Stress Eating My Way through the Pandemic

It’s been a while since I did an accountability update on my weight. Probably because it was heading in the wrong direction, and I didn’t want to face that. With all the uncertainty in my life, I turned back to my sugar-inhaling ways. I’d still been following me diet about half the time, which meant I wasn’t exactly ballooning my way back to overweight, but I was . . . making slow and steady progress in that direction.

Last Saturday, I decided enough was enough. I made a small goal to stick to my diet strictly for at least 7 days: Sunday through Saturday. I was 192.8 on Sunday morning when I began. This morning, I was down to 189.8, which is still definitely higher than I’d like it to be, but I’m back to moving in the right direction. (195 is the “magic” weight limit that pushes me into the “overweight” category, which I know is fairly arbitrary, but it’s a line I’m really set on not going back over.)

The week has been difficult. I can definitely tell that I was using food to handle my stress levels, since there were multiple times I was sitting at work, trying to get through a problem, and I found myself standing up to head for the fridge. I sat back down each time, but I was grateful for the very specific, reachable goal of a one week diet.

Now that I’m close to the end of it, will I extend it? I believe so. Overeating takes care of short term stress, but it adds long term stress to my equation. I’ve also always noticed that when I’m eating less, I feel better. I feel hungrier, of course, but I feel more clear-headed, and I like that. I’m still exercising 5 days a week, and I feel back on track for now. As long as Denisa doesn’t make homemade pizza, I should be in the clear . . .

(After the first week or two, I might give myself permission to have a cheat night a week or something like that. We’ll see.)

Anyway. If this is something you’re struggling with, I can recommend a short commitment that might help bridge the gap from where you are now to where you want to be. It’s a proof of concept goal that can then be extended. If I were really smart, I’d add some sort of Scooby Snack incentive to the deal, but I don’t know what I want enough to use at motivation. We shall see.

Have a great weekend, everyone. See you on Monday!

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