Food is Not a Stress Reliever

I just typed the words above into the "title" field of this post very purposefully.

I typed it as a way of reminding myself. And now I'm reading it over and over to make it stick in my head. 

It's Day 9 of 13 on this Lean in 13 eating and I'm hungry. I'm sort of super hungry, in fact. I also have some things going on in my personal life that is making the regimentation/scheduling of the plan difficult to execute. 

But I'm determined to stick to it. 

I'm trying to pay attention to the triggers for the desire to bury my head in the giant Tupperware of Christmas cookies. Might as well make this a learning experience, right? 

Here are the conclusions I've come to: 

• I want to eat more when I'm over-tired. Over-tired = out of sorts and that makes me crave chocolate, cheese and crackers like crazy. Plus, I think that when I'm tired, my thinking gets lazy, too, and I just don't make good decisions.  
• I want to eat more when I'm anxious/nervous/sad/scared ... anything that's out of the ordinary. When I'm off kilter, I'm looking for something to make me feel better.
• I want to eat more when I don't get enough/the right exercise in. After working out I feel strong and solid ... it shores up my resolve and just makes me feel good. When I feel good, my thinking is better and my decisions are better.
• I want to eat more when I think about eating more. If I get busy, I just don't obsess as much.
• I will eat more when I don't have a plan ... which includes having the right foods on hand and ready to go. I've got a few little bags of nuts squirreled away in my purse right now just in case. 

Today, I'm over-tired, emotional, didn't get my morning workout in and I'm thinking about eating right now. Not a great way to stay on top of this. But because I have a plan and I know my goal, I will get through it. 

I am stepping back, evaluating and forcing myself to recognize that falling off the plan and eating everything I'm craving will not really make me feel better at this point. Getting it done like I planned will.

Nine days down. Four to go. One holiday happy hour, a few more crazy days/nights with out-of-whack sleep and exercise and the dreaded last-minute shopping still left on the schedule. 

Giddy up!