“Who are you and what has WW done to Joanne?”

“Who are you and what has WW done to Joanne?”

That is what one of the many voices in my head said last Friday. It was my Birthday and after coaching my first Friday virtual workshop I was so stoked and thought there was no better way to have celebrated the day! Well, that and I’d also been pondering what indulges I’d have for dinner. Then my dear friend, who is also my hair stylist, messaged to say it was her last day in her shop so I did what any friend would do, I begged her to squeeze me in! Later that afternoon, freshly de-shaggyed and nicely coiffed, I happily decided Pizza and Cheesecake would be my dinner. I’ve been struggling with feelings of “Oh, to heck with it” when it came to following my Plan right now and the excuse of having my Birthday dinner alone was perfect! So I stopped at Almost Perfect and got a 10” thin crust gourmet pizza and a package of 4 single serving sized Vanilla Bean Crème Brulee Cheesecakes. And I had every intention of eating it all.

When I got home, I put the pizza in the oven, poured a glass of wine and got comfy. When the buzzer dinged, I put the entire pizza on my very large plate and went to sit down in front of my paused episode of “Vikings”. Quite a while ago eating without TV distraction became a habit so it was no problem to settle in and enjoy my pizza. But then I got up and put 2 of the 4 pieces in the freezer. The pizza was absolutely delicious and after I enjoyed every bite I resumed watching good looking men chop each other up. Then it was time for dessert!! I had defrosted all 4 cakes since they were the size of a hockey puck and knew one would not be enough. I put one on a small plate and had a deep conversation with it. A few bites in I knew I would be going to bed later very full of cheesecake, it was SO good! SO good!

But then something happened. My belly told me I was satisfied, and my brain told me if I really wanted another one I could have it but why feel stuffed when feeling satisfied was enough? So, I got up and wrapped the remaining 3 pieces of cheesecake and put them in the freezer as well. I have never done that before and that’s when the voice said “Who are you and what has WW done to Joanne?” WW has helped me change not only my dysfunctional relationship with food but with self esteem and with body issues. Am I perfect in my decisions every day? Nope, because perfection is an illusion and therefore unattainable. But I have changed and continue to change. And so have you. Every time you make a decision that moves you towards your ultimate goals, know you made that decision because you have changed! And even when we make decisions not in the best interest of our goals we are still changing because now we understand why we made that decision, and we get back on track and try to make a better decision the next time. Change happens in baby steps, not leaps and bounds.

Right now we are all being forced to change and it can be scary. But I believe when this is all said and done many of the changes we’ve had to make will have served to move us towards those ultimate goals. Before WW I would have been the woman with a grocery cart full of Betty Crocker Icing and now I’m the woman with fruits, veggies, chicken and occasionally a Pizza and Cheesecake…now THAT is change!

Just a few things we can do right now.

Yesterday I crushed an entire box of WW Tortilla Sea Salt Chips (yes 5 bags) and mixed them with a whole can of tuna and a not so small dollop of mayo. I wish I could say I was stress eating just because of current events but the fact is my stress eating triggers can be set off from something as insignificant, and vain, as my hair “not going right”. But yesterday was not my hair, not my weight, not grief, not work, yesterday was fear. And as much as I try to be logical about COIVD-19, it’s scary. But I’m not overly scared about contracting the virus, my fear stems from how quickly we can lose our humanity. That’s truly scary and it’s a fear that’s new to many of us here in Canada. What is not new to most of us is how we deal with stress; we self medicate with food.

So what can we do? This is what we can do:

-Stay connected with your Tribes. As much as it can be argued excessive social media is destroying true human connection now is the time to use it. Ignore the fear mongering garbage and write encouraging posts to your family and friends. Or call a neighbour and ask them how they’re doing.

-You are not alone. Get WW support by posting on our FB pages. Write about how you’re being affected and how you’re feeling. Chances are if you’re feeding your stress others are as well and we can help relieve that stress other by sharing.

-Put your phone on the counter while you’re reading or watching Netflix. After chatting with my son yesterday I left my phone on the counter and checked it only twice the rest of the day and my stress/fear level dropped considerably because I wasn’t feeding it every 10 minutes.

-Get outside and get some fresh air and enjoy the abundant sunshine. Although we’ve been encouraged to practice social distancing stepping outside even in your back yard or on your balcony can help you feel less isolated.

-Put on your favourite music and dance. I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to be stressed while you’re dancing! Rack up those activity points and endorphins!

-Focus on what you’ve learned in WW so far. Each and everyone of us has adopted healthy ways that are second nature so we don’t even realize we’re doing them. I neglected to mention that I did not eat the entire Tortilla Tuna mixture yesterday so I will be mixing it lettuce for lunch and I predict it will be delicious! Before WW I would have eaten the whole thing regardless of whether or not I was hungry. Time to rock our Non-Scale Victories!

-If you do stress eat, track it and let it go.

-Practice self-care without guilt.

-Become part of the solution and work our humanity by being loving, kind, patient, gracious, and generous. Smile at everyone you meet.

-Take time to just breath and be grateful. This too shall pass. ❤️❤️❤️