Dear Future Me

Dear Future Me,So you found your abs at age 37 and life has been perfect since then, right? Tee hee. Ha.I'm writing to you today because I'm reading a book called The Food Therapist in an effort to tackle my issues with food - diagnosed, according to the author, as dependence, craving for control, and lack of trust. Apparently, the more connected I feel to YOU, Jen-in-her-40s, the better equipped I will be to conquer these issues and maintain my goals (abs!) (and other stuff) for the long haul.So how are you? Energized, clear-skinned, inspired, confident, and still fitting into a size 4-6? Continually obsessed with your Peloton bike? Still getting a literal and figurative kick out of your heavy bag kickboxing classes? I hope so.If you recall, you spent ten weeks in 2017 dropping 23 pounds with Weight Watchers. You maintained your weight loss as you began to exercise regularly again. And you also drank regularly throughout. Your drinking became both less pleasurable and less escapable, and so you decided to go dry in January 2018. And that's when things really got interesting.Your world opened up with clarity and exquisiteness that you couldn't have imagined. You liberated yourself from the "mommy juice" myth. And when alcohol became routine again in February and March, you started The Alcohol Experiment. 30 days turned into 60 which turned into 76 days sans booze.As of today, 93 days since the start of The Alcohol Experiment, I (switching pronouns here, sounds a little less awkward this way) have had four drinks. And I feel great about that. I have steadfastly adhered to my alcohol non-negotiables. The one night I had two glasses of wine, I enjoyed the first and did not enjoy the second. I am continuing to experiment and I am striving, always, for balance.I wonder where you are with alcohol. In this letter I'm supposed to tell you where I want you to be. But, honestly, I'm not sure. I want you to be happy and healthy, first and foremost. I trust that you have not regressed. If you have decided that alcohol really has no place in your life, kudos to you! And if you have continued to drink occasionally, so long as you truly enjoy it and always adhere to your non-negotiables, that's a-ok too.As of the typing of this letter, I am about 98% at peace with my relationship with alcohol. I hope you can confidently say that you are at 100%. And if you haven't taken a moment lately to celebrate that, please do. Go ahead, I'll wait. The 2017 us did not believe we would ever be free from our reliance on alcohol. I am so proud to have broken free, and you should still be proud too.As for food, I hope that walking by the small batch artisanal tortilla chips at DeCicco's is no longer torturous for you. I hope you can have a bag of chocolate granola - or maybe even a jar of Nutella! - in the pantry without eating the whole thing in one go. I hope that you and food were able to work through your issues and that your relationship flourishes now.I'm sure it wasn't easy. After all, you and food had a rocky rapport from the beginning. As a kindergartener you fell asleep every night with your blankie and a Hi-C juice box. Food was always a comfort, a salve, an escape, a distraction. A moment of joy that was worth long-term emotional and physical malaise. But then you ditched booze and started to really love yourself, and once that self-love took hold there wasn't as much room left for your toxic relationship with food, was there?I am at the beginning now. I am just starting to untangle 37 years of food dysfunction. I think I can do it. I hope I can. No. You know what? I WILL. Because I've come too far to not tackle this shit. (I hope as you read this you're smiling to yourself, endeared by my determination and my still-flickering self-doubt, which I hope you extinguished for good long ago.)Here is how I envision you, Jen-in-her-40s:You wake up well-rested and maintain steady energy throughout your day. You walk into your closet knowing you can fit into everything you see. Whatever you put on, your clothing brings you joy and makes you feel good about how you look. In the summer you confidently wear a bikini, and not just on skinny days. You have a strong core (do you have those awesome side muscles that I am just starting to see? I hope so!) and you don't look pregnant by the end of the day. You are confident in how you look and how you feel and how you move. You feel sexier than I do. But most importantly, you feel strong and healthy - which may mean something different to you than it does to me, and that's cool.You are your own living epitome of health.No pressure, though.I don't expect you to have yanked out your sweet tooth. Or your salt tooth, for that matter. I hope that you and food have a relationship based on trust and appreciation. You see food as fuel for your strong and healthy body and mind. The occasional indulgence does not send you flailing into a downward spiral or fleeing to the pantry in a state of sugar-lust. Sugar-lust may still exist for you, but YOU are in control of your cravings. You understand why they are happening. You are mindful and aware and whether you choose to indulge a craving or not, you act consciously and move on confidently.I'm starting to feel so excited for us. I'm excited for me to become you. I could do without the additional gray hair and fine lines that will turn into wrinkles; but I'm less fussed about those things because I know that I am taking our wonky foundation and reinforcing it so that we can continue to grow, to build, to strengthen, to create, to achieve.Thank you for getting yourself to where you are.You're welcome for starting you on your way.Love,Me