I appreciate all the comments that reminded me to breathe while working on my paper for this conference next weekend. It's going well now that I'm actually writing it. I sometimes get paralyzed by stress: you know, when you reach that point where you realize how much time you have left, you start to worry that your tests aren't really that original, you are concerned about members of your panel or the audience sneering at your work. It's amazing how catty the world of academics (and especially my field) can be.
The unfortunate response is that I stress eat. Yes, I do. I restrained myself from actually going to Kroger this week to pick up bag after bag of pita chips (hello, salt, thank you for being a friend). Instead, on Thursday night, after grabbing a beer with some work colleagues (in a super sized pint, which I didn't ask for), I came home, ate a healthy dinner of a 3 oz steak, asparagus and spinach. Then, I had a minor paper-related freak out. I tried to calm myself down with some Grey's Anatomy, but really, I wanted the remaining honey wheat banana bread that was in my freezer. I took it out, defrosted it, toasted it, buttered it, and gave into the beast called "Stress Eating."
Not surprisingly, I had a bit of a gain on Friday morning. That's why I waited to weigh myself in today. I worked hard all week on my nutrition, and I didn't want it reflected after my Thursday beer and bread and butter episode. I lost 0.2 pounds, which isn't a lot, but at the same time, I didn't gain. Also, because I've been stressing over my time commitments, I only made it to the gym four times this week. I usually aim for five or six times, but I just couldn't do it this week. Trust me, I'm not beating myself up over this... the paper is coming along nicely, and it's better than being stressed out over my paper while at the gym.
4 comments:
Every once in while it's okay to cave... it's good to be reminded that we are all human. The important thing is that you're not beating yourself up over it, which is commendable. I'm glad you didn't gain, I know how discouraging that can be. Stress eating is a hard habit to conquer, it's hard to really take control, but it's amazing when you force yourself to do the right thing. You've done great on your journey. Keep up the good work!
Kristina
There are some periods that are best endured "any-which-way-you-can". This sounds like one of those weeks. Fwiw, I think you found a healthy-ish balance. You *could* have eaten a box of snack cakes, and/or not gone to the gym at all, and/or given up on the paper completely. But you didn't do any of those things, and for that you should do the "I'm a Big Winner" Dance. Go ahead--dance! I'll wait.... :)
(Congrats on a week well-played)
Well, it sounds like you still did good in spite of things.
I am a total stress eater, too : /
That's great news that you were able to somewhat tame the stress-eating beast.
And that banana bread sounds fabulous- I wouldn't have been able to resist it either.
I'm glad that your paper is coming along nicely. I hate that freak out feeling, and I am usually tempted at that point to "half-ass" it, but usually I push through and my type-A side forges on to "get-er done".
Good luck!!
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