I couldn't think of a better way to word the title, so hopefully I can adequately explain my intent. Sorry for the wall of text.
So we all know mental health is an important part of adopting a healthier lifestyle. I've been working on myself for quite a while, but I have found that I still feel compelled to stress eat after a certain point.
Ive been working on getting my cna certification as I hope to eventually get into nursing. I had covid the first chunk of the class, so I couldnt leave my house, let alone work on getting my vaccinations and such. After I was as recovered as I could get, I didnt exactly get started on all that stuff right away. I'm one of those people who are dealing with long term effects. So between class, working two jobs, and being a single parent to top it off, I did not feel up to running the extra errands for the appointments for vaccinations, getting a drug panel done, etc, until basically the tail end of November. it also didnt help that things are taking way longer due to covid restrictions.
I thought I had 6 months from the end of the class part of things to get my clinical and testing done. While picking through my materials yet again, I stumbled across a little segment that said that the clinical needed completed within 8 weeks of the end of class. Ok. that makes it January 5th. still time, if a bit rushed, given I only have 2 things left to get done, neither of which being difficult so long as I find the info I'm looking for.
So, being reasonable, but slightly panicked as I'm not finding the info I need, I email my imstructor and the clinicals coordinator. I get an immetiade reply from their automated message thing. Both of them will be out of office for the holidays (ok thats cool)...... until January 5th. Oh. Oh no. I may or may not have nearly completely broke down christmas Eve.
Needless to say I stress ate that night. Not too bad, but still. Had "free parking" on christmas day as I originally planned and felt less stressed as I prepared my loose ends I needed to do for the clinical and sent a few more emails. I had intemded to get back on track the 26th to my 1350+/- plus calories earned from walking calorie budget. I may have gone about 1500 calories over that. and about just as bad the next day.
Today I received an email that brought me so much relief it nearly sent me to my knees. A real person sent me an email and said the system had my completion deadlime for my clinical being in February. My only guess is that either the deadline was extended due to covid or it was an extension granted to me individually as my instructor had talked about giving me extra time due to how hard covid had hit me.
I did a bit better on my calorie budget today, being a mere 900 over intended. Still ultimately a deficite, but it settled for me that maybe I needed to reach out. Ive improved significantly over the last couple years, but obviously when things seemingly come to a head, I break. I think that ultimately comes from a lack of a productive, effective outlet for stress.
Exercise seems like a thing some people do to dump their stress, but from a physical standpoint I can't do as much as would be needed for that. My lungs have been damaged from covid and that means nothing vigorous. Or in the cold. Or where theres smoke of any kind. Or, really, at any time because I've developed a bronchitus type thing that I've been trying to fend off for about 3 weeks. I'm standing in my kitchen as I type this and my lungs ache.. Not to mention my knees wont be supportive of running or anything other cycling or walking. Its winter here, so walking is limited to what I can accomplish indoors and if my lungs will tolerate tye temperature. My inhaler isnt intended to be used every 15 minutes.
The other things I do for relief have covered normal daily stressors but did absolutely nothing for when I thought I'd potentially failed a major part of my future plan.
I do not know why my brain registers compulsory eating as a stress relieving activity. There's never been a point where I picked up a fork and thought, 'after I eat this I will feel much better about my life problems.' My body is singularly unimpressed with the last several days if the stomach aches, nausea, and otherwise feeling like crap due to my food choices is anything to go by.
So what things have you all found that is a major stress relief that has replaced comfort eating? what kinds of things would you suggest trying, regardless how odd or silly it might be? I know theres a good chance I should hash things out with a professional, but thats not in the cards at the moment. What I hope for now is suggestions from people who have seen some sort of success, no matter how short lived, in dealing with over the top stress productively when simply fixing the problem is out of your hands at that moment.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/km6frt/seeking_tips_and_tricks_to_replace_stress_eating/
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