Hi everyone, I hope your summer so far has been a fantastic one. I recently started school again for my second degree and being a student after 10 years is super scary and extremely stressful. I have totally been tempted to eat anything and everything deep fried and covered in chocolate and maybe smothered with cheese, but I am now a butterfly and refuse to revert back to my caterpillar days.
So yes in the old days when my stress level was through the roof I would eat or I would go to the gym with my best friend and then go out to eat; which I might add completely defeats the purpose of going to the gym. These days I can’t do that, mainly because overeating makes me physically sick and that’s not a good look for me. With the stress of work, school and my personal life hanging over my head I’ve been taking a lot walks with Bella, who adores the exercise, plus I’ve been enjoying the nice weather and my front porch and just watching the world go by. I had a pretty bad week not too long ago where I was sort of blah and didn’t want to do anything let alone go to the gym so I didn’t which made me feel even more blah. Exercise really does help the mood people who knew???!!!
So for those of you out there who used to deal with stress like I did and stuff your face what are your better options??? There’s a lot of places out there to find tips on how to manage your stress in a healthy fashion I found some good ones on the Anxiety and Depression Association of America some of them are very simple such as limiting caffeine and alcohol intake, getting enough sleep, and taking deep breaths, they also suggest getting enough exercise. If you’re a stress eater like I used to be you need to distract yourself from eating. Read a book, go for a walk, crochet knit anything to keep you out of that kitchen. I’ve heard the suggestion to keep a food diary and I have tried that a few times I just can’t seem to keep up with that. But the idea behind it is to write down what you’re eating, when you’re eating it and how it makes you feel plus how hungry you are when you eat that food. The hope is that you can see patterns behind your eating and be able to change it. Easier said than done. The other thing that’s essential if you’re a stress eater and a snacker you have to try to snack healthy or you’re going to defeat everything you worked so hard for.
I’m still in awe of those people who manage to loose 100 plus pounds on diet and exercise alone, but any way you choose to loose it takes discipline and hard work. My sleeve is just a tool that helps motivate me to get to where I want to be. Seeing change in my body has been motivation to keep up a healthy lifestyle. Until next time happy reading…
