Category Archives: stress eating

Snow and waiting…

We have had snow finally!  The first real snow of the year.  It actually is melting pretty quick and was easy to shovel.  A nice bit of cardio and strength workout doing that today.

I made up a warm and toasty breakfast of the 1-minute waffle.

Yesterday was not a great eating day for me.  I did some stress snacking.  I am not sure if any of you remember I mentioned my bloodshot eye a couple weeks ago.  I thought it was a broken blood vessel.  It didn’t go away and then appeared in my other eye.  So both eyes are bloodshot now.  (very attractive).  I figured that I had an eye infection and would head to the doctor, get some some drops and be on my merry way.  That was Tuesday night when I went in.

The doctor said my eyes are not  infected and it is a sign of some other underlying problem with me.  She asked me if I had any issues with my thyroid.

Now, I had some inklings in the back of my mind about my thyroid because I gained weight recently, I am noticing my hair is falling out more than I would like and my skin is dry (when it has always been oily).  You try to explain those things away by saying “Oh, not biking as much and it was the holidays, the air is really dry in the house, etc.”, but you know in the back of your mind there is a niggling thing?

So, instead of a prescription for eye drops, I came out with a lab draw. The doctor wouldn’t give me any kind of working diagnosis, which is driving me insane because when you do medical transcription, you begin to think you have every disease you type about.  I had the thyroid panel drawn, plus ESR (which is a test for inflammation/autoimmune), metabolic panel and complete blood count.  If these tests are normal, then I have to see an ophthalmologist.  I had the draw yesterday morning and now it is the waiting game to see what these tests show.  They said results hopefully Friday.

I have to admit that I have a lot of anxiety about this.  One being what it is and how serious.  Then there is the money end.  Something a person who doesn’t have insurance wants to hear is something about running a bunch of $$$ tests.  But, if I have to work some Saturdays for a while, that is what I will have to do.  I just hate not knowing.

So anyway, I snacked yesterday.  It wasn’t mindless munching, per se, because I was deliberate in the eating, but I certainly didn’t need to  do it.

Today has also been a little trying as well.  Lunch included some leftover stuff.  Just BBQ pork, nut thins and a pear.

I was fine with eating and then lattes were had.

Cookie +2.

I wasn’t sure what to make for dinner, so I snacked on cheese and pretzels while I thought.

(this was just some of what I ate).

I decided on shrimp with broccoli.  Easy enough.

No fruit with dinner because of the pretzels before.

So, yeah.  It was one of those days.  At least there is tomorrow.

Just breathe

Had a good night’s sleep last night, which felt very good!  I made myself a protein drink and headed out to the gym:

Bottom’s up!

I rode the stationary for 15 minutes, then did a longer lifting routine today:

  • Chin ups.  From a box, so really 1/2 chins:  1 set of 4, 2 sets of 3.
  • Cable squat to row:  3 sets of 15 at 40#
  • Pushups:  3 sets of 10
  • Straight arm pulldown:  3 sets of 15 at 40#
  • Rope crunch:  3 sets of 15 at 20#
  • Lying triceps extension:  3 sets of 15 with 10# DBs
  • Upright row:  3 sets of 10 with 25# bar
  • Pliet squats:  3 sets of 10 with bodyweight (this hurt a little)
  • Biceps curls:  3 sets of 15 with 25# EZ curl bar

I decided to keep the weights lower and do more reps.  I was going to start the endurance phase of strength training in May, but may as well start it now since I am hampered a little bit anyway.  Then I got on the treadmill for the first time since the injury.  I could only walk at 2 mph LOL!   That lasted about 5 minutes before I got back on the bike for a bit.

Came home undecided for breakfast, which is unusual.  Normally I have already planned out my meal while I work out 😀

I chose banana custard oats topped with some nuttzo and a sprinkle of dried cranberries.  Really good.

This is a new bowl I bought for myself on Saturday.  On sale for $5 from $14!

I figured the morning would start out as normal, but alas, it was not to be.  The house closing has all kinds of stressful snafus, including much miscommunication between lawyers.  Nobody informed my lawyer they wanted to close tomorrow, so my lawyer didn’t tell me that I needed to order the mortgage payoff letter from my lender, since they didn’t know we were ready to close.  Apparently this is new legislation with banking privacy laws and the home owner has to do it now?  First I have heard of it.  So that means delay until that letter gets through.  I had to go fax a request with 1000 urgents written all over it.  I cannot get through to the payoff department directly by phone (WTF?).

This is not a face that you want to have looking at you, let me tell you.  And then the buyer’s agent is flipping out today about a car in the driveway at the house (which is actually gone as of the writing of this post) and are threatening to not close if it isn’t gone.  Chill out people.  Do I not own this property until we actually close?  You can bitch after the walk through, and not before.  I am so not radiant about this right now.  I am trying really, really hard not to stress snack.  I just want this over.  I need to remember all this if I am thinking of flipping another house.

I cannot control what other people do. I can only control my reactions.  Breathe in and out.  This will pass… It means nothing in the larger scheme of things.

Phew….

Lunchtime involved some wrappage:

Tuna wrap!  I stopped getting the wraps for a while, but decided I wanted them again.  Hello Rutville, it’s good to be back.

John made lattes and I had my chocolate fix this afternoon:

Then I popped over to the property to make sure said car was gone (and it was).  I feel better about that, but there is a futon frame in the back that we need to remove.  I feel like my radiance got buried under lawyers, former tenants, and real estate agents!   John has been studiously avoiding saying anything that might get me riled up today.  I think he wants to fly under my radar right now LOL!  That’s a good thing.  ( He is a smart man.)

Dinner time brought on a baked crab cake (from frozen) and brussels.

I was pretty close to deep frying this because John was frying up sweet potato fries for himself (which I snuck a few of).

I need to relax and recoup tonight, as well as finish up work.  All that running around and phone calls means I had to flex work hours to tonight.  I am feeling much better about the whole thing, though, and my sense of humor about it has returned.

I’ve got a cup of tea and a hand full of ginger chews to tide me over – fingers crossed for no over snacking!

Snack bender

Midweek (my Thursday 🙂  )  Snack last night did not seem to help me get or stay asleep.  I actually was tired when I went to bed a little early and thought I would fall asleep easily, but then my eyes popped open and I was pretty restless.  Got up early to hit the gym.  Happy lady in the locker room  ready to lift!

Today was workout B for January:

  • Chin ups: 2 sets of 2
  • Barbell split squats:  3 sets of 8 at 65 pounds
  • Underhand grip lat pull down:  3 sets of 8 at 60 pounds
  • Step ups:  3 sets of 8 with 30 pound dumbbells (each)
  • Bent over reverse fly:  3 sets of 8 with 10 pound DB
  • Incline dumbbell chest fly:  3 sets of 8 with 25# DBs

Then 40 minutes of walking.  I think I need to try a barbell for the step ups, because I just can’t hold the 30# dumbbells.  My grip gets tired and so do my forearms.

John and I then went for the requisite bagel!  I was different today and got cinnamon raisin with plain cream cheese.

I could tell today was going to be a tough food day after I got back.  It’s the tired/not enough sleep thing.  I decided to protein up for lunch to try to head it off – so I had protein waffles with added protein powder:

Amazing how this same recipe makes 3 smallish pancakes, yet poofs up in the waffle iron to this giant monster!  The extra protein didn’t help.

Then I proceeded to snack in the afternoon on:

  • Balance bar
  • latte
  • 1 christmas cookie (nutmeg log)
  • 2 ramekins of chocolate chip/peanut mixture
  • 1 serving of FSTG chips

Don’t you love it?  😳  I’ll be honest, it’s stress and tiredness.  The house thing is moving along.  I talked with my tenant last night to let him know of the plans.  My rental house will be on the market at the end of the week (YAY!!).    However, with only 1/2 the money coming in for it due to one tenant leaving, it’s going to be tough money-wise until it sells, so that makes me eat.  Okay, that doesn’t *make* me eat, I just do….  I just wish I knew how long it would take.  That’s the control freak in me.  I can’t control how many buyers there are out there or make someone buy it.  I can only send out as many positive vibes as I can 😀  How long can one cross fingers and toes before they get stuck that way?

John’s football dinner was tonight.  Last regular season dinner.  So much for my crazy picks in the hopes I could win! 😀

He chose Arthurs:

It was so warm and cozy in here.  Much warmer than we keep our house set at (66).  I had a salad:

and split a calzone with John.

I love the small pizza joints around here.  So good.  That’s feta cheese in there, btw.

Needless to say I am full right now.  I’ll probably wake up with a food hangover tomorrow.  Is there a cure for that??

Question:  Do you have any insomnia tips?

NROLW and Beck Diet Tips

Monday, Monday.  Although I have worked one day already 😀

I felt full when I got up this morning, so decided against eating prior to workout.  Not too common for me, but I decided to listen to my body after putting too much food into it the last couple days.

Got to the Y and hardly anyone there.  Guess everyone is on vacation.

NROLW   Stage 3  (final week)

  • Romanian deadlift with row: 1 x 6 at 45#, 1 x 6 at 60#, 1 x 6 at 70 #, 1 x6 at 75 #
  • Single leg partial squats 3 x 6
  • Widegrip lat pulldown: 1 x 6 at 50#, 1 x 6 at 55#, 1 x 6 at 60 pounds
  • Back extension: 3 x 6 at 90 pounds
  • YTWL: 3 x 6 at 8 pounds
  • Stability ball crunch: 3 x 6
  • Reverse crunch: 3 x 6
  • Lateral flexion: 3 x 6
  • Prone cobra: 3 holds x 90 seconds

2429_heart_eyes.gif I love the deadlift/row combo!  I was a little nervous doing the single leg squats, as that is how I hurt my hammie last week, but no problem today.  I don’t know what I did before to cause the problem.  YTWL is so hard with the 8 pounds weights.  I was doing a bit of quiet grunting LOL!

Came home and had some pumpkin oat bran topped with cranberry preserves:

brekkie1 Uber yummy.

Then came lunch after a slow work morning.  Monday mornings are always slow as the clinic I transcribe for is in CA and I am in NY and it isn’t open on weekends.   I made another tasting plate – also known as party leftovers!

Tuna with hummus, carrots, strawberries, pita points.

lunch

I really love to cook, but lately I have been all about super easy/throw together meals.

Dinner was one of those.  I had some leftover brown rice, cooked chicken, broccoli that I stir fried with coconut oil and a mixture of a couple sauces from the fridge for an asian style sauce.  Served with a side of black grapes.  Another winner!

dinner

I did eat a few other things today (Amazing Grass bar, latte, crackers with nut butter), but wanted to get to the Beck Book rather than posting more food.

On day 33, the chapter is about eliminating emotional eating.  Since I had been doing some stress eating, I am reading this chapter again.  I think she makes a good point that it is okay to have the negative feelings.  I think so often we want to bury them or at least be distracted from them (by using food).

Try these things next time you are feeling the need to emotionally eat:

  1. Be specific in the feeling by labeling it. “I am upset by x”.
  2. Do not give yourself the choice of eating when you are upset.  The more you practice this and not give in, the easier it will get.
  3. Imagine the aftermath and how you will feel if you give in.
  4. Distract yourself in other ways like reading, taking a walk, calling a friend.
  5. Try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
  6. Make a list of all the reasons you want to be healthy and read it.

Dr. Beck points out that it will become easier to deal with the problem itself once you have calmed down the emotions  you are experiencing because of it.

So, I am going to practice these if I feel the need to stress eat this week.  And maybe even just do some of these things as practice.  It can be very hard to just try them in the heat of the moment, right?

Question:  What are your stress busting techniques?

Think I am doing the big run tomorrow – 7 miles (gulp!)

Chinese food meltdown

So, I’m eating good on plan today, did my 3 mile jog and my strength training. Went to my parents’ house tonight, they wanted chinese food. I haven’t had chinese food in probably 6 months or so. I ordered steamed dumplings, thinking they were veggie – but they were meat filled. I ended up having some lo mein and sesame chicken as well. I did manage to avoid the rice, but I don’t even know if that could be considered a victory at all. Chinese food isn’t portioned, so that is very difficult for me. I am not an intuitive eater, and when given multiple portions to eat from, I tend to eat too much.

I then had 2 mini poppyseed muffins. There does seem to be some stress at my folks’ house when I go there, especially with all the boxes around and just general stuff.
So, I am not really pleased with myself at the moment.

We have a 30 mile bike ride planned to Lake George and back tomorrow, so I will work off the dinner. I must find some better way to eat when I visit my parents now that they only live 3-4 miles away now.

Another pretty good day!

Despite a lot of stress today (could I have received any more phone calls???), I did not go off plan. Food was good, and I got in a good amount of protein. I did my strength training, albeit much later than usual due to the phone, and also walked to the post office and back (about 30 min). I was going to go easy on cardio today, since I jogged the previous two days.

Been working on medical transcription study, almost ready for my mid term. I want to be able to continue with real estate flipping, but need something to fall back on, especially in this market. I have my one house that I am holding now, and will sell it in a couple years. I hope to get another flip house sometime next year. So, 40 years old and a career change. The nice thing about the MT is that if I work for a national company, I can get health insurance for John and I.

This was my strength workout today:
Chest:
1 arm seated fly: 3 sets, 10 reps at 25 pounds
resisted punch: 3 sets, 10 reps at 25 pounds

Shoulders:
Rear deltoid row: 3 sets, 10 reps at 45 pounds

Arms:
Lying triceps extension: 3 sets, 10 reps at 25 pounds
Seated bicep curls: 3 sets, 10 reps at 30 pounds

Tomorrow is weigh in day!

No stress eating!

Got a call from my tenants today that water was pouring through the ceiling. Just what I need! Had them shut the water off in the basement. Called a plumber and got over there in 1/2 an hour. I had the forethought to grab a small handful of nuts, so that I wouldn’t be too hungry.

Had to put a hole in the wall to check the bathroom plumbing, as there is no access panel. Turns out – no leaks. The plumber had a camera in the walls and everything. Pipes were dry, only the floor/ceiling was wet. Turned the water back on – no leaks.
One of the tenants splashed a lot of water out while taking a shower and it drained through the floor, which then drained through the kitchen. All that for nothing, and now I have to repair a hole in the wall. Argh! At least the plumber didn’t charge me anything since we had a hot water tank installed by them on Monday. (thank you!!!!!!)

So, then I had another appointment to be at, and just went through Dunkin Donuts drive through to get a nonfat latte so I wouldn’t be starving. No donuts!! Yay!
I was really hungry after I got done with the next house (inspection), but made it home and fixed a quick on plan dinner. Thank you NS!

A four hour unexpected detour in my day that could have really derailed me. 2 Dunkin Donuts and 2 McDonalds were on the roads I went on today.

Today’s stats:
Calorie goal: 1,400 • Consumed: 1,316 • Burned: 220
Net calories: 1,096
C/P/F ratio 58/25/18 (a little weird)

Stress bingeing

I really want to eat today. Under a lot of real estate stress right now. I had some brownies yesterday, so I really want to be in control today. But, it is hard.

There isn’t really junk in the house, but any true binger knows that you can find anything to eat if you really want to. I don’t want to eat a bunch of strawberries just to be eating something, you know? That doesn’t help me deal with the issue of using food for comfort. I am not of the mindset that a binge is okay as long as it is healthy food. A binge is a binge.

This is one of those days that I wish I had a punching bag…..