Comments on: If only stress were edible

By: carmen

carmen — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 07:43:26 +0000

I’m so sorry that you are struggling. I know what that’s like – all of us on the weight loss spectrum deal with the same stuff. Hang in there – if you need an ear, email me and I’ll send you my phone number. Sometimes a chat works better than ice cream.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:19:13 +0000

I fell off the wagon about 8 lbs ago and I am back on with a vengence. You will do the same… JUST DO IT SOON before 10 turns to 20… and so on, and so on… I am convinced that the key to life-long weight loss is to: know when you’ve fallen off, not linger too long, and get back on before too much damage is done. BUT look who I am telling this to… I am quite jealous of your tenacity PQ. As a longtime lurker I know that you know what it’s going to take to not let yourself regain all that you’ve worked so hard to take off. Happy Holidays! Happy RUNNING.

By: Patty

Patty — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:32:31 +0000

Sorry to hear you are dealing with a stressful time, PastaQueen. I have been there this fall and did use food to help with my high stress levels. It did help a little but now the pants are tight and I’m not happy about that. But, it is done and we move on. Life happens. But, we get back on the healthy eating wagon until it feels automatic again. Have a nice Thanksgiving tomorrow!

By: Vicki

Vicki — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:49:39 +0000

I’m sorry to see that something has clearly stressed you out and reading between the lines, it sounded pretty significant. Falling off the wagon for any reason just bites. But what’s really great is getting back on. Getting back in the groove, making up for lost time and seeing progress re-start is like finding something you lost, something that was driving you crazy because you kept looking and looking and it just wasn’t there. Even if it takes awhile to back on track, it feels so good to be doing the right things for yourself and your health. Thanks for all of your honesty and I hope you find the healing you need.

By: v'ron

v'ron — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 09:32:23 +0000

You are so right about all of this and now I have to blog again. I’ve been sick, and I put on 6 pounds. Because, as I’m about to write, cookies do not contain dextomorphan, but you’d think they did the way I pounded them between coughs for comfort.

By: Lisanti

Lisanti — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:52:39 +0000

PQ, I’m glad you took that photo on the scale too because it’s proof to you that you did reach that low number and that you can do it again.

What you did with the ice cream reminds me of the “cheat meal/day” concept. You did it, you feel remorse, and now you’re moving past it.

I felt compelled to type this first post because this is the first post of yours that I read where I sensed some exhaustion on your part. It must be exhausting to balance your public life, private life and your weight-loss life (the latter takes on an entire life of its own), at least that’s been my experience.

Take care PQ.

By: Kery

Kery — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 07:43:10 +0000

I know your pain–and I also know you’re so right when you say that you have to make it stop now. I don’t know why, but it seems to be the same way in my case: if I give way to stress-eating, then once the stress is gone, I’ll still go on eating, as if those bouts had suddenly turned into ‘habits’ and not ‘something exceptional’. It seriously sucks, and the longer we let it go on, the harder it gets to stop! So good luck with that!

By: BMary

BMary — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:23:25 +0000

I had a big gain a couple of weeks ago, but for a completely different reason. I’ve lost about 200 pounds, and went away for 8 days on business and vacation. For four days I ate very sensible breakfasts and lunches, and then ate lots of food and dessert at nice restaurants for dinner. For the next four days we were celebrating a friend’s birthday at a resort and I absolutely went hog wild with the food. I wasn’t stressed; I was happy, and I binged constantly. (And enjoyed it when I wasn’t too stuffed.)

You know how much I gained over those 8 days? 21 pounds. No kidding. It seems impossible, right? Of course, three days later I’d lost 10.5 of those pounds again. So a lot of it was bloat, obviously. But I was still truly amazed at the damage I did in such a short amount of time. Must be a record.

The thing is, I feel like I need, well, not EIGHT days like that – but a day like that here and there to stay sane and motivated. I plan to eat pretty much what I want on Thanksgiving and Christmas (and the thought of both makes me really happy) and continue to eat very sensibly in between. I find looking forward to those days really helps me with willpower in the intervening weeks.

You’re a constant inspiration for me, and I’m glad you were able to identify the source of your overeating – that’s so much of the battle right there. Best of luck in the coming weeks!

By: Cindy

Cindy — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:29:20 +0000

Stress eating comes in many forms— from sadness, frustration, anger (these are the hardest) to just too busy or overworked. I experience all kinds of stress eating. I always have… But now I usually “see it” for what it is, and can therefore begin to control it a bit before it gets too out of hand. This isn’t always the case, however, and lately I’ve been a tough place. I am working out some of that “never to be blogged” stuff myself and it has complicated my already compromised eating routines. I haven’t really gained, but i’ve lost some muscle tone and I feel far less fit. I feel HUGE, actually, which is hard, hard, hard. I need to shake this off and regroup, but the more I tell myself that, the more I panic. You are always so sensible and level headed about this whole business. It is one of the things I find refreshing about your blog. But it is also a mystery to me. I know I’m screwed up, so I know how I got in trouble in the first place. You seem so “put together.” I want to know how to get there. Perhaps you could draw a map… with arrows… and a big black X…

Also, I want to know how to stop being so sad, or angry, or frustrated, etc… so much— so that I can relax and not have to concentrate so hard to do the right thing all the time. To a point, I’ve been able to change my body. What I haven’t been able to do is change what’s inside. That’s my biggest issue with stress eating—I can’t control everything (and I desperately want to control everything!).

By: the former veggie p

the former veggie p — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 19:58:02 +0000

Ah, that stinks. Stress eating usually ends up making me feel worse, because when I’m done, I’m uncomfortably stuffed AND feel guilty about stuffing myself like that.

Not that I’m perfect at always avoiding the stress eating, but it does help me to ask what my body really wants: Sleep? A massage? Exercise? A hug? Then I try–try–to seek those out right away. No waiting, because if I wait, I’ll turn to food in lieu of what I really want/need.