weight loss executive functions
I came across a blog post that I cannot locate anymore. I wish I could because it put into words random thoughts I was having.
It referred to Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth. It's the first book I read on the subject as an adult, and it struck me in the moment. It emphasized how food connects to our lives, our cultures, our identity--our familial binds.
I used for the time I needed it an easy food journal using some columns Geneen Roth suggested. I didn't count calories. I didn't beat myself up if didn't record something. It was just a vessel for self-awareness.
In a world of Ozempic and Wegovy and new studies that review cultural mantras about weight and diet--for me--it's been about executive function:
working memory, flexibility, inhibitory control, planning, organization, initiation, etc.
I've had weight gain that was necessary. It was a survival response that I understood. It was cyclical and seasonal. Responses to my environmental and then present circumstances.
So it wasn't just about eating less--though yes, diet is important. So is exercise (and for so much more than weight).
It's a package of how I live, where I live, my job, my responsibilities--all influences to my sense of well-being and health.
I am old enough now that my weight is for myself. I can afford not to lose weight to fit-in or so I get dates. I get comments I find annoying, but it doesn't linger inside of me. This is freeing.
So I might try intermittent fasting for a while or incorporate some yoga into my daily/weekly routines. Or I might find food journaling helpful some days.
I know and have many choices to build my weight loss executive functions so it's not a slug or always a chore.