So many of us struggle with various forms of self harm, from physical cutting to binge drinking or just not taking care of ourselves.  I think for me, at the root of it is a certain disregard for my self because I despise myself, or because I feel like I’m not a worthwhile person who deserves better.  But at the same time, so much of what I do (maladaptive or not) is geared towards self-protection, protecting myself from being hurt by others.  It’s just a paradox in that I can spend so much effort to protect myself but also sabotage myself a lot of the time.  

So I’m kind of wondering if it’s possible to flip things around.  Do the things that are good for me but that still satisfies my urges to “hurt” myself.  For example, I’m not very good at taking care of myself.  I eat like crap and I don’t exercise and I don’t get enough sleep and I socially isolate.  But what if I use those very things that I find so freaking hard to do as a way of “punishing” myself?  So I can force myself to go to the gym even though it’s raining and it’s the last thing I want to do.  Or I can “deprive” myself of my usual junk food and comfort food for lunch and force myself to drink a vegetable shake...  You get the idea.

Has anyone successfully done this?  