Stress

I have a lovely life, and wouldn't swap it for anything. But that doesn't mean I don't get stressed out like everyone else. And I do get stressed. I sometimes feel as is I have more stress than I could cope with.

So has anything changed with our new way of eating? In some ways, yes. Strangely enough, our new way of thinking and eating all actually came about at one of my most stressful times. I found it actually gave me a new focus, something to believe in, and it became a distraction that actually helped my stress levels reduce. When weight started to disappear I was more able to handle stress, because I had something completely different to think about that needed my attention.

Our weight loss philosophy is all about being in control. For us, it's not willpower, it's CONTROL. If we are in control, then we make decisions rather than apply willpower - a very subtle difference, but it is a very powerful one for us. We DECIDE what we want to eat, and make that experience as pleasurable as possible. We eat things like real chip shop fish and chips, pizza and pasty. But we do all this within the confine (and control) of our daily energy (calorie) allowance. If we want to fit our desires into our daily allowance, then we do (and believe me WE DO).

When I am really stressed, I focus on what I'm doing now with my successful weight loss plan which is usually enough to distract me, but if it doesn't I do eat whatever it is that I feel I want. I understand stress does something to the levels of insulin in the body, and for me, this seems to increase my need for sugary foods. I may have a bag of hard boiled sweets to hand which I can munch through and I may decide to alter my menu for the day to compensate for this. But if I end up having a really bad eating day, then so be it. One bad day won't break things will they and we are after all, human beings and not robots.

In fact one of the greatest stress busters I've discovered is WALKING. It can blow away the cobwebs and the great thing is, if I have over-indulged in anything, the walking will help balance things out.