DOES MY LIMP LOOK BIG IN THIS?

I was in ER the other day and you know that feeling where you're so mad you think... 

FUCK IT. I'M GOING TO EAT A WHOLE PIZZA/CAKE/COSTCO MUFFIN TRAY ... AND I'm going to drink a box of wine..... and then I'll feel better!

If you read that and thought "NO.. I've never wanted to do any of those things", you are either;

A) Incredibly lucky... and kudos for never using food/drink to self medicate. You're my hero right now.
B) Lying.  Come on.  A whole muffin tray is a delicious way to burn through a week of calories.

If you have felt the urge on one or more occasion to open a bag of mini eggs and pour said bag into your mouth in a hopeless, yet teensy bit optimistic way about making a shitty situation better....then HIGH FIVES.

 You, me and a bunch of other people - we know the pain of emotional eating/drinking. ​​
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Now you've seen my insides. Cool

And yet isn't it ridiculous to think that by eating a pizza or a whole bag of mini eggs we are going to feel any better about ANYTHING? 

Whaaaaat? Pizza DOESN'T make everything better?
A valid question indeed. The answer is sadly, no. It does not. After bad news in the ER I was almost ready to jump into maximum pizza eating mode, but I didn't. WHY?  (and the answer has nothing to do with me being off dairy - true story)

It's all got to do with habits. Recognizing them - Analyzing them - and changing them.

Wait up... before we get to the WHY I didn't speed dial Panago - I need to tell you why I was in ER in the first place and what made me mad.

In December I fractured my foot. I had been teaching Zumba on a spring loaded floor built for gymnastics and tumbling and just as I launched into a side step during the second warm up, I rolled my foot into a part of the floor that had an empty air pocket. OUCH. No big deal though, I carried on and sucked it up. 

Never having had an injury before and being an optimist, I figured it would be back to normal in no time. By January I was noticing how much less I was enjoying walking and decided I should get it checked out for real. 

My X-ray came back with what the Dr suggested was a fracture that had healed all by itself and the extra pain that I was experiencing was in fact the bone growing (or something). "Cool" , I thought. So I carried on in pain and with a limp. 

It kept on getting worse though. And a limp is only cool for a pirate or a gangster, of which I am neither.
I continued teaching Zumba twice a week and heavily icing my foot in between. I walked less than usual and when I was no longer the leader amongst my fitbit friends, I knew something was up. If you invite me for a workweek challenge, you better be bringing your A game, that's all I'm saying.

So what have my broken foot and pizza got in common?

When I left the ER I was under instructions to purchase a walking boot. Ain't nothing sexier than an airboot. My mood took a sharp turn to shit. Then, I was instructed to REST my foot as much as possible. No more dead lifts and not teach my Fit By Design Zumba classes for a few weeks. I was sitting there with a very distinct resting bitch face, knowing I had just entered into what used to be a dangerous habit loop.  I tried bargaining with the doctor, threw some humour at the sitaution and told him he could see my foot on instagram later on as I took a picture of the X-ray. I felt totally deflated.
A few weeks prior I had started training with Robert Petrie, F3FIT to learn the fundamentals of lifting weights properly and to get really, really REALLY strong while minimizing the use of my foot. Stopping would be a huge blow and knowing I was letting down my wonderful Fit By Design Zumba crew down SUCKED. That's where a pizza could have made me feel oh-so-much better. 

My habit loop:
CUE - Bad thing happens (broken foot, need a cast, can't do exercise)
ROUTINE - I immediately want to eat whole pizza, cake,
REWARD - I feel much better. Comforted. Happy. Safe

It makes me feel sad to admit that's how I've dealt with emotional problems. Until I took the time to learn about my habits, I might have always relied on this way of dealing with negative things. Now you may be wondering...

How can I make myself more awesome by learning about MY habits?

This is an awesome question and I can suggest grabbing a copy of  The Power of Habit and turning into a hermit for 24 hours while you learn everything you can about why you do the things you do. 

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Everyone should read this. Seriously.

We enter into hundreds of habit loops in a day. Ever wonder why you always drive the same way somewhere without even thinking about it? Wonder why you always crave a hotdog (actually, poutine, hold the gravy) when you go to Costco?

The good news is with a little time and effort you can change any habit. There's no magic formula for rapid change - but if you have something that you do, that you no longer want to do, you have the power to change it. So no more getting upset and eating a pizza to feel better. 

Now what ?

It was a good day to show off my leg shaving skills.

So while I rest as much as possible, I am able to still focus on good nutrition. Drinking plenty of water. Doing what I can for weights without using my foot with some nifty modifications to my plan (thanks,  Robert) and only thinking a lil' bit about pizza while I limp along with this ridiculous airboot like a gangster-yo. 

p.s) My plan is to lose 80lbs by the end of year. You can keep me accountable and cheer me on (please!!) by following my instagram @beboldstaygold_

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