Hi, guys! Good morning!
Did anyone else have a WTF Monday? Seriously. WHAT happened yesterday? I even planned out my day, nice and neat the night before with every intention of dominating my To Do list and rocking life. Well, yesterday was a big ol’ WTF on all fronts. Barely anything got done and nothing was working out… technology issues, random delays, miscommunication, yada yada. I was in such a bad mood and needed a seriously attitude adjustment, so I finally said “F it” and gave up for the day.
I ended up getting Qman early from daycare and cracking open a bottle of wine, which we drank outside in the sunshine on our back deck, so the rest of Monday ended up being much better. Let’s hope Tuesday is a much more productive day!
Anyway, my day was semi-stressful (well, mostly just annoying), so I found myself reaching for a lot more junk/sugar than I normally do. Stress eating is definitely something that’s a work in progress for me, but I know when I’m aware and prepared, I’m better able to deal with it.
Here’s a recap of my Monday In Meals with a few strategies that help me make better/healthy-ish food choices when I’m stressed out and want to eat everything in sight.
- Breakfast: Overnight oats made with cottage cheese, almond milk, cinnamon, and raisins
- Workout: Treadmill workout (on CNC Instagram)
- Snack: Toast with a smashed hard-boiled egg with Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend on top. FYI: If you don’t live near a Trader Joe’s, you can Amazon Prime it right to your front door!
- Lunch: Leftover Rotisserie Chili Lime Chicken (recipe from Real Food Slow Cooker Recipes – save 30% with code CARROTS30) with roasted broccoli, Kabocha squash, and buffalo sauce + 2 Cookie Dough Protein Balls
- Snacks: Chocolate Chip Larabar + another Cookie Dough Protein Ball + a big pear + iced almond milk latte <— 100% stress eating
- Dinner: Southwest Chicken Lettuce Wraps (insanely easy and delicious – recipe on CNC tomorrow)
- Dessert: Wine
How I deal with stress eating (via stream of consciousness):
- Acknowledge the feeling: I’m stressed. This sucks.
- Pep talk: Don’t freak out. This has happened before, and you can handle it.
- Portion control: Ok, you’re stressed out and you want ALLTHESUGAR. It’s okay. How about we enjoy something delicious that is portion controlled? That way, we don’t eat the entire box/bag because it’s tough to keep in together when you’re stressed. [insert favorite portion controlled treat] My current favorites: Chocolate Chip Larabars, Brownie Crunch thinkTHIN bars, Whey2B! Cookies.
- Repeat pep talk and move on to other strategies, including eating something healthy (my go-to is fresh fruit), take Murphy for a walk, change locations (i.e. run an errand) <— depends on the situation and current stress level
Question of the Day
Are you a stress eater? How do you deal?