I Can Do Anything

End Binge Eating Newsletter
Date: May 12, 2008 - My Birthday!  :)

Dear friends,

I am a believer in proving to myself that I can do anything.

I can be happy.
I can beat binge eating disorder.
I can be a good friend.
I can lose weight.
I can be healthy… and the list goes on and on.

This mentality came from me making a decision that I want my life to be the very best that it can be.

Life gets tough, as we all know. We are thrown obstacles and our drive can sometimes seem obscured.  Even in these struggles, your goal needs to stay at the forefront of your mind, so that you make the best decisions that you possibly can.

For me, in order to not give up when times got hard, I remain focused on what it is I truly want by setting up little "challenges" for myself. This really helps me because I know that if I can fulfill the challenge, I am strong and I can go on to really achieving anything that I want.

This topic is what I wanted to talk about today because it really makes me feel on top of my game when I complete a challenge. It’s like the feeling you get when you cross things off your to-do list. Times get hard and we all struggle, but when you do something that makes you feel good, it automatically reflects in your thoughts and daily life.

In addition to my journal entries that you’ve seen, I found 10 challenges that I had written in a document on my computer… and I want to share the first 5 with you right now.

Stay tuned next week for the final 5 challenges that helped me feel good about myself and helped me realized that I could overcome binge eating disorder.

1. Challenge yourself to find something that makes you happy and do it.

What makes you feel the happiest?

Writing, reading, being with friends, talking on the phone, putting on an outfit that makes you feel fabulous, exercising, listening to music, singing, buying new makeup, getting your nails and toes done, scrapbooking, cleaning (if that is what you like ?), organizing, sending a card to someone, looking at old pictures, playing with your pet, etc.

2. Challenge yourself to learn or do something new.

Is there a class that you’ve always wanted to take? 
What about something that you’ve always wanted to know more about? 
Do you want to make more friends in your area?
Why not set up a bunco group? 
Do you want a new hobby?

3. Challenge yourself to focus on your future instead of your past.

This is one of my favorites because when I struggled to first stop bingeing, it was so hard for me. I constantly thought of the past and my struggles and the fact that I was scared since I had binged for so long. I found that focusing on the good I would gain from overcoming binge eating disorder really helped me.

After a couple of successes of overcoming a binge, I slipped and found myself turning to food. I binged.  After the binge, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much of a failure I was. How was I ever going to beat a whole disorder when I couldn’t even resist one temptation?

This is the hardest part because you will feel like you let yourself down. You’ve worked so hard and beat a handful of binges and then you fall down. Yes, it sucks, but you have to look to the future, pick yourself back up, and stop dwelling on the binge… I promise that dwelling won’t get you anywhere, except maybe to another binge.

4. Challenge yourself to make a list of everything you want to do in your life.

It’s really fun to create this wish list and very rewarding when you get to cross off items. Write down everything you want to do and accomplish throughout your life. Try to do these things when you beat a binge, as a reward if that will help. If not, try to cross items off monthly, annually, or just whenever you can complete the activity on your list – Some will obviously be more difficult to complete than others.

5. Challenge yourself to vent out any stress, frustration, or anxiety.

While this is not true for everyone, it is true for the majority of binge eaters… We binge due to negative emotions. Bingeing is comforting to us so that we don’t have to think about our stressful jobs and frustration with friends, family, and even ourselves. Turning to food was my way to deal with all those things I didn’t want to even think about.

This challenge gets more difficult because it’s hard to do. It’s hard to change your habits of bingeing to something else. BUT, I challenge you to do so by having a plan. Having a plan in place is the key because you already know that you are going to do xyz when you are tempted to binge.

The next time you feel a binge coming on, pull out your plan and do it! If you need to go into your bathroom and take a bubble bath, do it! If your plan is to write in your journal about your feelings, do it!

This one really worked well for me. I remember driving through McDonald’s one day without getting anything and I was so mad. I struggled with not bingeing and buying food to binge on. In the end, I did go home empty-handed, but I was so angry. I pulled out my journal and wrote about my anger. This was so therapeutic for me to do because it allowed my emotions to escape in a healthy and non-destructive way.

I hope you enjoyed these 5 challenges that I’ve shared with you. See if you are able to complete any and notice if you feel empowered and fabulous.  I hope you do!

And yes, today is my birthday and I couldn’t be more excited about all the fun things that are planned.  (At least the ones that I know about.)  ;)

I believe in you!

P.S... Did you like the video?  Would you like me to start creating more videos?  It's something that I have been thinking about doing for awhile now.  If you would like to see a weekly video from me, let me know!  Also let me know what topics you'd like to see me to cover.  Click here to contact me via email.  Thanks - I look forward to hearing from you!