This Meme rings really true for me because for most of my life I have known little about how to eat. I’ve always been active but never conscious of what I was eating or how to plan to eat better. I remember when I first moved in with Larry he was astonished at the junk I kept in our cabinets, “Why do you have all these little kid, junk food snacks?”  He never kept junk food in his place and I didn’t even realize not buying it was a good idea until I saw his eating habits first hand. Did everyone have cheezits and chocolate covered pretzels at the ready for after work de-stress?

While I have improved greatly in making good food choices during moments of stress, I know how HARD it is to make good food choices when you’re feeling overwhelmed. I’m very aware that if I have a goal I’m training for I put effort into eating better. I also have eaten crap before difficult workouts and in turn felt like I was being tortured the entire duration of the workout. Physically, I remember this feeling making it easier to pass up teacher lounge baked goods and cheese trays.

The biggest thing that has helped me avoid stress bingeing is not putting myself in situations where I get too hungry. When I get hungry it is bad news. I get full on HANGRY.  I have an inability to make rational decisions. The worst is traveling and getting too hungry. Whether I’m traveling or just going to work for the day. I roll deep with snacks in my car, gym bag and work. At work, I keep a file drawer filled with tea, almonds, cashews, dark chocolate, a few smart waters. I still plan for a healthy week but some days I’m just hungrier than others and I want to have options available to me instead of the cake in the staff lounge.

The last tip that has helped me not over do it in an unhealthy direction is to not deny myself cravings entirely. I try and pass on junk food unless it is really well made/high quality. For example, there’s one bakery in San Diego called Anything Bundt Cakes that is my absolute favorite! If anyone ever brings in cupcakes from there I have half (because they are gigantic). Eating them brings me insane amounts of happiness. However, if someone brings cake from anywhere else I can usually pass. I want to make sure it’s worth the slice, in other words.

 

Action Steps:

1) Roll with healthy snacks at work and in your purse & increase your hydration. Often when we are dehydrated we FEEL hungrier.

2) Try and lessen the junk you have in your home or think of alternatives that give you a similar satisfaction but don’t break the nutrition bank. A while back I was on a roll getting frozen yogurt 3 nights a week. I’ve since subbed it out for Noosa coconut yogurt and haven’t missed the fro yo.

3) Be discerning about desserts and cheat snacks. High quality dark chocolate. HELL YES! A  Three Muskateers bar? Um, no thank you.

4) Try and figure out why you’re lunging for junk food and if you’re really okay with going for it. If you decide to go for it, enjoy your cake without guilt or shame. Or take a pass because well, it’s not worth it to you.