have stress?

brenn24179
brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My Dad who is 90 is in a facility and his health is declining and I found out how stressful this is this weekend and how I wanted to turn to food. His food is ground up all the time and he has to sleep on a small bed near the floor and while the place is nice, it is just so painful seeing him like this.

I know I hate to feel pain and eat but I am sure he would want me to take care of myself. I have been trying to problem solve, think I will go see him at a later time (he was sleeping at 4 and never slept during the day and this upset me) I think I will have to make my visits shorter until I get stronger or I will weigh 400 lbs if I stay a long time. I know this is reality and we will all go thru an old age thing unless we are lucky enough to just drop over. But what good am I to myself or anyone if I just eat.

Exercise is helping and am now going for a run. Also telling myself to take care of myself. How do ya deal with stress and not eat? Harder after taking away our crutch.

Replies

  • WJZR
    WJZR Posts: 98 Member
    Stress causes me to eat too. If you figure it out.... let me know. Taking a walk usually helps, but sometimes I work up an appetite! Maybe I should drink more. ( I don't drink at all!)
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Sorry about your father. That's difficult.

    For me, exercise is usually the best, but also journaling as an alternative way to deal with it. The worst is when I don't think it through and realize that I want to eat because of stress, instead of actual hunger. Journaling helps me figure that out. Related to that but less direct are things like making lists of goals for the week or planning menus or some such. Oddly enough thinking about food in a productive way, such as planning a healthy meal, tends to substitute for snacking and get my mind onto a better path.
  • WJZR
    WJZR Posts: 98 Member
    Yes... sorry your dad is not doing well..... but glad you can still go see him. I miss my daddy so much.

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