The Overwhelm

When I thought about how I wanted to describe the third challenge I face in maintaining my weight loss and keeping on track with my healthy lifestyle, the best word I could come up with was "Overwhelm." Sometimes it's stress, sometimes it's timing and sometimes, it's just good old boredom. Whatever you call it, it's that feeling that makes me want to hit the cookies...hard.

 

During this past year, I learned that food is a crutch I use when I'm really stressed out. The physical act of eating something seems to calm that building crescendo of "I can't do this" I sometimes feel when I'm in the middle of a tough task. When I was writing my book, a snag in my writing rhythm would often send me to the kitchen in search of something to take my mind off the task at hand. The scary part is that it's a strategy that works for me -- taking a break and crunching on something often brings me back to the task refreshed and able to pick up where I left off.

 

I've learned not to fight that instinct because it does work for me. What I've had to do, though, is be smart about what I choose as my distraction. My mind doesn't seem to care if I'm crunching potato chips or an apple. Once I learned that, I became pretty vigilant about keeping a refrigerator full of cut-up vegetables ready to go. Now, when the stress crunch urge hits, I reach for the carrots or peppers or lettuce. Not only does it work psychologically, it helps boost my veggie intake for the day. Melissa would be so proud!

 

Food preparation -- cut-up veggies and a bowl of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge, grilled chicken from last night's dinner put aside for lunch -- has also helped me deal with the timing issue I often face...as in, I never seem to have enough time. Whenever I cook now, I try to think ahead about how I can make extra ingredients for another dinner on a time-strapped evening or make my dinner do double-duty as a lunch. Once I got into the habit of thinking this way, pre-planning meals and snacks got a whole lot easier. Now, on a night when we're all coming home late and exhausted from a full day of work and activities, I'm much less likely to make a bad food choice because I've anticipated the lack of time and done my best to prepare for it. It's still a challenge, of course, but it's become much more manageable now that I've shifted my thinking.

 

The final component of that overwhelmed feeling? Boredom. I know it's hard to believe that you can feel overwhelmed by boredom, but trust me, it's possible. Because I'm self-employed and I work alone, it's all too easy to have an entire day go by and not see another person until my kids come home. That's fine on the days when I'm really busy with work and deadlines. But when I have downtime? The lack of connection with other people can lead to, "Hmmm...what's in the refrigerator?"

 

I've attacked that challenge in a couple of ways. First, I try to minimize the junk food I keep in the house (because when I'm feeling bored, veggies don't seem to cut it). That makes it harder to make a bad choice. I'm also learning to build in time to connect with other people, whether it's scheduled walks with my walking buddy, lunch with a friend or even just a trip to the library. I'll confess, I used to think those were unproductive uses of my time -- after all, I could be writing another pitch or otherwise drumming up new work. But connecting with others is a great outlet for stress and often leads me back to my desk, brimming with energy and new ideas.

 

More than anything, my year with Shape helped me develop a certain consciousness that I'm able to use to help meet these healthy-living challenges. I can safely say that this consciousness will be with me for life -- now, it's up to me to use it.

 

 

Comments

[Katie]

I think that's absolutely great (and incredibly smart!) that you discovered your body doesn't NEED to snack on junk food, just that it needs to snack. I don't think it would have ever crossed my mind that in a moment of stress something other than a cookie, potato chips or something equally unhealthy would satisfy me. I will definitely have to try that approach when "stress-eating" seems to be unavoidable.

[Ghislaine Mahler]

Yes, I do understand the "eat your stress out" factor. I also have to watch that. So, when I am stressed, just like today because I had an argument with my husband this morning, I must be extra mindful of my behavior. I am the only person who actually puts food in my mouth, nobody is forcing feeding me! :)

So, I spend some quiet time, doing deep breathing exercises, bringing myself back to my inner-center and find a place of self-love in my heart.

The other component that is super important for me is to understand that the reason our body often craves unhealthy foods is because the body isn't getting the nutrients it needs. These days, foods are completely depleted ... do you know that if you ate a head of lettuce in the 1930's, you would need to eat 32 wheel barrows full to get the same nutritional value you had then? Wow!!!

So I eat superfoods everyday in my morning shake. It makes a huge difference! For me, it always comes down to the same old principle: body - mind - spirit. I must feed all three equally with the best nutrients!!

[Sagan]

Dara, you're so relateable:)

Just wrote a post on something similar- its all about figuring out what you can use to replace things. Like those veggies for the crunch.

I used to think the same thing about connecting with people, that I could be doing something else instead. But its essential to our well-being!

[Dara Chadwick]

Thanks, Katie and Ghislaine, for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. I love to hear about how others face similar challenges. It makes me feel like I'm not alone and gives me inspiration.

Sagan, those are the nicest words any writer could hear!