Jimmy John’s subs that I ordered and mindlessly wolfed down as I waited everything out. Eventually, the storm passed, and as I looked around, I could see and feel all the damage. My breakfast plate was still sitting on my desk, along with my sub bag full of an empty sub wrapper, chips bag, and cookie wrapper. On top of that, my stomach was beyond full.

How could I have handled this storm differently?

When I got the very first alert about the incoming storm, I should have STUCK TO THE PROCESS. Even when the first news of lack of sleep came in, I could have had a piece of fruit and done one of my lighter workouts. I have several different workout options to choose from, including just taking my dog Alice for a small walk. After that, as the new news of the inbound work stress storm started to broadcast on every channel in my head, I could have simply turned off the noise by taking a deep breath. There was no real need to panic. I have faced lack of sleep and stressful worky work situations plenty of times before.

Instead of running into the storm, I could have made my breakfast, sat at my table, and mindfully eaten. After that, I could have started up my computer and faced work refreshed from exercise and with just the perfect amount of food consumed to feel energized. At lunch, I could have taken a break away from the storm, sat in the sun on my front porch for a bit, and again enjoyed a quiet mindful meal at my table.

These storms always eventually end, and not taking the required precautions can make the storms much more difficult to handle.

Next time, I will follow the process.

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Mindful Eating Day 12

Peace,

Dwight 🦋