Emotional Energy Sappers

Dr. Larocque, in his book Be Thin, Master your Emotions, talks about a sequence of events that occur in emotional states. First an external event takes place. This gives rise to our thoughts about the event, which in turn gives rise to an emotional response and a resultant behaviour. If the event is upsetting or stressful, for many the behaviour is compulsive eating. The only way to overcome this habit of turning to food is to work on changing our thought processes. Here are some suggestions on how to deal with emotional intruders from a book entitled The Emotional Energy Factor: The Secrets High Energy People Use to Beat Emotional Fatigue by Mira Kirshenbaum.

The energy vampires: If someone you know is contributing nothing but negativity, try to interact with them as little as possible and instead surround yourself with more positive people.

The green-eyed monster: Envy eats away at emotional energy. Focus on what you love about your own life rather than comparing yourself unfavourably with others.

The perpetual to-do list: If you've had an item on your agenda for more than a few months, that's extra weight you're carrying around. Make time to do it, or let go.

The endless worry cycle: Obsessing about problems is like trying to win a race running on a treadmill – you use up all your energy going nowhere. The antidote to worry is action. Every time you worry, do something, anything. Just making a plan to overcome a problem often helps.

Pull the plug on these emotionally draining intruders on your life and see how your energy soars. Change your thoughts, take control and overcome emotional eating!

Sometimes it can be beneficial to create a personal journal of thoughts while you're going through the process of losing weight. When you realize that you've eaten more than usual and that the overeating was the result of a disappointment or some other emotional trauma, examine your behaviour as follows:

Sequence:
A – an external cause

B – triggered a thought process

C – which resulted in an emotional response and overeating

Example:
A – My neighbour made negative comments about the yard

B – I felt like a failure

C – I didn't respond but instead went inside and ate cookies

It can help to write out your own A-B-C sequence whenever you feel an emotional upset this week:

A: The external event that set me off emotionally:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

B: What I thought about it:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

C: My subsequent feelings and behaviour:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My new way of thinking and my new programming should be:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Repeat” this new programming several times a day if possible.
"Repeat” it particularly when similar circumstances arise.
"Repeat” it as a way to relax your mind.
The more you repeat it, the more effective it will be.

Changing our automatic thought pattern is challenging – it takes a lot of work and discipline. The only way to change our thinking and in turn, our behaviours, is to practice. It might mean taking a few minutes before getting out of bed to remind yourself what's important to make TODAY a positive day. What 3 things could you do today to make yourself feel positive and in control? Could you have an extra glass of water? Could you walk around the block at lunch? Could you have some protein at breakfast? Deciding what makes us feel good is paramount in managing our emotions in stressful situations. Life will ALWAYS throw stress and despair our way…it's how we respond that pushes us forward.

Remember – you deserve to feel good and feel in control. Avoid Emotional Energy Sappers as much as possible by being aware of them and knowing how to respond to them. It takes practice, but over time you'll notice your automatic emotional response becomes more positive and productive.

You can and WILL succeed – don't ever give up.

Dr. Doug