Trying to lose weight is hard on you emotionally. There’s a lot to be frustrated by, angry at, helpless and hopeless about, and self-critical for. When these emotional circumstances strike, how do you protect yourself from them? Do you deal with feeling frustrated and angry by getting out of control in some way? Do you, for instance, scream at the kids or get into it with your husband?
There are any number of ways you could be shielding yourself from unwanted emotional consequences of the weight loss challenge. For example, anyone in your vicinity may be the recipient of your feelings of resentment for not going through what you are going through. Of course, you express such feelings toward others as covertly as you can so the other person feels them but doesn’t recognize them as purposeful. Another way of cushioning yourself might be to blind yourself to even feeling a certain way. You go on as if the undesirable feeling didn’t even take place.
One more example of insulating yourself against the unwelcome awareness of your emotions and then it’s time for you to think of some examples from your own experience. You come up with reassuring and self-serving explanations for your behavior that are in no way correct. In other words, you rationalize your behavior and your feelings and justify why they occurred. But you are making this justification so you can be more comfortable emotionally and not because it's what's really the case.
Now it’s your turn. What do you do to safeguard yourself when trying to lose weight is too emotionally hard on you?