Resilience & food challenges taking it one day at a time

By Sonia Salfity,
Desperate Dieter

When an object has the capacity to be elastic enough to spring back into shape it’s described as being resilient as well.

This is exactly what we can train ourselves to do. When the going gets tough, we can spring back sooner rather than later. No matter how difficult our journey is, being resilient will help us get to the other side.

Calling it quits?

The question I have for you is: What does it look like in real life for us desperate dieters to be resilient? How do we “spring back” after difficulties in managing our food issues?

Do we call it quits at the first sign of failure or do we dust ourselves off and press onward and forward?

I remember the first lesson I learned about horseback riding when I was a child; if you fall off the horse, right back on, otherwise the fear will keep you from ever having the courage to move on.

Fear has a way of paralysing us. It prevents us from reaching our fullest potential in every area of our lives. I have found in my own personal experience that the more I live in fear, the more I go to food to soothe my soul.

Facing our fears head on Therefore, part of becoming resilient is learning to face our fears head on instead of avoiding them. It’s fascinating how fears tend to shrink when we regularly face them. The opposite is also true. When we avoid our fears, they tend to grow. When that happens, it becomes difficult to contain them in one area and we find them seeping into every part of our lives.

Eventually, fear takes over our thoughts, which affect our actions. This happens unconsciously without us ever realising that our own thoughts have been taken captive by fear.

Divide and conquer

In line with our goal to be more resilient, we must “divide and conquer” as we tackle our fears one by one. Naming them is the first step. If soldiers don’t know who their enemies are, how can they possibly know what battles to fight? This is why we must make it our business to be well informed because the fears we have say more about us than about the things we fear.

Recognising the signs We must also recognise the signs, as fear can disguise itself in the form of anxiety, apprehension, timidity, agitation, alarm, doubt, nervousness and feelings of suspicion, just to name a few. When you can name it, you can tame it!

When we name our fears, their stranglehold loosens and eventually we can control them instead of them controlling us.

Tethered to our anchors We may never be able to fully have a complete grasp on the things we dread, but we can surely anchor ourselves enough to be more resilient, for our own good. One of the best ways to do this is to not procrastinate.

Saying things like ‘I’ll deal with this tomorrow’ is not the way to build resilience. The same is true when we tell ourselves we’ll start our diet tomorrow or next week.

We are smart and capable enough to seek long term solutions that begin in the present, and without delay.

Let’s focus on one goal at a time so we can be tethered to our anchors and not be blown by the wind that can unhinge us in every direction. Remember, we are more resilient than we think, so let’s start acting that way and believing we can do this one day at a time.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine