Sometimes, despite all your best efforts and intentions, things go wrong. The baby decides to party all night instead of sleeping through it. The husband has the flu (which he is SURE is the Swine Flu and means intensive care from you, at home). Your coffee is cold AND winds up spilling all over your pants. There's no more orange juice/ milk/eggs/bread/toilet paper. Your boss says he needs to talk to you, and you know what THAT means these days... pink slip! Your college student child calls from school and says that the $3,000 tuition is due NOW, and dude, where's the check? Or worse. . .
You're stressed, and rightly so. Seldom does a day go by without us experiencing some level of stress. You want to reach for the first item that will "take you away from it all" if only for just a minute, namely chocolate. Or maybe your favorite "get away" snack is something salty and crunchy. Popcorn, or chips? Is there any dip left? Tell me you didn't dip into the kids' snacks! Then, guess what? You still feel bad, but now you have guilty, empty calories nagging at you. If you don't feel bad, then you're already backslidin' into your old evil, self-indulgent ways, honey-pot!
If you don't have the benefit of a personal trainer or nutritionist (and I am so BLESSED to have Michelle, the Shapes specialty trainer, helping me out - I couldn't afford to hire any, for sure!), check out http://www.sparkpeople.com/ on the Internet. I LOVE this website! I log my nutrition and exercise workouts each day on this site. For tracking nutrition, all you have to do is look up the food item and enter the amount, and sparkpeople.com does the rest with calories, carbs, sodium, and so forth. The site even lets you enter your weight, how much weight you want to lose, how long you think it'll take (and they check you on that, trust me!), and all kinds of statistics. You can printout the daily totals in summary, if you like. The same goes for exercise; just find the activity you completed, and enter the total time. Best of all, this site is F-R-E-E!
Sometimes stress really gets to me if I haven't had something to eat - being diabetic, I really need to keep tabs on my nutrition. Now that I am striving for healthier habits, I try not to resort to eating when I become stressed. I've been reaching for ice water instead, or if my stress is hunger-related, opting for a low-calorie snack within my plan.
Here's what an ordinary day of food looks like for me:
Breakfast, I usually have "Grandma Toast" which I included in my last post. I add a sliced banana over the top. Sometimes I'll have a cup of cherries or a medium apple in place of the banana.
Mid-morning, I have a serving of fruit (a cup of grapes, cherries, medium pear or apple) and either an ounce of almonds or a low-fat cheese stick (that's STICK, not STEAK!). Protein is important for me.
Lunch is usually on the run, but I try to get to Subway's and pick up a turkey breast salad. I ask for cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes, and for dressing, just a shot of red wine vinegarette or one of the other sauces that they offer, and with a very light hand. All of Subway's sauces are low-fat and low-calorie, and much tastier than some of the packaged salad dressings they offer. Other times, I ask for a little oil and vinegar.
Mid-afternoon I usually have a South Beach Living high protein cereal bar. Chocoholic that I am, I really like the cinnamon raisin and peanut butter ones the best.
Dinner is usually pretty basic, with a simple protein like lean meat, chicken or fish, tossed salad, steamed vegetables, and rice, sweet potatoes, or whole wheat pasta. Every once in a while I'll have a baked potato with plain yogurt instead of sour cream.
Michelle has recommended that for my weight, I have a range of calories per day of 1,700 t0 1,900. We also keep track of starchy carbohydrates, which is about from 4 to 6, depending on which day I'm on.
My prayer for you this week is that you will be able to handle whatever comes your way, and remember that you are not alone! God is in charge. You know, "when life brings you to it, the Lord will get you through it!"
So, handle your stress, don't let it handle you!
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