Socially Hungry
Medical Spa MA Boston & Brookline MA Blog
Socially Hungry
I’m socially awkward and I’m an oddball in general. Now that I’m in my 40’s, I’m definitely OK with my weirdness and the things that make me unique. I do, however, still revert to my younger self when I’m in new social situations. Over the years, I’ve coped with this feeling in a variety of unhealthy ways. One of those unhealthy coping mechanisms has been that I’ll just eat/snack/drink uncontrollably at social gatherings. I’m usually not hungry but I just need to occupy myself so I don’t feel so darn uncomfortable in my own skin. My rational self knows that, not only are people not even thinking about me, but they are probably preoccupied with their own insecurities. Nonetheless, I find this to be the one area I haven’t quite conquered yet.
I’ve found, when coaching my clients through their HCG journey, that social situations are a huge hurdle and/or road block. I will ask my client what (specifically) triggered the compulsion to eat or drink poorly in a social situation. I really want to get to the bottom of why we cannot seem to maintain our healthy eating habits when we are socializing. This, of course, opened a can of worms! I’m happy it did though because this is clearly a place where we need to analyze and figure out why we self sabotage in these situations over and over again.
The factors are many and myriad. They range from complex family dynamics to a (very common) deeply ingrained association between happiness in social settings and decadent food and alcohol. These factors, in my opinion, are all understandable and certainly valid. Initially, I wanted an answer for my clients. I wanted a tried and true formula but I was unable to come up with one that felt doable to me. I researched (also known as Googling lol) and the information felt detached and generic and very one-size-fits-all. Or, conversely, there was a lot of advice that suggested abstaining from social gatherings while on a diet or very rigid protocols that seemed unlikely to stick. Again, I was not satisfied with that answer. I want you to live normally and happily while eating healthily. Otherwise, it’s not sustainable so what’s the point. When you leave me, I want you to just carry on seamlessly and feel completely empowered to take ownership of your health and body!
After researching and thinking about how I could best help people overcome this hurdle I came up with an approach that can be used going into any and every social engagement. My approach with my clients has been to assess each social situation separately and well in advance. I will ask you if you have something coming up. We will then talk about all the possible triggers that may arise in that situation. I will help you come up with strategies to manage all of these triggers and even unforseen ones if possible. Sometimes, the answer is to say “no” to an event. If you know that an event will only bring you stress and anxiety, you are well within your right to sit it out. I found that, after really delving into each social situation separately and creating a personalized game plan each time, that the success rate of my clients shot through the roof! This is certainly something you can do on your own and, with practice, you will only get better at it. Your homework this week is to think about a situation in the near future that is giving you anxiety. There is no need to even think about the healthy eating for this drill. This is just a tool to help you start to understand yourself better. Follow these steps and see how you do.
- Write down the event
- Write a list of possible triggers that may arise that day (including specific people)
- Truly think about whether or not you even want to go to this event
- If you decide you will not go, cancel the plan and let it go!
- If you decide you will go, make a list of ways you you can deal with all the various triggers (take your time and write as many things as you can think of)
- Go over this list and refine it as you get closer to the day. The more you plan, the better armed you are to deal with unpleasant situations.
- On the day of the event, try as best as you can to let go of the list. Don’t obsess! You’ve really pored over this information and you’ve done the legwork. Now you just have fun!
- When a trigger does occur, you will find that you are almost excited to be able to test drive all your new tools. (Like me walking away from my grandmother when she comments on my weight. It’s a good feeling lol!).
This will be useful with the holidays around the corner and I’d love to hear all about your ups and downs. Or maybe you have some great ideas or tools of your own. Just shoot me an email to let me know what worked or didn’t work or even just to say hello :-)
xoxo
Jenny
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Canton MA Office
2184 Washington St., Suite 4
Canton, MA 02021
Phone: 781-561-9257
Fax: 888-990-0423
Brookline MA Office
1340 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446
Phone: 339-987-4699
Fax: 800-349-0811
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