What does stress do to you? For me stress would always cause me to eat. And I would eat all the wrong things, but at that time I found it comforting. That was in the past. I have been tested with stress over and over the past few weeks. I have learned that I now deal with stress in a different way. food is not my source of comfort. I tend to want to exercise, and my exercise is walking. It is amazing how walking makes me feel so much better, and dealing with the stress is easier. I have walked EVERYDAY for the last 8 months--never missing a day--I used to walk 4 to 5 days a week. In Sept 2012 I challenged myself to walk everyday for a month. It just became a habit, and now I am still walking. I am sure there are many of you out there that have your own ways of dealing with stress.
After having sleeve surgery with Dr. Aceves in 2008, my life has change 100% for me. It seems like we as society do everything around food. We have Holiday’s, and it always involves food, we go out with friends and it is always involves food. Sometimes we tend to give food to our kids to make them happy too—food seems to be the answer for everything in the world we live in! I just want you to know that all of these things can be managed, and you can learn to deal with being around food. You have to make a permanent lifestyle change. That change means eating healthy foods, eating small amounts of food. I suggest that if you are going to any social event or meeting with friends, try to plan ahead. If you have some idea of the food that is going to be there, that is helpful. You can also offer to bring something—make it a healthy snack or food that you can eat. Introduce other people to good healthy foods that taste yummy too! Yes, I have a desert now and then, but only a small amount of it. I never feel deprived.
So if it is stress or a Holiday, these events all very doable. The best way to deal with them, is to make a plan. You can eat before you go, bring things to where you are going that are healthy and taste good. It is amazing once people figure out that you can eat healthy, and the food can taste great too, it solves so many issues in life. It takes time to learn to deal with these things, but I am always here to help you and support you and to cheer you on to become successful in your weight loss journey.
Don’t let fear paralyze you. We are all out here to help and support you. I had some wonderful people help me when I was having a difficult time. I laugh now because if anyone would have told me that a nice long walk would feel better than food when I was stressed out, I would have thought they were crazy! It works for me. What do you do about stress and attending social events that involve food?
If you are sitting out there trying to make up your mind about have Weight Loss Surgery, it is the only thing that has ever worked for me. I lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. NEVER ever give up on your dreams to lose the weight you want to lose and become a whole new person that is happy and healthy!
