In the past week, I fell on the ice not just once but twice! I now have a lump on the back of my head, a very sore rear end, and a left hand and wrist that has become black and blue. The good news was that I didn’t break any bones. Yeah! The bad news was that I was sidelined from getting much work accomplished because of the pain and the time spent at the doctor’s office.

The day this happened, I allowed myself to have a bowl of ice cream and indulge in some chocolate. Both were definitely over and above my calorie needs! Was that emotional eating? No I don’t think so. Here’s why…

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The way I see it, true emotional eating is a kind of eating disorder that has very little to do with food. Food is simply the indulgence of choice to soothe all manner of other psychological issues. An emotional eater might habitually be unable to recognize feelings of satiety (having eaten enough), feel out of control or unable to stop eating, have obsessive thoughts about food, or regularly turn to food as a means of coping with life’s problems.

If you think emotional eating might be an issue for you, ask yourself how often you turn to food as a way to cheer yourself up. Occasionally indulging in eating treats and more calories than needed is perfectly normal! You just need to keep it in perspective. After all, a treat is no longer a treat or a special food if you indulge yourself on a regular basis.

The best way for you to gain a better understanding of your eating habits is to keep a food diary or journal. By keeping a food diary you can keep track of not only what you eat and how much but also how you were feeling just before eating. (To learn more about food diaries read: Keeping a Food Diary). A journal, on the other hand, would allow you to explore your thoughts and feelings in greater depth. (Journaling and Appetite)

Either way, keeping food diary notes or journal entries will help you better understand what circumstances trigger overeating, how often it happens, and whether or not it might be emotional eating. The added benefit is that dieters who keep food diaries are much more likely to succeed with weight loss (Food Diaries Best for Weight Loss Success).

True emotional eating can be a much bigger problem than you might think. According to a study in the Journal Obesity, emotional eaters not only have a harder time with weight loss than those who are not emotional eaters. In addition, when emotional eaters succeed with weight loss, they are less likely to keep the weight off.

In conclusion today, I have a heartfelt video message to share with you by a young woman who has struggled with weight loss. This woman may or may not be an emotional eater. Either way, she expresses (better than I could begin to describe) the importance of listening to your own inner voice and shutting out the negative or unhelpful comments and advice from others. This inner voice is the positive one that believes in your ability to lose weight and get healthier one small step at a time with healthy eating and living. That’s what this site is all about. I’m here to help!

Remember to watch those calories, and eat healthy food!

I’ve found that I’ve been “tagged” by a blogging friend of mine and asked to share what I have accomplished this past week. Hmm… I thought to myself, “How can I relate this to healthy eating and weight management?” Actually this will be easy because I’ve come across some great blogs and other resources to share this past week that I think will be well worth your time if you keep reading!

But let me start from the beginning. Heather, a blogging friend of mine, found that she had a tag from Tamara Wilson on What did you accomplish in the past week? Heather was asked to share her response to four questions on her blog which she did. Now it is my turn to answer the questions:

What did you accomplish?

Did anything not go as expected?

What was the highlight of your week?

Did anything exciting happen you did not expect?

1. What did you accomplish?

I had a good week overall. In addition to other tasks, I set out to create a “better” food diary than the ones I’ve come across online. I wanted to make a form that would be equally useful for anyone. By that I mean a form that might be used as a guide for weight loss, weight maintenance, or simply healthier eating. (See my previous post on Journaling and Appetite for more on this.)

I also went on an overnight business trip with my husband to Quincy, Illinois. While there I did some exploring on my own while my husband was busy with his conference. I went to a fast food chain I was not familiar with called Roly Poly and I was pleasantly surprised at the low calorie and nutritious sandwich wrap I found. I also spent some time exploring one of the grocery stores there and discovered some new healthy low calorie foods.

Now I have more ideas for low calorie menus (1200 and 1500 calories) that I will be working on this week!

2. Did anything not go as expected?

Yes! I uploaded the food diary to a site called Scribd to share with everyone and I encountered problems. It’s a great site and most uploads and conversions go without a hitch. Maybe I did something wrong? I was disappointed because I had put a fair amount of time into creating the diary and I had nothing to show for it. (Should be available soon.)

If you have a blog, don’t you just hate it when your readers can’t see all the work that is going on behind the scenes? When nothing new shows up it’s as if a blogger is being negligent in staying on top of things.

3. What was the highlight of your week?

I received my new computer in the mail from Apple–a new iMac! I’m very pleased to say the set up was EASY and now I might actually be able to get more accomplished! My old Mac had gotten to be so slow it was taking me twice or three times as long to get anything done.

4. Did anything exciting happen you did not expect?

Yes, I found I had my blog added to the “neighborhood” of a blogger who is a member of BlogCatalog. Lady Rose has a very inspiring story to tell about her journey with healthy eating and weight loss. She also hosts blog carnivals in which many bloggers share articles on a specific topic. I explored her profile and blog and found that she is linked to many other wonderful blogs.

As a participant with this meme, I have been asked to tag five other blogs just as I was tagged. So I will share with you the names and sites of six women (Anna and Heather co-author one blog) who have blogs worth visiting. It was hard to pick just five. I chose these because each of these women seem to be committed to achieving better health not just weight loss, and to do so with healthier eating and fitness. Their blogs are informative and fun to read. Anna and Heather also have a great podcast!

(If you have a business online or are thinking about getting one started, I encourage you to follow “Home with Heather.” Heather is a WAHM who shares great tips on successful blogging, web 2.0, and internet marketing.)

Here are the blogs I am tagging:

The Diet Pulpit

by Lady Rose

Half of Me

by Jennette Fulda a.k.a. PastaQueen

Losing a Part of Me

by Dana

Working on My Fitness

by Sue

Middle Age Shed

by Anna and Heather

If you have been tagged, please consider keeping this meme going by writing about what you accomplished this past week and then tagging five other bloggers. Participating in a meme is a good way to get some links to your site. Remember to link to the original blog (Tamara) and to the person who tagged you (that’s me!). Thanks.

For anyone who is willing, please help me out and let me know about other great blogs or websites that you have found. I am eager to connect with others who are committed to achieving better health with grace, humor, and style!

Have a great week and remember to eat healthy!