How many times have you found yourself binge eating because you had a bad day?
Maybe you’re looking for food to make you feel better and a little emotional eating turns in to a big old binge. Or maybe because you disliked your day so much, you consciously make a plan to binge because that will give you something to look forward to.
Having a bad day can be a great excuse to run to food.
Now, look at your recent days or weeks. How many of those days were bad? Why were they bad?
Was it just one event that made it bad? Or was it a series of events?
It’s easy to say a day was bad just because one thing happened and it totally brought your mood down.
Did you get a bad piece of news? Whole day ruined. You should eat to feel better.
Here’s what I want to offer you though. Something being “bad” is completely subjective, as is the magnitude.
So if it is subjective and it’s based on your own personal opinions, this means you are in control of how much “bad” happens to you.
I see people creating bad days for themselves all the time. “This happened, and then this happened, and then THIS happened! What an awful day.”
But this, this, and THIS are only as bad as you make them out to be.
I know what you might be thinking.
“But these things really did make my day terrible!”
Nope, no they didn’t. You made your day terrible by thinking those events were terrible and by choosing to think those events as a whole made for a terrible day.
Your days and the things that happen during them are neutral. Someone did something, someone said something to you, you did something, whatever it is, none of it means anything until you give it meaning.
Whether you have a good day or a bad day is up to you. And really, there isn’t even a reason for you to label it anyway, unless you’re looking for a reason to emotionally eat or binge.
Even if more than one thing happens to you that you don’t like, you still get to decide that it doesn’t mean the whole day was a waste.
So how do you purposefully make your day better without changing anything that happens?
Look at each situation that you consider “bad.” Take some time to think about how you could instead look at the situation to make it a more neutral.
Did someone do something that you didn’t like? You could consider that maybe they’re feeling a certain way that’s causing them to act that way. You could then feel compassionate instead of angry.
Did something happen at your job that totally frustrated or annoyed you? How could you think about that situation a little bit differently? How can you be more understanding about the situation?
And as you think about your day and what has happened, let’s not forget about the good parts. Do the bad ones just override them and the good ones don’t matter anymore? A whole day doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be, defined by one piece.
Your days are what you make them. Good or bad is up to you and your perception. If you want to have more good days than bad, decide to think differently about your circumstances.
