Don't Give Up

Life can be tough, but it is a learning experience. My heart was broken yesterday. My 11 year old son Adam had a big presentation in school on a project he had been working on for a few weeks. His presentation was on Wilbur Wright, the inventor of the first successful airplane. He had to dress the part and he looked adorable. He had to present a one minute speech which he practiced his whole winter vacation. He knew it inside and out. When he came home from school, he jumped in the car. I didn't even have to ask how it went. I could see that he was physically shaken up and tearful. He had stage fright and the way he described it I think he had a panic attack. The poor kid!

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he had to give the presentation again for the following 2 days; once to the entire school and once to all the parents. Instead of developing a fear of speaking this may help him overcome a challenge. I told him to be strong and do his best to overcome his fears. I remember passing out once giving a presentation to a room full of physicians. I told Adam (my son) this story. Now, my job requires me to present all the time. This is still tough for me, but the more I do it, the more comfortable I become.

I am sure you are asking "why is she telling us her life story when this blog should be about nutrition?" There is a reason. It is the fact that you cannot just give up because you have a bad day. Just like speaking, eating is something you will always have to do. If you have a "bad" meal there is always the next meal. If you have a bad day there is always tomorrow. You can't beat yourself up. Some people are so hard on themselves and think they are failures because they can't control their eating. The mind is a powerful thing. You can influence your actions in a negative way or a positive way depending on how you speak to yourself and how you think about yourself. Think positive! Do you know how many people struggle with this? MANY!!!!!!! The key is that you can't talk so negative to yourself that you totally give up and not care how you treat your body. You are worth more than that.

So, you had a bad day? So what. Start over again before it gets out of control. As with my son, if you can overcome a bad experience you will learn that one bad day does not have to define how you react every time you have that negative experience.

We discuss mindful eating/emotional eating and the power of positive self talk in my 6 week nutrition class. I have a NEW free afternoon class from 12-1pm starting March 7 th -April 11 th . Feel free to come during your lunch break and eat during class. I also have an evening class starting April 4 th to May 16 th from 7-8 pm. We also meet before that class at 6pm for a walking group if you are interested. To register you can call our office at 508-668-4400 or email me at

janesylvestre@massweightloss.com

Enjoy the spring and be good to yourself! Jane