Stressful times - what to do?

blobby10

Moving house 20th July, separating from my husband of 20 years, eldest son leaving to join RAF - Im going through a bit of a stressful time at the moment and my diet is suffering. I'm comfort eating in a ridiculous manner - way too much chocolate and sugary food. Way too much coffee. Seem to have a permanently sore throat/headache/earache. Developed mild excema which I've never had before!

My question is to those of you who have been through equally and more stressful times what do you do? Do you simply keep monitoring your intake, exercise whereever possible and accept that there will be no improvements for a few weeks? (My default setting atm!) Or should I be getting cross with myself for not eating sensibly (even though I know logically that I will cope better with the stress if I'm not full of sugar, additives and caffeine!) and really pushing myself to exercise more.

I think I know the most popular answer but am genuinely interested in the coping mechanisms of others xxx

KrunchyMama

Try going for a walk. I love walking to clear my mind, but with two little ones at home right now it's not really an option for me. If you crave crunchy foods then eat veggies and dip, salty foods make plain popcorn, chocolate take a multivitamin for the magnesium and drink lots of water, and if you crave that 'full' feeling then have a protein shake or a salad with oil and vinegar for the fat. Just do the best you can, and take it one day at a time. *Hugs*

tomatoey

Sorry you're going through a rough time.

Fitness was my coping mechanism at a similar time. I felt that cardio especially offered immediate stress relief. But yeah, you could just stick to maintenance for a while, no harm in it.

sarahdayski

I suffer with stress and anxiety and have found im able to cope better if i feel better about me. I try to exercise each day as that helps to clear my head. I try and leave myself enough calories at the end of each day to have a chocie treat at night.

kshama2001

I need more exercise, more yoga, and more meditation to get through stressful times. When I separated from my husband of 14 years, I moved to a new place, where I was surrounded by new people, and immersed in new routines.

Volunteer work might be good at this time as well.

susanmc31

Wow, it does sound like a stressful time for sure. I agree with the other posters about exercising, that always helps to clear my head when I'm stressed. Also, if you have a bad day - don't be so hard on yourself!

RodaRose

Learn two or three or four breathing techniques and practice them three times a day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd94Gh4lKOA&index=1&list=PLhiNtEBsgk1SKo-3NnmoWMeu_BkRS_kgw

blobby10

I exercise first thing - usually in gym by 5am, home by 7 then prepping myself for work and kids for school, putting dinner in slow cooker, work 9-5. Tue, Wed, Thurs evenings currently taken up with rugby coaching,but im so tired atm due to rubbish diet that im exhausted by the time evening comes around. Once we move I have found a place which does Hot Hatha Yoga which sounds excellent and I cant wait to try it.

Seems like we are all exercise bunnies who thrive on it during stressy times

kindrabbit

For me I think I try a bit of both. My husband lost his best friend on Wednesday night - he was my friend to. We both went to our default settings - drink for hubby, food for me. I ate pretty much everything in sight but when all the snacks, chocolate, sweets, bread and ice cream were gone I stopped and got back to my diet. I allowed myself 48 hours of being out of control, then got back to it. I gained 3.5lbs in 48 hours and have lost 2.75lbs already. In the grand scheme of things it hasn't slowed my progress much and it was something that I just had to do. there was no point trying to fight it!

I did work out hard too. I needed to sweat it out and work through my anger.

so, my advice, don't fight it, allow yourself to indulge and then stop and get back to it.