Anyone else noticed how much stress can impact your diet routine. It is as if your whole "plan" goes right out the window when your stress level spikes. The past few days I have been pretty stressed out with work, school and personal stuff. In general I have just felt as if I have been running from one place to another...and not really getting anything done. UGH! I hate days (or weeks) like this!
So there I am in the midst of the most stressful days and it hits me like a mac truck (mmm...Big Mac???) that I want junk food. Why? What in the world will junk food do for me? Make me feel momentarily better...only to leave me void and empty in the long run? I was craving everything in the book...pizza, ice cream, chips, chocolate, anything fried. If it was "bad" for me...then I wanted it.
What do you do when you need a way to cope? Turn to the right thing or the wrong thing? I have consistently faced this question in my life...and not just with food. When things are tense between my husband and I, I often turn to my girlfriends to vent rather than talk it out with him. When things are stressful and busy at work, it isn't uncommon for me to avoid the source of conflict or work overtime, killing myself to get it done when I should really go to my supervisor and request respite of some kind. Or even worse, when I begin to feel my spiritual life slip how often do I turn to God seeking His wisdom? Rarely. Instead I turn to things of the world. Just like junk food, these "wrong" alternatives often leave me feeling void and empty...and no closer to a resolution.
Don't get me wrong, eventually I find my way to the right choice, but only after I have circled the block a few times. What an incredible waste of time, especially when I know just what (or Who) I should be going to. I want my mindset to be that when faced with these sort of problems or stressors that the first thing that pops into my head is the "right choice", whatever that may be.
So how does this apply to my diet? I realize more and more that "dieting" and being healthy is just as much a state of mind as it is a lifestyle. If I work so hard to exercise everyday and I watch what I eat most days, but my focus and way of life doesn't change, what good is it? Do I really want to be on a diet for the rest of my life??? Not even remotely. So the task at hand is not to make it just a practice, but rather who I am.
Does this mean I will never be tempted by the delicious looking billboards with pictures of cheeseburgers and fries? Or that when I am stressed I won't crave a big bowl of ice cream or a Little Debbie Swiss Cake Roll? No...not even. But I hope that when I am faced with the decision, my next thought will be a healthy one.
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2 comments:
Ok a "healthy pizza" Red Baron French Bread Singles Pizza. I know you're trying not to count calories, but just to prove how few calories are in these I'm going to tell you anyway. The pepperoni and supreme have 360 in the entire pizza! The 3 meat has 370! Compared with DiGiorno singles that have around 1080 in the whole pizza. I like to add a few mushrooms and just enough cheddar cheese to hold the mushrooms on. Mmm, yummy yummy! Sometime you just gotta have a pizza! Just make sure it's a good one!
I can totally relate. I think all my extra weight is from stress-eating…well actually emotional eating. I want to eat for every emotion – stress, joy, sadness, frustration, excitement, boredom…you name it, and I want to eat!
You are so right though – a healthy lifestyle must become a part of us – who we are – otherwise we’ll be on a never ending diet. I hope to get to a point where healthy living is just a part of me! =)
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