When I’m not in the grip of a binge, I find it really hard to get my head around the concept that an Asshole voice inside my head has the ability to take over every thought, and for that brief moment in time completely rule the roost. I mean, I can talk about it, and even report it as fact but the truth is I’m detached when it’s not happening right now. Being in a position where I’m not the one calling the shots seems unlikely, from my current vantage point of control.
On an intellectual level I get it of course – in the same way that I understand that some people feel the need to drink their way into oblivion, and other people are driven to get high…what I can’t do, outside the moment is to call up how it feels as I lose my grip and tumble head first into a binge. I can only feel that in the moment, and I can’t comprehend it when I’m not feeling it.
Last night, it got me. Head on. I’ll tell you about it in a minute but before I do, I want to try and unpick why. I’d had a great sorting out kind of day. In some respects. What I didn’t do, was the walking I’d intended to do, nor did I make the call about joining a gym…I was too busy. I did have a chat with my boy last night as he was cooking dinner, about how I was thinking about not front-loading my blog posts for this weekend and having a couple of days off instead as I kicked back with my girls…he was horrified.
He knows how much this means to me in terms of accountability and support. He also understands that the creative outlet of writing is the anchor which has kept me in the sweet spot over the last nine months, you know? That, and the love that I get from you lot. He was worried that if I didn’t post, I’d go completely off the rails…he’s seen it, and lived through it too many times over the years. Not blogging, obviously, I’ve never done this before but if I’ve ever stepped away just for a second from whatever thing was working for me at the time, I’ve gone under the wheels and it’s pretty much been game over.
To be fair, I worry about that too…when I started this journey I said I would post every single day, and I have. One hundred and eighty thousand words so far, that’s like two whole books’ worth of words in a little less than nine months. I spend at least a couple of hours writing every day, and when I’m time poor that’s a big commitment. If I join a gym and have to find time to fit that in too, something’s going to have to give.
So that scares me anyway and his reaction reinforced my own worries you know? My boy is right…I need this outlet. I also need to join a gym and build up my stamina to honour the commitment I’ve made to do this trek because I’m not getting enough traction on my own. I have to do stuff with my mum, and I have to work a full time job and run a house…I’m a bit freaked out that I’m not going to be able to fit it all in. And after our conversation brought it all to the surface last night I watched the TV and chewed it all over in my mind.
Then I chewed a bunch of other stuff. For fuck’s sake. The extra weekly points that I’d so carefully saved for this coming weekend away…gone. The additional exercise points that I’d built up, also gone. Twenty points that I haven’t even earned yet have gone before they’ve even fucking arrived.
And in that food fug last night, which by the way was entirely sugar-related, the Asshole voice talked me into believing that I couldn’t over-flex my food budget at the weekend anyway since five of my closest friends were going to act like the chuffing diet police so I may as well get all my chocolate in whilst I had the chance, and live on dust until Sunday.
It seemed like a very plausible argument, right up until it didn’t. Then I cried, and washed the kitchen floor. I have no idea why, it wasn’t dirty and in any event my cleaning lady was coming today, but I think I just needed to scrub something, because I felt dirty.
On the up-side, talking about it has at least opened the window on why it happened. I’m not reacting well to the pressure I’m putting on myself to do it all. And I still don’t know how I’m going to pull it off if I’m honest, but in the cold light of day as I sit and survey the damage I’m fed up, but a lot less freaked out. I’m back in control. I’m okay. I’ve still got this.
So, I need to be more careful this weekend than I thought, right? We’re planning healthy food anyway, and I’ll have some fizz, but none of the edible goodies I was saving up for can feature in my weekend. And you know what, I’m okay with that…it is what it is. I’m just happy I’ve made it out of the other side and I still have my eye on the prize.
It’s all good, if a little too close for comfort 🙂
By the way, if the posts are a little sporadic over the next couple of days, bear with me…we are staying in a forest and based on past experience there’s next to no phone signal and no wi-fi!
Arggh! So glad you dissected the event. Then scoured something to within an inch of its life!
The power of ‘journaling,’ I think is taking out feelings, events?, calamities & thoroughly inspect them without reserve or squeamishness. Then, you’ve got a journal that comes complete with Posse!
I agree Fleury – writing it all down at least helped me to understand. Knowledge is power, right?!
My advice – make a schedule. At the beginning of the week, make a detailed schedule of what you will need to do that week. For me, I also do a to-do list before, then my schedule. Once it is all written down and I can see it on paper than I can breathe. Make sure to plan “down-time” as things usually come up during the week. I even schedule TV time because I know there are a couple weekly shows that I HAVE to watch. Sometimes my to-do list doesn’t get done and I have to push it to next week. My house is not as clean as I would like. But I always try to get my workouts in, whether I need to reschedule them or not.
It’s good advice, and I’m glad you’ve found something that works for you. I’m pretty good usually but occasionally the wheels wobble a bit!
When I’m in a binge mindset I think that I JUST DON”T CARE. But then I realise that I do. All we can do is keep picking ourselves up and keep going.
Have a great weekend… but you’re going to miss Eurovision!
Thank heavens for small mercies!!
It’s always scary to try to figure out how you are going to do something until you get into the middle of doing it and realize there was a way there waiting to be discovered. Have a great weekend!
Thanks Mimi, I’m just home and we had a blast 🙂
It is all good! It happens. I read somewhere recently that Hope is the next healthy bite. I kinda get it. I mean, we binge, but getting back on track is as easy as the next bite! It isn’t as if you made an irrevocable choice. It is un-do-able. It is quick to get back to your plan also. No waiting months. The next meal. That is how I take it. You are strong!
I feel strong Autumn…haven’t had my encounter yet with the bitch in the bathroom but if she’s unkind, I’ll take it on the chin and move on…today marks a brand shiny new week 🙂
All I can tell you is that I feel like I know *exactly* how you feel. Each time I tell myself I *HAVE* to do something (because, you know, I need to wear short sleeves in eight weeks, or have an event, or it’s going to be so hot I’m going to be miserable, or or or or), some part of me rebels, and I absolutely do not do what I said I’d do, what I think I *needed* to do, which leads to feeling bad, which leads to food, which leads to feeling bad… Lather, rinse, repeat.
I find that when I’m not worrying about omg-I-have-to-do-THIS-right-now-or-I-am-a-failure, I am much more likely to *want* to get activity in.
You have not asked for advice, but here is my $0.02 anyway: I know you’re worried about your trip, but I’d focus solely on the food right now, and not make exercise a priority at this point. (Not saying you shouldn’t exercise, but for me, I found it all too much to tackle at once.) I only started exercising when I’d lost 80% of the weight I had to lose–and I started very slowly. Also, after losing a big chunk of weight, I was stronger than I thought I’d be–I’d been carrying around a lot of extra weight, after all!
Feel free to ignore any/all of the above.
And, yes, this is a bit of a cliche, but it’s true for me: this is about making progress, not being perfect. And it’s also about getting through one day (or one meal, or one hour) at a time.
It’s true isn’t it…sometimes pressure motivates and sometimes it just makes everything turn to shit. Thankfully I stepped back from the ledge and it’s all good 🙂
Congratulations for coming out the other side. It must have felt awful.
Aw thanks Anna, it did but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?