Stress and eating habits

[ElfiePoo 109]

You all are my support group, so bear with me if I 'open up' here every so often.

Ever since Thanksgiving, I have been having a serious problem with sweets which, unfortunately, are not the least bit impacted by restriction. I haven't been binging on them, but I have been eating them more than I usually do...and enough to stall my weight loss despite the fact that I'm eating a fraction of the calories I used to.

Unfortunately, these 'sweet' calories lead me to more carb cravings which led to OD'ing on carbs at the theater the other day.

I've been asking myself what led to this path and I realized that it all started two days before Thanksgiving when a woman ran a stop sign and my 17 year old son plowed headlong into the side of her car. Fortunately, despite the fact that he was only 10 feet from the intersection when she entered it, he was only doing 30 mph so he wasn't hurt but we spent the next week rearranging schedules in order to get everyone where they needed to be.

Then on the evening before Thanksgiving Day, my 86 year old father-in-law passed away after a two year battle with leukemia. We still didn't have our car back from the shop but we live a 1/4 mile walk across the field from the in-laws so we were able to get there and back over the next week without problems.

Just as life started returning to some sort of routine, on Christmas Eve morning I was hit head on by a drunk driver. Again, thankfully no injuries but same car, different driver. This time the car was totalled. So we spent Christmas week looking for a new car and New Year's Eve signing papers...and looking at another 5 years of car payments when this one was almost paid off. It didn't help that somewhere in there I started my menstrual cycle for the first time in 18 years and was dealing with the usual PMS cravings which only compounded the problem.

I think perhaps the sweets were a way of dealing with the stress that I haven't been acknowledging. Eating sweets acts a bit like a sedative on me. My blood sugar goes up and I get a bit brain foggy...less alert...caring less about what is going on around me. I'm not a zombie. I still function, but at a slower speed which means I also don't accomplish as much during the day.

The only way I can rid myself of these cravings is to get the carbs out of my system and the only way to do that is to avoid all carbs except those found in low carb green vegies (broccoli, spinach, etc.). So it is a new day and with a renewed frame of mind, I've recommitted myself to working with Hilda (my band).

Now, since I definitely am craving carbs and I'm still an hour away from lunch, I think I'll go clean the snow off my car, even though I'm not going anywhere today, and shovel the small walk from the drive to the door. If I can't shut off the cravings, I can freeze 'em out!

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[TxMomof4 0]

Elfie,

Just wanted you to know I am sorry to hear of your loss of your FIL. My MIL passed on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. So I understrand your stress eating. I am so thankful that you and your son are ok from the car crashes! How scary is all of that. At least now you can recoginize that you are eating from the stress and change it! That is a great step in the right direction. If you dont mind, I will say a prayer for you and your family.

Take care,

Deanna

[ElfiePoo 109]

My MIL passed on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. If you dont mind, I will say a prayer for you and your family.

I never turn away prayers and I'll put you and your family in mine as well. I'm sorry to hear about your mil. You know, we know we're going to lose our parents (usually) first but it's still hard when it hits us that we will never again be able to pick up that phone or walk across the yard and hear their voice or see their face.

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[Cocoabean 430]

ElfiePoo,

I know you are not looking for words of wisdom or advice of action to take to get back on banded track. Just words of support.

Here you go, SUPPORT!! And HUGS!!

Don't beat yourself up. You've had some tough stuff to deal with. My drug of choice is food. I hear you.

You have seen the problem and identified it. You are facing it head on. Will it happen again? Probably. Hilda doesn't help with head hunger, nor with stress. We will have those things to deal with forever. That is a fact of life.

We are here for eachother on this board. I hope things settle down for you, and the carbs clear out of your system quickly.

I love sweets, also. Yeah, I could make a meal of chocolate. Sometimes I can have it in my house with no problems, sometimes I can't.

Best wishes,

Denise

[dowhatitdo1 1]

You all are my support group, so bear with me if I 'open up' here every so often.

Ever since Thanksgiving, I have been having a serious problem with sweets which, unfortunately, are not the least bit impacted by restriction. I haven't been binging on them, but I have been eating them more than I usually do...and enough to stall my weight loss despite the fact that I'm eating a fraction of the calories I used to.

Unfortunately, these 'sweet' calories lead me to more carb cravings which led to OD'ing on carbs at the theater the other day.

I've been asking myself what led to this path and I realized that it all started two days before Thanksgiving when a woman ran a stop sign and my 17 year old son plowed headlong into the side of her car. Fortunately, despite the fact that he was only 10 feet from the intersection when she entered it, he was only doing 30 mph so he wasn't hurt but we spent the next week rearranging schedules in order to get everyone where they needed to be.

Then on the evening before Thanksgiving Day, my 86 year old father-in-law passed away after a two year battle with leukemia. We still didn't have our car back from the shop but we live a 1/4 mile walk across the field from the in-laws so we were able to get there and back over the next week without problems.

Just as life started returning to some sort of routine, on Christmas Eve morning I was hit head on by a drunk driver. Again, thankfully no injuries but same car, different driver. This time the car was totalled. So we spent Christmas week looking for a new car and New Year's Eve signing papers...and looking at another 5 years of car payments when this one was almost paid off. It didn't help that somewhere in there I started my menstrual cycle for the first time in 18 years and was dealing with the usual PMS cravings which only compounded the problem.

I think perhaps the sweets were a way of dealing with the stress that I haven't been acknowledging. Eating sweets acts a bit like a sedative on me. My blood sugar goes up and I get a bit brain foggy...less alert...caring less about what is going on around me. I'm not a zombie. I still function, but at a slower speed which means I also don't accomplish as much during the day.

The only way I can rid myself of these cravings is to get the carbs out of my system and the only way to do that is to avoid all carbs except those found in low carb green vegies (broccoli, spinach, etc.). So it is a new day and with a renewed frame of mind, I've recommitted myself to working with Hilda (my band).

Now, since I definitely am craving carbs and I'm still an hour away from lunch, I think I'll go clean the snow off my car, even though I'm not going anywhere today, and shovel the small walk from the drive to the door. If I can't shut off the cravings, I can freeze 'em out!

.

I had no idea that all that was going on n ur life may God give u peace n strength 2 endure. Im so sorry 4 ur lost n injuries. U have been such an inspiration 2 me with all ur encouraging words n advice. I guess the saying is true dnt complain because there is always someone worse off then u. I know how u feel about the sweets its nt easy just hang in there like u tell me. it will get better. I try 2 keep myself busy 2 buy cleaning the snow off the car n side walk. I will keep u n ur family n my prayers. one day at a time

[ElfiePoo 109]

Here you go, SUPPORT!! And HUGS!!

.

Thanks, Denise...now...can y'all move closer so we can do this in person?

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[ElfiePoo 109]

I guess the saying is true dnt complain because there is always someone worse off then u.

I keep reminding myself of that. Two car accidents in the space of a week and we walked away from both. The car did not fare so well.

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[BetsyB 9]

Oh, my goodness, Elfie--what an enormous weight of stress you've been carrying!

I think it's really positive that you've identified your difficulties with sweets (and carbs in general)--being able to see that they became a bit of a crutch during a very trying time is really impressive--because, well, stress often makes it harder for us to look clearly at what we're doing and identify things we need to change.

You have the tool. You know how to use it. And I know you will.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your father-in-law. That alone would be enough for anyone to bear. Adding the accidents? Too much! Thank goodness they produced mostly logistical headaches...but even when injury is escaped, there is a HUGE fight-or-flight response.

And a big part of that (hormonal) response is a biologically-mediated craving for carbohydrate. When your cortisol jumps, so does hunger/carb hunger.

It sounds to me as though you've managed that better than you might be giving yourself credit for.

[ElfiePoo 109]

It sounds to me as though you've managed that better than you might be giving yourself credit for.

I don't know about that...I'll let you know when I step on the scale on Monday. That 7 lb loss last week may be history.

But onward and upward...or is that downward? I've kept myself busy today and am pretty pleased that it's 4:30 p.m. and I'm still on track. I'm going through the whole carb withdrawal thing (massive cravings) big time right now but I can do this.

Fortunately, my evenings are spent crocheting a couple of baby afghans and that keeps my hands busy and less tempted to walk them out to the kitchen. It's difficult to eat with a crochet needle in your hand. If you forget which hand is doing what, you could poke your eye out! :frown:

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[BetsyB 9]

I need to lay in some cross-stitch supplies--busy hands really are a great deterrent to eating!

[Cocoabean 430]

Thanks, Denise...now...can y'all move closer so we can do this in person?

.

Wouldn't that be great?!?

I am a crocheter (is that a word?) also!! What fun. It is a great tool to keep the hands occupied. I just recently learned how to knit, but am not very good at it.

I am also working on a baby afghan. Our next door neighbor is expecting #3.

You know, my sister has many problems, medical and family. I always tell her that she was put on the planet to make me feel better about my situation! :frown:

She even has a condition called gastroparesis (sp?) that causes her stomach to not empty. She thought I was absolutely insane to have a surgery to cause such a condition!

But then, it is a tad different, and I don't regret it for a second. Except when something is stuck and behold, my stomach is not emptying!

Denise

[ElfiePoo 109]

I need to lay in some cross-stitch supplies--busy hands really are a great deterrent to eating!

Send me your address and I'll send you one for free.

I got this bright idea (pre-afghans) to do a cross stitch called "Ugly Duckling". It made me smile. Three cute little ducklings and a frog sitting in a row. I managed to get the eyes in and a few cross stitches before I figured out I was going to go blind before I finished it. Now it sits forlorn without hope of ever being finished. The waste just kills me.

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[ElfiePoo 109]

You know, my sister has many problems, medical and family. I always tell her that she was put on the planet to make me feel better about my situation! :w00t:

It's always nice when our sister makes us feel better. :frown:

Mine has a muscle disease called Thompson's Disease (my dad and two brothers have it as well). Basically, her muscles are firing even when at rest so she's building muscle even when she's sleeping. She looks like she works out without lifting a finger. Despite that, she's still my best friend...but that's because she's capable of pounding me into the dirt if she wanted.

[bambam 0]

Elfie -

I'm so sorry you have had so much to go through recently. My thoughts and prayers are with you too.

I'm so glad I found this thread. I've been AWOL from the site for a while - felt I was too obsessed with all the odds and ends and just wanted to get back to living life again without every thought being about my band. But I came looking for support and encouragement and your thread was just what I needed.

I had my last fill in Nov - and it has really made a difference -in fact I am still adjusting to it. However, with the holidays I have eaten more sweets than usual (not bonkers but too many). In addition, it was the anniversary of my mom passing away one year ago, and I won't even go into the stress associated with my job lately. Anyway, I've been hard on myself for not losing at the same speed I did before. I did go back and look and I have lost 7 pounds in the last 2 months - not a huge amount, but boy in the past I would have easily gained 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

I think we really have to be kind to ourselves and not beat ourselves up for being human. I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that life is going to happen regardless of Lucy (my band) and that I will have days where I am stronger and make better choices than others. I have been a stress eater for 25 years and that isn't going to change overnight, or in a year for that matter.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I'm motivated to get back to band basics, listening to Lucy, cutting out the sweets and occasional Snacks, drinking my Water more faithfully, and exercising more again.