I have to tell you that yesterday was a rough day. Work was hopping and I was on-call handling patient issues all night after I left. I was frustrated, because I had every int ention of stopping on my way home from work to take a walk on a local trail. With the way that calls were coming in that was not going to happen. I had put in eleven hours at the office, and ten the day before that. I was mentally exhausted. So what did I do? I ate. I came home and ate like it was the last supper. Some people sleep when they are stressed out. Some people cry. I eat anything that isn't nailed down. It is crazy because I am a nurse, and I teach people about nutrition all of the time. So where did this problem come from? Well I can tell you it started early.
I grew up in a family of five children and two adults. Mom was on a lot of diets and she was constantly losing all sorts of weight only to gain it back when she gave up dieting. When she was on a diet we had no snack foods in the house but when she went off the diet, we would have everything. There were cookies and ice cream and potato chips. When a bag of potato chips or a box of cookies were opened in our house they never went back to the cupboard. Everyone would eat them as quickly as possible, because you had to in order to get your fair share. Unfortunately we never learned how to moderate our eating habits. Mom always soothed herself with food and so we learned to do the same.
Over the years I have learned how to eat healthy foods and I am better at eating things in moderation, but when I am stressed out that all goes out the window. So how do I fix this problem? Well, here are a few things I am gonna try...
1. Create a better work life balance. I cannot volunteer to do every extra project. I need time for school, time for life.
2. Carve out time for exercise. I love to get outside and walk. It gives me time to think and unwind. I just need to plan it better so that getting there is not stressful
3. Avoid the stress of being overbooked. Sometimes you have to just look at your schedule and let things go. What really has to be done? I had to be on-call that evening. It wasn't optional. So other things had to wait. By recognizing that, I make canceling my other plans less stressful.
4. Stop before you eat. I have read some other blogs where people use a physical cue to stop themselves before they eat. This is especially helpful when you are stressed. Some put a small picture on their refrigerator. Something that reminds them of why they are trying to be healthy. It could be a wedding dress, a bicycle, a picture of your children, or anything that causes you to pause and reconsider.
5. Get the junk out of the house. It is simple, if there is no junk food in the house, you won't eat it. Many of us have spouses or children, so this can be tough. The next best option is to have single serving packages of chips, pretzels, or cookies and ice-cream bars or sandwiches instead of the gallon. When I grab a bag of chips I could eat the whole thing, but if it is a single serving, I am less likely to go back and grab another.
Well I am going to try these things out, and I hope that they work. I would love to hear other ideas on how people deal with stress.
After re-reading this I have to say that I did not give mom enough credit. She figured it out. She is now the healthiest of us all. She maintains a healthy diet, and exercises regularly. I think that as she learned how to erase the stress from her life, she was better able to manage the other aspects.
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