This weekend marks the start if the NFL football regular season. Diehard fans like me will spend many hours in front of the TV set, mostly on Sunday afternoon. I would bet that many of you share with me this sort of ridiculous behavior pattern: The tendency to ride emotional highs and lows depending on the relative success/failure your team is displaying that day. I have often thought if why this occurs: 1- I do not own any part of my team (NY Giants) 2- I do not bet $$$ on them winning, hence I do not lose any money if they lose 3- Their win or loss truly has no impact on any part of my life. So, this begs the question: Why do many people, including me, take these games so seriously?
The above “bonding” to our teams results in emotionally charged hours and in turn, a very strong possibility of stress eating/drinking. Especially when we are watching the games with others, the “usual” is to have an assortment of bar/snack foods out being washed down by beer and other alcohol containing drinks. This day then turns into a complete derailing experience for our weight control efforts.
So, short of attending a Lorton Art Center “Tour of the Artists” or strolling Occoquan on a fall Sunday afternoon and avoiding watching our favorite football teams slug it out, what can we do to avoid the weight-derailing behaviors? The very first thing is to recognize the behavior pattern. Then, make sure that before kick-off at 1 PM on Sunday, we have SP-compatible meals for breakfast and lunch. Do NOT set out a spread of snack foods in front of the TV set and lastly, obligate yourself to stick with 0 calorie containing drinks.
Take out your angst from watching your team fumble the ball away on a potential game winning drive by walking/running the treadmill as you are watching, taking the dog out for a walk after the loss or simply going online and seeing who the team plays next and what their chances are for the playoffs despite the loss.
Yes, the football season is back! Don’t allow it to interrupt your quest for higher levels of health and happiness (lots of things make us happy other than our football team winning).