Skillpower! Protecting Progress During Life's Disruptions

Skillpower offers steady weekly support and practical tools so you can feel calmer, steadier, and more in control around food.

A Story We All Know

Samantha had been feeling steady for weeks. She’d found a rhythm—regular meals, a calming evening routine, and mornings that gave her a sense of control. For the first time in a long time, she noticed her cravings were quieter. She even said to herself, “Maybe I really can do this.”

Then life shifted. Her mother needed help after an unexpected surgery, and suddenly Samantha’s days were consumed with driving to appointments, answering work calls on the go, and running on broken sleep.

At first, she thought she could push through. But within a few days, the familiar voices crept back in: “You’re exhausted. You need something to take the edge off.” Or, “Just this once won’t matter—you deserve a break.” The bargaining grew louder until it was hard to think about anything else.

Without her usual anchors, Samantha felt her progress slipping. She found herself reaching for quick comfort instead of the steadiness she had been building. It wasn’t that she didn’t care—her brain was simply overloaded. The routines that had kept her grounded were disrupted, and cravings rushed into the cracks.

Looking back, Samantha realized it wasn’t a personal failure. Her brain was under stress, and she needed a few small, simple things she could hold onto—little anchors to steady herself until life calmed down again.

The Science

The brain is wired to thrive on predictability. When routines are steady, much of your behavior runs on “autopilot,” guided by the basal ganglia—the part of the brain that manages habits. This frees up your prefrontal cortex, the area responsible for willpower, self-control, and long-term planning.

But when disruptions strike—travel, illness, family emergencies, or even joyful events—the brain can no longer rely on those habit pathways. Instead, it shifts into the executive control network, requiring more focus, attention, and emotional regulation. That shift uses more oxygen and glucose, which means your brain literally burns more fuel just to get through the day.

At the same time, the amygdala, the brain’s threat-detection center, becomes more active. It sounds the alarm when it senses instability, nudging you toward old “comfort” behaviors—often processed foods—because they once gave fast relief.

Add in decision fatigue, and the situation gets even harder. When every routine is disrupted, you face a flood of small choices: when to eat, how to cope, whether to reach out for support. Over time, this wears down the prefrontal cortex, making it harder to stay aligned with your long-term goals.

On top of that, the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system) ramps up your stress hormones, which can make cravings feel more urgent. All of this explains why disruptions feel so destabilizing: your brain is working harder under stress, making quick fixes more tempting.

And here’s the important takeaway: none of this means you’ve failed. It means your brain is doing exactly what human brains do under pressure. That’s why having a few small, steadying skills can make such a powerful difference.

Skill of the Week: Anchoring in Small, Steady Actions

When disruptions happen, trying to hold everything together can feel impossible. Instead, it may help to choose just a few small anchors — things that keep you steady without requiring huge amounts of energy.

1. Identifying your non-negotiables
Think back to times you’ve felt most grounded. What two or three small actions gave you the biggest sense of stability? These are your non-negotiables.

• Maybe it’s keeping a regular meal rhythm.

• Maybe it’s protecting your sleep as much as you can.

• Maybe it’s taking five quiet minutes each morning before the day begins.

A helpful way to identify them is to ask:

• “If everything else falls apart, what two or three things help me feel most like myself?”

• “Which routines give me the most steadiness for the least effort?”

2. Instilling micro-habits
Micro-habits are the smallest possible version of something supportive. Instead of aiming for the full habit, you shrink it down:

• One sentence in your journal instead of a page.

• A text message to a supportive friend instead of a long call.

• Two minutes of deep breathing instead of a full routine.

These tiny steps keep your recovery identity alive, even during chaos. And they make it easier to return to your full routine when life settles down.

The mindset shift: In disruptions, the goal isn’t perfection — it’s stability. Every small action you protect tells your brain, “I’m still on this path.”

Reflection Prompts

• What are my top three non-negotiables during a disruption?

• How can I tell when I’m drifting away from my support system?

• When have I successfully navigated a disruption before? What helped?

Join This Week’s Workshop

We’ll explore how to spot disruptions early, how to protect your progress, and how to reset after setbacks. Join us live at a time that works for you:

• Wednesday at 11 am EDT – Click Here

• Wednesday at 7 pm EDT – Click Here

• Saturday at 4 pm EDT – Click Here

If you can’t attend live, you’ll find the video recording here: Click Here to Watch the Video

Disruptions don’t mean you’ve failed—they mean you’re human. By holding onto a few non-negotiables, leaning on micro-habits, and showing yourself compassion, you can carry your progress through even the bumpiest seasons.

We’ve all been there. And we’ll be here, holding steady with you.

Have an amazing day!

Sheila Gravely
ARC Director, Certified FARA