STRESS!

Wow! What a crazy couple of weeks I just lived! I think my weight has stayed the same. I lost 5 pounds but then I gained it back. Gaining weight seems to be a pre-mentral pattern based on the past 4 months; however, I feel different right now. My body feels bloated and big. There are no excused--that is one thing I've learned. It IS all up to me and I know that I will figure out how to lose and keep the weight off. I need help dealing with stress. I can see a lifetime of PAST patterns where I ate4 under stress, I didn't get enough sleep when I was stressed so I ate simple carbs for quick energy, and I ateto basically feel better--all of the time. This past week I have felt hungry all the time. There are a couple of days when I ate 3 protein bars before 10 am (of course I was getting up at 2:30 a.m. because I couldn't sleep). Last week, I finished a fundraiser that I was in charge of at my daughter's school. It was the first year of the school and the fundraiser; I hadn't organzied a fundraiser before nor had the other leaders. I also didn't know any of the other parents so I had to depend on complete strangers (and some of them didn't follow through). I have been without an assistant at my office for about 4 weeks -- stress!!!! My business has kept me working very long hours. I am greatful that my business does so well. (A new assistant just started on Friday--yeah!). I had out-of-town company--my nephew, his wife, two small children and my brother-in-law. They came the day before the fundraiser and they stayed two days after the fundraiser. Then, I had my birthday and I had lots of family and friends visits. We had no laundry or groceries by the time it was all said and done. Last friday I had a breakfast meeting, a lunch meeting, and a dinner meeting -- no kidding! And Saturday, my friend took me to dinner and a movie for my birthday--she chose our favorit pizza place. I ate a salad and one piece of pizza. My sister-in-law bought a huge ice cream cake. I threw the left overs away (I still feel guilty but I couldn't be tempted). What I know for sure is that I feel much better when I only eat the foods that are on the program! I did well considering that it was the first time since I started the program that I was faced with this amount of stress. I only ate one small piece of cake, one piece of pizza and I ate salads at all of those meals. It is a new week and I am excited to be back on track! This has been a good experience because now I know what it feels like to over-eat. I love how I feel on the program--I don't ever want to go back to how I used to be!