Unplanned events - when things get bumpy and structure goes out the window

 Long story short, a relative very close to me died.

Yeah, life happens like that sometimes. His passing was not unexpected.I'm back to the normal routine today. Even though life happens, having structure within an eating, exercise, and relaxation routine really helped get me through the stuff I couldn't control. I cannot control the grim reaper. I can control my reactions to my feelings and I can be mindful about food.

What worked:
1. Food:Planning to eat from my food plan. I made Plan A (grocery store for regular foods), Plan B (eating out regular foods that are from a Paleo Template), plan C (asking for someone to buy foods for me) to stay on track. The relatives are so accommodating. Only had to do plan A & B.

2. Exercise- setting up time to walk every day. I had to walk at different times, but I did get my 10,000 steps a day. Not easy considering events I could not control, 106 F temperatures and higher during the day. It was still 100F at 8pm at night.

3. Time for myself:  I planned time to photograph (during walking time), read, hike and a little bit of Container Store shopping therapy to relax. I listened to podcasts and chillaxed. Even cooking regular foods was relaxing. Since others knew I was doing the cooking for the family, no "mystery" casseroles showed up from well meaning friends. Yeah!

4. Support:  I reached out to another blogger, one who would be able to call me on my own BS in a second. I knew that there was another human that I wanted to touch base with that knew me and that I knew that I'd be checking in with her later. Just thinking ahead to 2-3 weeks down the road and conversing with other bloggers like me was so grounding and took my mind to a place that was not in an immediate crisis. A big thanks to Norma and a few emails early on in the process.

I don't want ANY one to tell me to "eat whatever". That's what gets me off track. That's what takes me away from food sobriety. I didn't do all of this work to go back to my old ways.

I also had a nice chat with Heather Robinson from Half Size Me a few weeks ago on a podcast interview (the episode has not aired yet, I'll put up a link when it airs).  Death can through me off balance with emotional eating. Having her response  in my head was also very helpful.

What didn't work in the past:
1. Food: I'd eat when I was sad, stressed, very down, very happy, or what ever emotion I could use to eat some more sugar & wheat filled, frosting covered food. I gained weight and all those emotions were stuffed down. Not effective.

2. Exercise: I would use the "I'm traveling excuse" to sit a lot. No stress relief either. I didn't understand the power of exercise and mind/body balance.

3. Time for myself:  It was always about what the group wanted to do. I rarely took time for myself.

4. Support: I didn't always seek support fast enough.

That's the scoop. I'll be back to regular blogging soon. I'm aware that grieving comes in cycles, so I'm staying very aware, feeling (not eating) my feelings. I'm getting ready to read a book called 8 minute meditation and start an 8 week everyday meditation time daily.  Onward!