I didn’t post anything for you yesterday and here’s why:
First off, I’ve gotten into a writing schedule that I want to break. I’ve been writing my posts at night, which leads me to staying up late and not always getting enough sleep and hey, I’m focused on living a healthy lifestyle here and rest (good rest!) is a part of that.
Besides that there’s the fact that you need your sleep if you are in the process of losing weight. Your body needs to replenish itself and in addition to that, if you don’t get enough sleep at night the next day you can end up irritable and turn to food – not getting enough sleep can make you feel like you’re hungry for food or you want food for comfort when actually you’re just not getting enough sleep. 
Nighttime Emotional Hunger, eek!
Secondly, and the main reason I didn’t write last night is because I was feeling the urge to emotionally eat. It wasn’t a super strong urge because remember I’ve had a major shift in my mindset, but when I get tired or anxious I can still feel the feeling of those old habits cropping up sometimes.
Just to note, coping with and being aware of your emotional hunger doesn’t end after you graduate your 12 weeks with Shrink Yourself like I did, you still need to remain conscious of how you’re feeling and recognize if you’re getting into a danger zone where you could sabotage yourself. The difference for me now is that I have the tools to work with to deal with my emotional hunger in a rational way.
The Boogie Man (a.k.a. Anxieties and Worries)
For myself, nighttime is the most tenuous time when it comes to those old feelings of emotional hunger and maybe you can relate to this, something I’ve done a lot in the past: felt great all day, was treating myself with healthy actions and respect but at night I would get into self-sabotage and overeating/binging. Have you ever done that?
The reason is because nighttime is when my worries and anxieties tend to pop up and if you’re an emotional eater you know exactly what I’m talking about. When you feel like that what do you do if you haven’t learned how to cope with those feelings? You turn to food to make yourself feel better. (check out my 12-week series on emotional eating for more on that)
Get To Bed!
So, you know what the easiest solution is? Go To Bed. Yep, that’s it. I know, it sounds too simple, doesn’t it? Well maybe I’m the only one like this but I tend to push myself to the limit to get as much done as possible each day and that has included pushing myself late into the night.
It’s easier to start letting those daily stresses pile up at the end of the day and get into some stinkin’ thinkin’ (worry, anxious thoughts, etc.) and it’s much better if you can just get to bed and give yourself a break, besides the fact that you’ll be avoiding nighttime emotional eating to try to make yourself feel better.
And you know what the best thing is if you can relate to what I’m sharing here – everything always looks better in the morning. It’s true, and if you can just get yourself into bed earlier each night and give yourself that break that both your mind and your body need, then you can start over fresh the next day.
Another Tip – Working Out Tires You Out (eventually)
Something else I do to avoid nighttime emotional eating is save my workouts until the evening because they give me that natural high and tire me out, but if you do this you need to workout early enough so that you’re not doing it right before bedtime – you most likely won’t feel tired immediately after working out because if you’re working out correctly you’ll feel that natural high from the endorphins in your system and your workout will energize you. So just work out at least 2 hours before bed time if not earlier than that.
And if you find you cannot sleep once you get to bed, journal your emotions. You can use your emotional eating coping skills and journal out how you’re feeling to put your mind at ease so you can get to sleep. After journaling just put on some relaxing music that will turn itself off after 15 minutes or so and get comfy.
This is what I did last night and that’s why you didn’t get a post from me – I couldn’t stay up any longer and risk getting into that cycle of sugar addiction because I was thinking in those old ways, that food was the solution to the stress I was feeling, which it never is.
A Healthy Lifestyle for You, and Me, too!
My goal is to stop that late night posting and stick to a healthier schedule. Sure, I thoroughly enjoy giving you these free tips here at Fearless Fat Loss but I have to take responsibility for my own health; after all, my intention is to bring you information and inspiration to lead your own healthy lifestyle so that you lose weight, get fit, and keep that weight off, which is the same thing that I intend for myself – health in mind, body, and spirit, which includes adequate rest.
I cannot that you live a healthy lifestyle if I’m not doing myself so it just means that I’ve got to stay on top of my self-care, just like you do for yourself.
