I Need Comfort Food, I'm STRESSED!!!

Yeah, so what, I'm stressed. What's YOUR problem, fish breath?

Stress REALLY sucks, doesn't it? Today has been one of those days that I wish I had never gotten out of bed. Actually, this whole week has been just a wee bit on the stressful side and it all came to a head today.

Here's some of what I'm dealing with:

- We have three people out at my job this week which has put the added pressure on the rest of us to take up the slack in their absence. This is on top of our move to a new floor late last week and losing our manager three weeks ago. The workload is up, the workers are down, and the STRESS has been in full supply this week. AAAAACK!

- My beloved wife Christine had her long-awaited gall bladder surgery on Wednesday morning and is now home recovering. Her mother (my mother-in-law--need I say more? LOL!) is here to be with her during her recovery. While I am glad she had the gall bladder removed and hopefully it will take care of her problem, it has still been quite taxing on the nerves. EEEEK!

- I met up with Hannah Sutter and Kevin Dorren from the GoLower company this evening as they were driving through Spartanburg, South Carolina to see me. I tried to do an audioblog with them, but it didn't work. Then, on the way home from eating dinner with them, I was turning at a red light and hit a 70-year old man driving a motorcycle. While the impact was only about 10 mph, it freaked me out seeing him fall off the bike. Thank you Jesus he is doing fine and was not seriously hurt, but the STRESSSSSSSS of all this was a bit much for me.

CALGON, TAKE ME AWAY!!! I need comfort food, I'm STRESSED!!!

Can I get a witness anyone? I'm sure my silly little stories of being stressed pale in comparison to others of you who have even worse stresses than me. But all that stress can take its toll on the body by causing a decline in your health and an increase in your weight.

Why?

Well, the stress you take on lowers your immune system and makes you susceptible to contracting diseases. It can impair your senses and cause you to react in ways you may not normally do. I not be so sure this one about be dee be dee be dee. :O

My shoulders have already tightened up so much it makes me want to go work it all off at the gym, which is a pretty good idea for relieving stress by the way. Perhaps a few hours on the elliptical this weekend would be good for me. And I know my recent weight loss efforts to get those few extra pounds off are going to be effected.

Then there's the dreaded emotional eating we turn to in order to feel better. Aw, you know you've done it. Life deals you some blows and you reach for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with Hershey's syrup, candied pecans, whipped cream and a cherry on top. After all, stressed spelled backwards is DESSERTS, so don't lie, you KNOW you've done it and so have I...in the past.

While I did admittedly have a bowl of low-carb ice cream with whipped cream on top when I got home from the car accident to "feel better," I was going to eat it anyway since I did not have any dessert at supper. But it sure was gratifying to grab a healthier comfort food in my time of stress than to reach for the high-sugar, high-carb options most people choose.

Let this be a word to the wise: Just because you are stressed doesn't mean your low-carb commitment should be a mess. I have confessed my stress to you and shown you it IS possible to stick with livin' la vida low-carb in the midst of it.

YOU CAN DO IT, too! Comfort food doesn't have to be carb-y food, so make up your mind before the stress comes that you will be good on your low-carb plan (and the stress WILL come!).

Make your promise -- cross your heart and swear to die, stick a finger in your eye! :D Okay, now you're good to go.

BUT PLEASE, NO MORE STRESS THIS WEEK!!! :-~

6-23-06 UPDATE: Oh, this was PERFECT timing to illustrate my point. My fellow blogger Connie Bennett from the SUGAR SHOCK! blog wrote about the STRESS she has been dealing with lately and how it has led to her weight gain. Send her some encouragement to get through this time because SHE CAN DO IT!