Coping with stress

[jfdimsum]

I am on day 20 and today is a challenge day. My husband is staying overnight in the hospital waiting for lab results; I am home waiting for 2 service technicians (one is because my phone has not been working for 2 weeks). Mostly sitting around and waiting (and getting a bit angry at Verizon) - so stress and boredom. After breakfast I kept going to the kitchen looking for something to eat (not hungry) so I filled up with grapes and a couple of figs. So the need for sweets to deal with stress is still there (my normal reaction to stress). Any thoughts on other strategies? And when I am not on Whole30 - any advice on how to not go back to grabbing the cookies instead? Thanks in advance.

[AmyS]

I'd say make a mini-meal of fat and protein.  Add some starchy carbs and more veggies to make a full meal if necessary. If you're full, walk, jump, run, trampoline, swear loudly at the neighbors (wait, not that one), get the adrenaline/stress out physically.

 

Hope all goes well for your husband, and may your service technicians arrive soon and be helpful.

[ShannonM816]

I haven't completely mastered this myself, it's so easy to slip back into bad habits, but there are a few things that seem to help.

 

If it's boredom, find something else to do. Get on the computer and read through these forums, or read a book, or organize your junk drawer, or dust or vacuum, or get some paper and doodle or write -- do you have a hobby of some kind? Do that. If you don't, think about taking up something. Crochet, knitting, painting, jewelry making (you can tell I tend toward the crafty stuff, I'm sure there are other options though  ).  Dig out your cookbooks or pull up some Whole30 recipes online and do some meal planning. Something that involves your mind and your hands and keeps you busy.

 

If you're hungry, eat -- but eat protein and fat, not just fruit. 

 

If it's stress and emotional stuff, sometimes you just have to kind of sit with your emotions and let yourself be stressed or worried or upset or angry (I really hate this part, I'd so much rather eat cookies until I'm miserable than actually deal with emotions, but that's not exactly a healthy option   ). Maybe journal some -- not necessarily in a formal, bound journal if you're not comfortable with that, but grab some paper and write down what you're thinking. If you don't want anyone else to read it, you can scribble over it or tear it up or burn it, but sometimes just actually getting those emotions out helps.

[HealthCreators]

I recognize this: when I am stressed in combination with waiting for something to happen I have no influence over (like the time the service people show up)... it's like all the fruit and raisins and almonds and especially dates in the house start singing my name. It's like the Sirens from Homer's Odyssey... leading me into temptation. In the Odyssey the guy ties himself to the boat... but that gets hard when you are by yourself in a house with no boat... and try to explain it to the service people when they do arrive :-)
But I do something pretty simular: I sit with it and experience the emotion until it goes away... if that doesn't help I work on the cause of that emotion, like not accepting the situation because I think it should be different. (Giving it the Byron Katie treatment). Also: I have read "What are you hungry for", by Deepak Chopra... I think it is a question that works for me: What am I hungry for? Love? Self-esteem? Something that cannot be solved by food? Control? (That last one is a big one for me).
I tell myself that it is unfair to expect the fruit, raisins, almonds and dates to solve those issues I find hard to solve myself. No matter how many dates I eat, it won't give me control. It's still no fun to sit with that psychological craving... but I am able to handle it! Most of the time (I am post W30 and have had some slips, especially with the box of dates). But I am getting better... no cookies so far and I expect I am passed that.

[Guest]

I also have the emotional eating issue...even on day 10. All I can think about is carbs when I'm stressed out or depressed. Use the method given in the book...if you are willing to eat fish and broccoli, then you are hungry, if not, it's just a craving and it will pass. The best advice I can give you is to distract yourself heavily when emotional eating comes knocking. 

[lelani]

Go outside....to a park, your garden, your animals, the porch, get out of the house, breath, just breath.....