Vocabulary Review

1. Slip up- makes a careless error.
2. Habit- a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.
3. Binge- a short period devoted to indulging in an activity to excess, especially drinking alcohol or eating.
4. Overeating- eating too much
5. Excuse- a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offence.

Well I feel like I am on a constant roller coaster of eating and (for obvious reasons) on a plateau for my weight. I was thinking about a way to have a "come to Jesus" self talk so I started listing words that I use too much and incorrectly. Slip up, I am constantly saying I am having a slip up when I come home in the evenings and over eat. The problem with my vocabulary usage is that this "slip up" is happening about 3 times a week every week and therefore is no longer a "slip up" but an actual habit. I am also not going to refer to it as overeating any more, it is a binge. I will go an entire day of eating very healthy, staying on track, lots of veggies and fruits and then I will enter my home and feel the weight of the days stress and try to bury them with snack foods and an overindulgent supper within a couple hours. I am not going to label my stress as an excuse, my stress is no greater than anyone else, in fact, it's much less than many of my friends and family. So how do I change?

I think that recognizing this pattern as a habit will help me to approach it in a new manner. I can no longer allow myself to indulge and use stress as an excuse. My life is good, I have a awesome job, love my family, friends, and everything that's happening is very positive. I love to workout, which most people wouldn't say and have a great way to burn off any built up stress. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about my days that I binge is that it usually happens on days when I haven't gotten enough sleep and when I am not working out in the evening.

My goal for the next month is to hit the hay by 10 p.m. every night and to either workout in the evening or to go on a walk to keep away from the kitchen! If I need to unwind at the end of the day and have no energy I will try calling a friend to chat, read a book to the kids, have a cup a tea and/or a glass of water, take the kids to the park or to the lake to feed the fish. I need to be more proactive about nipping this habit in the butt and getting back on track. I AM going to make my goal weight by my birthday, 5 weeks and I will be in the best shape at 32 years old!

I CAN DO THIS!

School Year + Exhaustion = No Will Power

This week has been wonderful, stressful, and all around crazy. The pros of school starting up are numerous. I love being back in the school with all of my coworkers and the wonderful kids. I enjoy sharing my passion for math and science and creating lessons that make learning exciting. I also greatly enjoy that the day zooms by and I barely have time to sit down let alone mindlessly eat... that is until about 6pm. The minute I get home I am a starvin' Marvin and ravage anything and everything. We currently have very little in our home so I have been binging on sunflower seeds, graham crackers, popcorn, and diet pop. I know, why am I drinking diet pop again?!? Arg... I have been drinking WAY more water and that has helped a great deal. 

So how did this happen? Change in routine, over exhaustion, brain/ thoughts going a hundred miles an hour, too many things to accomplish and not enough time to finish it all! I feel like I spend so much time at the school and yet there are others who are there even longer and then I feel conflicted. Is is bad that I leave once a week by 4pm so that I can go to my favorite workout class? I'm there more than 9 hours most days?!? I go in many Sunday evenings during the school year and bring things home to work on? I am also starting to worry about my graduate courses and how  I'm going to fit those in as well as take care of my family and myself. I really don't want to see all my hard work toward my health to go down the drain due to stress.

How can I manage it? My ideas for starting fresh next week are to schedule in my workouts and to always have a plan b. I also need to make sure to pre pack healthy snacks and lunches to keep at work so I don't come home famished! I need to also spend part of Sunday pre planning evening meals, maybe that will help me to avoid binging on foods that I don't need or want to eat. Or I could plan my workouts for the evenings when I have been vegging on the couch mindlessly munching away... but I'm so tired... I will have to force myself to go to bed earlier and whatever doesn't get done... doesn't get done.

Okay, now to head to bed and set my plan in motion. (YAWN).