I had a stressful event happen about a week ago, and while I didn’t totally ditch my protocol, I certainly ate off plan. I stuck with my fasting interval but I had a lot more sweets and carbs than I usually would. I have compassion around my desire and action to buffer, and I’m now ready to move on from it. I’ve been weighing myself every day still, and the scale hasn’t gone up.
However, I ate something this evening that was very noodle-y, and I am feeling that over-full feeling that triggers anxiety and thoughts that “I’m going to gain weight”.
The problem isn’t the number on the scale, because I know that’s neutral, but the thought that “I just undid all the work I’ve done, and I’m not going to be able to lose it” gives me a lot of rebound anxiety. I think my work here is to soothe myself such that I don’t have to buffer over the anxiety – for example, with weighing myself multiple times a day, or counting calories, or other things like that. Actually, now that I think about it, I DID weigh myself after eating it and that’s what’s freaking me out.
C: Scale says +4lbs after consuming noodles and broth
T: This is a catastrophe, I knew this morning’s weight was too good to be true!
F: Anxiety
A: Check how many calories are in this kind of soup, weigh myself constantly waiting for scale to go back down (basically buffering the anxiety away), make “plan” for tomorrow to be better
R: I create a catastrophe in my mind
Okay so, hmm, where to go from here.
C: Scale says +4lbs after consuming noodles and broth
T: I am 100% confident with how to get back on plan
F: Determined
A: Set protocol for tomorrow and stick to it with ease
R: I get back on plan
But I think the bigger problem is that I do NOT think that +4lbs is neutral. I really don’t. I think that it is bad. Believing this thought causes me anxiety.
Some bridge thoughts…
* Gaining 4lbs is a catastrophe
* I notice I keep thinking that gaining 4lbs is a catastrophe
* The belief that gaining 4lbs is bad is a sentence that is programmed into my mind
* There are some people in this world that would be thrilled to gain 4lbs
* Weight gain is actually a sign of good or improving health in many circumstances
* I couldn’t prove in a court of law that gaining 4lbs after eating ramen noodles is “bad”
* It’s possible that gaining 4lbs of mass after eating ramen noodles is 100% normal and expected
* It’s possible that gaining 4lbs of mass is exactly how my body is supposed to be responding after eating that meal – it means my body is working at its absolute best (this feels GOOD).
* If I suddenly lost 4lbs after eating a bowl of ramen I would be absolutely freaking out and worried about my health
* My body is a pretty amazing piece of machinery – it knows *exactly* what it’s doing
* Gaining 4lbs after eating ramen noodles is how my unique body reacts to that meal. (THIS feels neutral).
Okay, I like my new thoughts.
C: +4lbs after consuming noodles and broth
T: Gaining 4lbs of mass is exactly how my body is supposed to be responding after eating that meal – it means my body is working at its absolute best
F: Grateful (for my healthy body)
A: I go to bed early feeling warm and cozy. I don’t take harsh measures to punish myself or my body tomorrow to compensate. I don’t get angry at the scale in the morning. I decide what to eat tomorrow with love, and prepare it.
R: I appreciate my body for working optimally
Open to any feedback on this model!!
