Are you stuck in a rut with your eating?

Are you feeling stuck in a rut with your eating? 

Do things feel harder than they once did? 

Are the tools not feeling as easy to apply?

Is your weight creeping up or your jeans feeling tight?

In Wednesday's episode of the Sally Serves It Up podcast, I explore why we can start buffering again. 

I use a personal example to show how buffering is always a symptom of something emotional.

In your willingness to be honest with yourself about what you're doing and what's really going on, you can start to understand why you're not following your daily food and drinks plan (in one way or another).

It takes courage to identify what's triggering you to leave yourself in those moments of urge and discomfort. It would be so much easier to ignore what you're actually feeling. 

But with that understanding, you can identify the two paths that are in front of you. 

The one which has all the negative emotion you're trying to buffer away, as well as the results of that buffering – like weight gain and feeling unconfident, frustrated, ashamed you've "let things slip again", and the continued effects of avoiding and rejecting how you feel (consider what those might be). 

And the other path. The one I'm shining the light on. 🕯️

The one where you still feel all the negative emotions but you're acknowledging and processing them (because you're not buffering them away) AND you're feeling confident and proud and capable because you realised those emotions didn't break you AND that you still ate well and didn't sink half a bottle of wine to cope. 

This path, whilst requiring upfront courage and discomfort, is the least painful path, and leads to the greatest peace that's available to you. 🙏🏻

Your brain logs the evidence of your increased emotional capacity and new reactions to how you feel (i.e. not buffering with food and alcohol) and you're better equipped to handle whatever comes next in your life. 

You don't suffer more by choosing to feel your feelings (instead of eat or drink). You suffer less. 

There are positive by-products to the initial discomfort (of feeling how you feel + allowing your urges rather than obeying them). 

You find ways of coping with your emotions that aren't limiting, detrimental or insufficient. 💝

You react to your emotions in the way your highest self wants for you. 🌟

You're less reactive, fearful and doubtful of your ability to handle things. 🌈

And more calm, confident and believing of your capability and capacity to withstand the full breadth of human emotion and challenging circumstances. 🚀

When you're not following your plan, it's a symptom of something.

Are you brave enough to find out what that is?

And if you have to recommit and redecide what you want for yourself, that's not a bad sign.

It doesn't mean something has failed or not worked. 

You're always doing the best you can with the information you have.

And now (thanks to your curiosity and self-compassion) you have more information to work with, which means you can up-level your response(s) to how you feel and stop buffering. 

So it's time to consider: what is your buffering a symptom of? And what would love have you do with that helpful information?