Triggers.
What exactly are they?
According to the dictionary, a trigger is “anything that serves as a stimulus and initiates or precipitates a reaction or series of reactions.”
That sounds about right.
There are two main types of triggers in my life ~ emotional/situational and food.
Emotional and/or Situation Triggers
When confronted with a frustrating situation, how do you respond? What is the first coping mechanism type thought you have? For me, nine times out of ten I want to turn to food for comfort.
Finances
An unkind comment on the blog
A rough day of schooling the children
A misbehaving child
An upset client
A disagreement with someone
Feeling overwhelmed by a busy schedule
Now, it’s not always negative situations that can be a trigger. It’s also happy occasions.
A good school day
Being good all week with eating and journaling
Receiving some fantastic news
Reaching a milestone
These are normally viewed as a reward. “I deserve to overindulge because I’ve done x, y and z.” (Notice I emphasized overindulge because I’m not opposed to indulging. I just want to point out there’s a difference between the two.)
How do I deal with emotional and/or situational triggers?
Since there are two kinds of emotional/situational triggers, the negative and the positive, I approach them differently.
The negative:
Each morning when I get up and prepare myself to face the day, I tell myself in my head, “Ruthanne, today will not be a perfect day. Today, you will face challenges. Today, the children are going to frustrate you at some point. Today, something will go wrong. You will be tempted to make these situations feel less stressful by overindulging. Remember how horrible you feel afterwards? The bloating, the guilt? It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it. When you get frustrated, text a friend, walk away, take deep breaths, but DO NOT ENTER THE KITCHEN!”
Honestly, I don’t just tell myself this in the morning. This is a conversation I have with myself throughout the day.
I have to consistently remind myself that turning to food as a result of a difficult situation will not make me feel better, but worse.
The positive:
When I feel like I deserve a reward, I try to bribe myself away from overindulging in food and toward something else ~ a new book, a new running magazine, a soak in the tub, watching a movie, taking a walk, etc.
I tell myself I won’t have any of the guilt or regret and it will be fun.
Food Triggers
These are foods that once you take one bite you are gone, buh-bye, see ya, woo-hoo ~ self-control out of the window. These foods trigger a domino effect. One bite leads to two bites leads to a finished bag.
Your food triggers are probably different than mine. Or maybe not. Maybe you don’t have as many as I do. ::snort::
Doughnuts
3 Musketeers
Chips & Salsa/Guacamole
Cashews
Buttery Ritz Crackers
Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits
Hummus & Pita Chips
Cupcakes (Any kind. I’m not picky, y’all.)
Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies
Warm White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies (Ok, pretty much any warm cookie.)
I’ll stop. This is getting a little embarrassing.
How do I deal with food triggers?
Don’t bring the food home!
Some of the foods in that list rarely show up in our house anymore. I know my limits. I’ve recognized the food triggers and I know what I can and can not handle. The best way for me to still indulge in these foods without being triggered by them is to have them out at a potluck, on vacation, during a date night, etc. These food items can not be in my pantry.
*************************************
Spend some time today identifying your triggers (knowing what they are is half the battle!) and coming up with a plan.
P. S. You might be thinking at this point, “Wow, Ruthanne! You think about food all. the. time.” Yes, yes I do. I’m not going to lie to y’all and tell you I’ve reached some sort of nirvana and I only view food as sustenance. Eat to live? Hmmmmm. Not there yet.
You know, I never thought about myself as an emotional eater till I was 160 pounds after my third baby. I was 32, and finally realized that the metabolism I once had was gone. People turn to alcohol or nicotine when they are stressed. I turn to soda. Today was not exception. My goal this week was to go without soda. I know I can do it, but I started to get a migraine (thanks perimenopause), and there I was at the dollar tree getting a coke. I am so mad at myself. I used to be fierce. I used to laugh when I stressed out. I do not like getting older and letting the worry wort bite me in the ass. I am training to run a 5k, and now just need to get my diet and strength training in order. I really like reading your blog.
I’m curious. When you say soda do you mean Coke or Diet Coke?
Great post, Ruthanne! Thanks so much. I actually have never written down all of my triggers because I have sooo many. I think it would help me to do this. I NEED to get myself back on track! Thanks again.
Always so wise. Thanks for sharing your wisdom… Great post! Off to make my list.
Thanks, Kristen! I’m glad you found it helpful.
i am so stinkin excited about this series. i love it. and i love you.
wait. was that weird?
that literally made me laugh out loud
Very interesting!!!
I have just stumbled upon you today and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE today’s post. I have tried to explain to people that when I have a positive stressor or a negative stressor…I run to food. It soothes. It calms. It makes me a lard butt.
I like your daily talkin’ to. I need to have the daily, When it hits the plan…here’s the plan conversation!
So glad you stumbled by, Pamela!
Stress is a huge trigger for me, and the food being availabe is a problem too. I used to keep a candy dish at my desk at work with different types of chocolate in it. But I started Weight Watchers (for the third time)again last week, so I let the cady dissapear and now I have peppermints at my desk. However.. .confession time… I still keep an emergency stash in a drawer. I guess the good thing about it is it is all dark chocolate and it is out of sight which helps. Whenever I go for the stash I ask myself, why do I want this? And if it is emotional I walk away. Thanks for sharing your trigger foods and situations. I will pay more attention to mine over the next week.
Good idea about asking yourself why you want it. If I had an emergency stash, I would be restocking it daily. Ha!
My top food trigger would have to be ice cream. I have started eating just 1/2 cup (a serving! imagine that!), but it’s just best if I don’t bring it in the house. How do you get over the guilt of not letting your family have something because it’s a trigger for you? Or do you even have that guilt? I’m odd like that.
I know, right? 1/2 a cup? Insane, people!
It’s like those little Ben & Jerry ice cream containers that say 4 servings. What?! ::snort out loud::
It actually is really hard to juggle triggers with the family. I have cut way way waaaaaay back on how much I bake. I baked a cake this past weekend for a potluck at church that ended up getting canceled due to weather and we were stuck with this chocolate cake. In my house. Right under my nose. I was so bad. It was a reminder for me that I can’t handle it. It can not be in my house.
It was hard at first for the children to adjust, but it’s healthier for them, too. Now, we have a treat it really is a TREAT. Ha!
I adore you. I adore your posts. You are a ROCK STAR. Thank you so much for sharing from your heart. You are such an encouragement!
Thank you, Laura! I’m no rock star.
Thanks for all of this! I’ve been lurking, but this made me want to comment. I need to put up a list of trigger foods. If I can read the list, maybe that will dissuade me from them. My list is long, so long! The list of emotional triggers is much harder for me to pinpoint. Thank you for the encouragement!
I didn’t share my whole list, girl! ::snort::
I’m with Mandy. Totally thinking I’m developing a girl crush.
I LOVE this series. Can’t wait to read it all. I linked to you in my post today because triggers became the topic of conversation after I posted a pic on Instragram yesterday…for realz. My triggers are salty foods, I can actually stay away from sweets pretty well.
I think I need to spend time thing about the emotional triggers for me. One of the toughest things is living in a foreign country right now, so whenever we head home for a visit? Everything revolves around meals…so, our upcoming visit in November should be REAL interesting.
It’s super hard during the holidays. I think I may need to add a post during this series about that.
LOVE that you are doing this. I feel like it is my own personal counseling session for free. I do okay at home bc I’ve learned not to buy my trigger foods. It is when I go to my parents (or they come here and bring food) and visit. They know what I like and there is a level of stress which makes for the perfect storm. Also, I have a hormonal trigger that I haven’t quite gotten a full concept of yet, but am trying. I am ‘trying’ to wean my 14 month old son, so things are out of whack yet again. Thank you for helping me be conscious of what needs work. You are doing great things for folks!
Ooooh, yes. Hormonal triggers. I forgot to mention those.
i, too, think about food ALL. OF. THE. TIME!!! oreos mainly
!!