What does it take? It takes what it takes.

Had a HUGE win yesterday. It was a long day — two-hour drive to a gig, a long session afterwards with a dear friend who is coping with job loss and serious marriage crisis. Forgot my pre-packedj weighed and measured lunch at home. Then came home to find my dear little pug Blackie limping and yelping when I tried to pick him up.

Normally, these are the things that would cause me to eat sugar and flour. The voice in my head telling me to eat was SO LOUD. It was like my brain literally thought I was going to die if I didn’t eat right now. I spent an agonizing hour debating in my head.

Finally, a combination of things worked:

— I reminded myself that ANY “use” just increases the cravings for me. It doesn’t make the voice in my head stop. I need to hold fast to my belief that I only eat to nourish my body, not to cope with emotions.

— I reminded myself that I really really really want to keep up the gold stars on my calendar. I have some momentum and don’t want to lose it because it is so hard to get it back.

— I promised myself that I could order a dress I’ve been eyeing for a while IF I didn’t eat. I even

went online and put it in my checkout basket but wouldn’t pay for it until I made it through the night.

— Once I’d reassured myself that my little guy didn’t have a fracture and didn’t need to go to the emergency vet (that is, he’ll be all right to make a visit to the regular vet in the morning), I put him on my lap. So I literally couldn’t get up without potentially hurting him.

Blackie just before being lifted onto my lap

And it WORKED!! It worked.

In the light of morning, this sounds like a ridiculous amount of work just to keep from eating. Honestly, I have to tie myself down with a dog to keep from eating?

But the voice in my head can be ridiculously loud and insistent.

What does it take to keep off sugar and flour? The answer is, always, that it takes what it takes.

I am so happy to wake up today proud of myself, able to add a gold star to my calendar.

And I just ordered that dress!

My emergency action plan didn’t work. Here’s what does

The other day, I posted about why my emergency action plan (my plan for what to do when I’m about to eat food off my plan) never works.

At the moment where I’m standing in front of the fridge or the open cabinet, it’s too late. The train had left the station.

So here’s what I’m doing now. Instead of an “emergency action plan,” I’ve put together a pre-emergency emergency action plan. A PEEAP. This is my plan for what to do when the stress and overwhelm first begin, often a few days early, when the food thoughts pop into my head, when I first sense that I might be heading for break. This is when I’m at a 3 or 4 or 5 on my “I’m-gonna-eat” scale, rather than at a 9 or 10. Want to know what those first signs are? I wrote about them HERE.

My PEEAP consists of a list of tools I undertake to avert an emergency. It’s pretty particular to me since I know by now what my weak spots are.

First, get a really good, long sleep. Go to bed super early. Get 9 or 10 hours sleep, if possible. Sleep deprivation is a huge stressor for me and many of my food plan breaks happen when I’m lacking sleep.

That didn’t work? OK, on to the next tool.

Take a spa bath (candles, spa music, low lights, scented oil in tub).

That didn’t work?

Take a long walk out in nature, like a forest preserve.

That didn’t work?

Get yourself a treat for keeping to your food plan. Obviously, not a food treat. Treat yourself to fresh flowers, a new lipstick, a trashy magazine, anything special that you explicitly say is your treat for keeping to your food plan.

That didn’t work?

Make a list of everything you have to do and start cutting it down. What can you eliminate? What can you delegate? What can you do quickly to get it done and off your plate? Strive to get stuff off your plate and off your shoulders.

You get the idea. You just go from A to B to C to D and so on until you feel the stress start to ease.

Your list might be very different. Getting a good long sleep might not be an option. Calling a friend or sponsor might work for you.

The point is, get a PEEAP toolkit and at the first sign of trouble, starting ticking through them. Do as many as you need to do to head off an emergency.

Is your emergency action plan not working? This might be why

So last night, I ate. And ate and ate and ate. First, I ate my prepped and pre-planned healthy meal. Then healthy stuff I had not planned. Then borderline-healthy stuff that was close to crap as I could possibly get. I ate until I felt ill.

It’s no big secret what caused it. It’s been a busy spring for me, without a single full day off in about 11 weeks. There were a few days where I had to drive 2 hours each way to gigs. I’m in the car on average 4 hours a day, often in rush hour traffic or, ugh, construction.

All day yesterday, I was in full-on “OMG I have to eat right now” mode. Every food store was singing to me. Restaurants were unbearable to pass. I drove past a bakery and almost had a meltdown.

By which I mean: I knew this was coming. My body was screaming at me — enough enough enough. I am strung-out and worn-out. I want to eat and I want to eat now.

When I was standing in front of the pantry, reaching for the bag of non-food, there was not a single thought of my emergency action plan (EAP) in mind (the plan of what to do if temptation hits. I even keep a copy of it in my wallet: Call a friend, take a walk, journal, meditate, take a bath with candles and spa music.)

It didn’t work for me for the same reason it has almost never worked for me. At the moment I was standing in front of the pantry, it was too late. I was already over the edge and gone. Nothing was going to make me reach for emergency action plan, much less reach for the phone, by that point. In fact, it didn’t even occur to me to look at it.

Listening to coaching calls from other Bright Line Eaters, you often hear the same thing. It often doesn't even occur to people to look at their EAP when they are in the moment.

That got me thinking. Maybe "in the moment” is too late. Maybe the time to intervene was earlier. Maybe I should have intervened in the days when I first started feeling the tiniest bit tired.

It didn’t happen, and so the exhaustion continued and the stress just built. Day by day, stressor by stressor, until on about day 5, I snapped. On the “I need to eat and I need to eat now” meter that goes from 1 to 10, I was at 11.

Maybe if we can recognize when we are in “pre-slip” or “pre-binge” or “pre-relapse” mode, when we’re at a 2 or a 3 or a 5, maybe that is a better time to step in.

And, really, it’s not that hard to recognize when it's happening.

Here are some easy steps to recognize when you are in "pre-bright-line-break" or "pre-break" or “pre-relapse” mode:

1) You stop using all your tools consistently. “

I’m too busy today to meditate." "It won’t hurt to skip just one day.” “I’m just bugging her calling her every day.” "I'm too tired to write in my gratitude journal tonight."

2) You let in little slips to your meal plan. 

Not full-on binges, just a few little bites. “I’m just going to eat a few almonds to take the edge off my hunger.” “A few extra ounces of fruit won’t hurt.” “It’s the end of the salad dressing anyway, I should just use it up.” Little slips open the door.

3) You are having a lot more thoughts about food. 

You're more aware of the fast food places you drive past. You think more about what you're going to have for dinner. You daydream about treats.

4) You feel overwhelmed.

This is the big one. You start thinking “It’s too much work.” “I am exhausted.” “Why is this so hard?” It doesn’t even have to be that you're overwhelmed about food. It can just be about life — about the diapers piling up or the emails that won’t stop or the people constantly begging for your attention or the rush-hour traffic.

That is when you need to snap to attention. Intervene now. Stop the nonsense before it builds into a break in your food plan or a full-on binge.

Coming up next: How to create a pre-emergency emergency action plan to head off a bright line break or food relapse.

[Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Bright Line Eating or Susan Peirce Thompson. The ideas expressed here are my own.]