Sometimes it takes an all-out herculean effort

Today, my work day started bright and early by co-leading an all-day strategy session with one client and ended at dinner with another. I was “on” all day. It’s no surprise given this week of high pressure, fast paced back-to-back-to-back meetings with more work in the evenings, that I want to eat. Go off plan. Binge!

My late night cravings and/or emotional hunger are in full force this week and I am fighting through it one day, one evening, one open refrigerator door at a time. The goal is simple: To implement a clean, on plan, “100% all in” week. There will be no succumbing to the food cravings.

So tonight it took a herculean effort but I am winning the battle. It’s 10 p.m. and thus far I have implemented a host of strategies for staying on plan and avoiding the extra trip to the refrigerator. While it’s a bit  laughable how many strategies it has taken to stay focused on the goal this particular evening, I am winning. I am nothing if not determined.

First, I went for a short walk (exercise usually works) but I was in my dress clothes and uncomfortable shoes so that didn’t cut it. Then, I shopped at a really fun store and tried on some amazingly “hip” clothes and managed to inspire four separate people with my transformation story. Now I not only have four new referrals of people to help (a total high in and of itself), but a triple jolt to the dopamine levels – 1) shopping, 2) admiring my new body in the mirror in the coolest clothes, and 3) paying it forward right in the store.

And this all occurred before 9 p.m.!  Still struggling a bit, I contemplated going to the gym but decided to come home and prepare my salad for the rest of the week…while chewing gum and drinking decaf coffee like a madwoman, and now I am writing. ALL of these things are on my list of “go to” replacements for food. And tonight I needed them ALL to fight through the cravings.

Some days are easier than others. I am told by my “expert” team, it will get better and this too shall pass. In the meantime, I am finding great strength in the little successes even if they are not pretty. Thank you to my friend and fellow warrior in this battle, Linda Koeing, for posting this fantastic reminder on Facebook tonight. The timing couldn’t have been more impeccable.

As I write, I remind myself of the mindset that worked for me in the fat loss stage of this journey – “I am eating to live, not living to eat.” And, of course, “I’ve totally got this!” Food no longer has a hold over me. My new life is way too cool to slip into old patterns and lose this fun, positive new Lori in the new hip clothes from Anthropologie!

And so, I will end my day 2-3 hours earlier than usual with sleep (another strategy to avoid food cravings) and tomorrow I will be in fat burning mode…again. Kettlebell class at 6:30 a.m.!

Anyone else struggling this week to stick to the plan? What are your problem times? What strategies do you implement to get through the tough patches? Please share.