MelbaA's Journal, 30 December 2010

Mothers tend to have a big influence on our food habits one way or another, don't they? I think you'd find a lot of people here have some big weight/food/body image issues revolving around what we learned from our mothers. I can definitely understand having a person who triggers your anger like that. For me it's my brother. Anyway, your inclination to exercise is spot on. If you can find something to replace food as a stress reliever, it will really help. I have found exerecise to be the perfect solution to stress. When I used to have an awful day at work, I'd come home and eat crap. Now, I exercise. Eating the crap never worked. Exercise does work! It actually makes me less stressed. Stresses will always come in many forms, so we need to have a method of dealing with it. If you can make that method not harmful (like overeating) everything will be better :) 

What great advice. Exercise needs to be part of my life not just as part of the numbers game, but as a method of coping. Thank you. I've done a lot of justifying in the past few years. You know, "Oh X is going on, I'm having a hard time, so anything that helps me cope is acceptable." But I've finally realized (I suppose this is just part of maturing) that there will always be good times, and bad, no matter what I do. I can choose to cope in positive ways or fall back onto easy, but negative coping strategies.