Oh joy and fun in the world of healthy living...or, as the case may be the world of healthy hoping. Living? Not so healthy. Reading over my posts of the last week leaves me noting: A) I have a lot of work stress right now; and B) it is affecting my health. Who knew stress could be bad for you? Oh, that's right - everyone.
What to do when life gets overwhelming? Well, first, if you can find a moment, it is probably worthwhile to consider if the stressor itself can be removed, and it sometimes can. Even if it is your job or your mother in law or your neighbors or things you think you have little or no control over. My favorite anecdote about this is a friend whose neighbor threatened her because she removed the (illegal) lawn chairs saving "his" space on a public street in the winter time. The forecast snow hadn't even come that day! Anyway, loooong story short, she moved to a house with a garage. Pretty drastic, but the point is, you do have the power to take a stand or remove yourself from situations, if you deem it necessary.
In my case, the stress of my job is cyclical because it is project oriented. New project is assigned, I've got a schedule for delivery weeks or months in the future, and life is good. Suddenly, its weeks or months later and I've been assigned three other projects all due on the same day, and panic begins to take over. That's been me, and, it turns out, my "goal of the day" project doesn't work as well when I'm in this mode.
I guess, if I'm in a lets-make-lemonade-from-these-lemons kinda mood, its one of the joys of healthy living that doing the same old thing doesn't work every old time. At least it isn't boring!
So, my new strategy (for this week) is to use the simply filling option of Weight Watchers. For those unfamiliar, its a strategy by which one eats only when hungry, and only specific foods. A food not on the list is tracked, and you are allowed only 49 points-worth for the week. The first time I tried this, it was a complete and utter failure. I cheated. I decided low fat cheese was basically the same as non-fat; I could eat brown rice in mass quantities; and wheat chex were pretty darn close to plain shredded wheat so they were allowed.
I gained four pounds and learned that "no substitutions" applies to this plan. I've tried it successfully since that first time, with the correct ingredients. First thing to do: shop. Second thing: Pack. Last (hopefully): Fagettabatit. (That's "Forget About It" with a Brooklyn accent. Or Boston. I'm not picky. And I'm from neither place.) What I mean by it is, focus on the three projects that are due on Friday, and hope that I've set myself up for mostly mindless success.
I'll try to check in with a post or two...but you may not hear from me till Saturday.
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