Joanie Morris knows all too well what loneliness can do to her appetite and her waistline.
In September 1996, Joanie, then a regional manager for a national health-care company, had to leave behind her family in ^ Melbourne, Florida, for a 1 -year job assignment at company head-^ quarters, 1,000 miles away. Every evening, while her coworkers were Q enjoying the company of family and friends, she’d sit by herself in § the small apartment that her employer had provided. She’d read g and watch television until about 7:30, when she’d call her husband i§ ; and daughter back in Melbourne.
“Usually, after I hung up the phone, I’d just sit and cry,” Joanie recalls. “I missed my family so much. I could see them only on weekends—and not every weekend, at that. It was incredibly lonely.”
For comfort, she began treating herself to dinner at a little Italian restaurant next to her apartment building. “My apartment had a kitchen, but I thought that going out was easier,” she explains. “I’d eat a snack when I got home from work, then walk over to the restaurant after talking to my family.” Needless to say, she got to know the menu very well. “I especially loved the large pasta dishes with creamy, cheesy sauces,” she says. After dinner, she’d return to her apartment, where she’d help herself to a bowl of ice cream and some cookies.
While this ritual made Joanie feel better, it also took a toll on her figure. In just 3 to 4 months, she gained 20 pounds. “On one of my weekend trips home, a friend of mine said to me, ‘You may not like your job, but you sure must like the food,’” she recalls. “I was mortified. When I stepped on the scale, it read 142 pounds. I had never weighed that much—except when I was pregnant.”
As she headed back to her job in January 1997, Joanie resolved to start a new after-work routine that would put an end to her nightly binges and help her slim down. As soon as she arrived at her apartment, she’d change her clothing and head straight for her apartment building’s fitness room. There, she’d put in an hour on the treadmill and exercise bike while watching the evening
news. Then, she’d return to her apartment, shower, and call her family.
“Even though I was exercising to lose weight, I noticed that I felt better, too,” Joanie says. “The physical activity seemed to lift my sadness and even out my moods.”
Joanie also cut back on her nightly forays to the Italian restaurant next door, instead stocking her kitchen with healthy staple ingredients for fast ajid easy dinners.
Between her improved eating habits and her nightly exercise routine, Joanie was able to get rid of the 20 pounds that she had gained, plus a few more. She returned home at the end of her job assignment weighing 119 pounds, where she’s stayed ever since.
“I was determined to slim down by the time my assignment was over, and I did,” says Joanie, now a 41-year-old full-time mom. “I think that exercising made the difference. It helped me emotionally as well as physically.”
WINNING ACTION
Boost your mood without food. Feeling blue? Instead of heading for the fridge, lace on your sneakers for a few minutes of physical activity. Research has shown that exercise can improve your mood by triggering the release of endorphins, opiate-like brain chemicals that can make you feel good all over. You’ll avoid a binge, and you’ll burn some calories to boot.
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