Step backwards, but learnt a lesson.

I am still waiting for a surgery date, but I have been trying to make life changes in prepration for this journey.

Well, tonight I found myself binge eating due to stress from a situation at work that is really upsetting me.

I did stop myself half way though. Sat back and cried. Then I reached out to a couple of friends that I knew I could get support from.  ( I am blessed to have them )

Before this week happened, I was feeling strong in my progress. I felt like I was getting this under control. 

Life always reminds you there is always something to learn.

Tonight I learnt that I really need to learn to cope with stress better. I need to learn not to take on or let myself get emotional about a situation that I have no control over. I need to find an activity that I can release the stress from my work and the emotion and sometime traumatizing situations that I deal with the nature of my employment.  I wont be changing jobs anytime soon or at all. I love my job, I love my work.

Now to chug some water to get this horrible salt taste gone and I feel gross, bloated and greasy. I need to remember how yucky this feeling it and remember how awesome I feel when I eat balanced and healthy.

 Would love to know what some of you did to relieve stress, open to ideas.  

Good for you for recognizing a binge and having the presence of mind to stop! That is definite progress from where I'm sure many of us have been before - mindless binge eating, and then feeling bad afterwards. I definitely have to have distractions set up for myself to keep the food out of my mind, and help relieve stress. Reaching out to supportive friends is a great one. I have to have distractions that engage my mind. Just taking a long bath or walking around the neighbourhood/going to the gym isn't enough - I need total mental distraction at this point :p So I make sure to always have creative projects on the go like sewing or embroidery or photos I've taken that need editing. I find if I engage the other side of my brain, I get lost in what I'm doing and stop "thinking", just create. The other thing that works for when I'm totally stressed and can't get my creative juices flowing is Pinterest. I look up before/after pictures of people and their weight loss, I pin clothes I want to buy when I'm in regular sized clothes. That kind of snaps me back to my goals and reminds me that the pizza I want isn't worth it :) It's only been in the last month or so that I finally figured out that the methods I was using before (exercise, reading, taking a bath etc) weren't working because I my mind was still free to obsess over food and the need to numb my feelings. So hopefully my new distractions continue to work. I find that it really helps relieve stress for me.

Hopefully the water you're drinking will help you feel better (hate that greasy feeling!) but good work in stopping the binge :) I hope you're able to find stress relievers to help combat the urge to binge!

Thank you for the kind words.

I think will look for a physical activity to join, like a boxing class and or a yoga class but I would like to do some crafty things too.

I may dig out my sewing machine and start making quilts again or needlework to keep my hands busy.

But I think I really need to find control of my stress level and how to medicate..maybe yoga will be a good relief.

You're welcome :)

Even yoga DVD's to do at home have helped me in the past, for the times when I knew I wouldn't make it to the next class without losing my mind :p 

Greetings

TKS for reminding me about the left brain/right brain sort of things ..... I will definately start getting some creative things around me (and ones that I can NOT due and fill my face at the same time !)..... embroidery will be a GOOD one as I will not dare get anything on my hands and therefore on to my work.

Thanks Again

Arlene

You just took one step in the right direction by realizing what you did and what you need to do!!

Big Hugs! 

*hugs* Aw darlin we all all have this happen but you recognized it and corrected it. Try to be kind to yourself and go forward from there doll!

Bellafeega's right; she seems to be in all the posts I've read that she has written :).  She also seems very kind.

Mandalicious, we have all had this happen at some point pre-op, even when we thought we were very determined.  The wonderful thing is that you recognized that you are having a problem dealing with stress and emotional eating, and most impressively, you stopped eating before you ate the whole enchilada!  That's progress.  That's the first step towards success!

Post-op some people still eat the 'wrong' things if they can get away with that without dumping, too much 'good' foods, or even become problem drinkers, gamblers, excessive spenders, or take too many Rx drugs (not as prescribed), or do other harmful things as a substitute way for dealing with the stresses and depression we face in place of the food that we used to  soothe ourselves pre-op.

Learning to not dwell over things that you cannot possibly change I think is very hard, but even realizing that that's what you're doing now is another step forward.  Try and let work take a back seat to your important journey.

Our emotional eating really played a very large part in getting us to need/consider/be going through a WLS journey and we do need to get our heads sorted out.  Remember, one lapse, doesn't make anyone a failure. 

I guess you have to acknowledge what's making you hurt & cry if you feel like crying, but then go on to try and do something to cope with them, or at least divert yourself from them until the problems don't seem so important or insurmountable.

Some people have tried therapy, some people swear by cognitive behavioural type therapies.  I do see a therapist, although she's not a CBT therapist, I find it helpful to discuss many things.  Maybe seeing a therapist, even if you don't 'need' one prior to and during the first 2 years post-op should be recommended by the bariatric centres.  When my parents (even) didn't support my choice for surgery, I wasn't 'walking alone', my therapist was cheering me on and making me feel like my small successes counted all along them way - but, I'm digressing a little from your question...

I have tried going out for a walk or a swim - yes, my mind can still keep dwelling on the sad thoughts, but since I'm out of the home - with no money in my pocket, just my MP3 player, if I'm walking, I can't even buy something to drink (so bring something to drink with you always, especially after surgery :).  I find that when I do come back from a walk or sit in the sun after a swim, I feel more relaxed.  The more anxiety or sadness I have to work out, the faster I move when I'm exercising - at least I try to tire myself out.

But, you can't exercise all the time, so I also will go and talk to someone around, maybe my father in the living room, and if I really need to lift my spirits further, I'll work on some crafts that I really like to do, like make my 'haunted' dollhouse, or jewelry pieces, or I'll sort through my immense stamp collection - it always needs cataloging and placing and sorting according to date, etc., and that takes an endless amount of time.

Also, I try to drink a lot of water, and decaf coffee all the time so that I won't be able to eat (that 30 minute before & after rule) and it does fill you up post-op, and helps you convert your long-term storage fat into the kind you burn (glycogen) to lose weight.  It might be a good habit to get into pre-op?

Just remember, you are not alone in this problem and that we're here for you on OH too.

(((hugs)))

Jenn.  :)

Recognizing these emotions and thinking of coping strategies before surgery is a really good thing. You're off to a good start.