Another 5 lbs down!

What’s notable about this to me, is I’m doing this during the most stressful time of the year with my work. Stress is one of the leading causes of weight gain. Historically when the stress is high I’ll eat my way through it:)

This time I’m coping very well. Here are the main things I’ve noticed during this stressful time.

• Mindfulness – I’m able to better manage my emotions by pausing and focussing on my breathing when waves of stress arrive. Then I focus on gratitude for my blessings. When you focus on the things that matter most, everything else kind of gets put into it’s place. One example of this was in a majorly stressful moment I simply took a deep breath and went outside to play catch with my son. I was able to return to work in a different, clearer, mindset.
• Increased Mental Capacity – I have noticed ideas are flowing much better. I’m able to process information more rapidly. Our brain is a supercomputer, and when you feed it the right programming it will thank you with increased wisdom. Programming is what you are eating as well as the information you take in.
• More Energy – I’m able to work more effectively longer. I’m also not so worn out by the end of the day that I can’t spend time with my family. I’m thinking of cool hobbies to start up. These things weren’t possible a month ago.
• Community of Support – I’m still tempted all the time. Food is good! Bad food tastes very good much of the time. I’m grateful that the food I’m eating does taste good so there’s minimal suffering going on. That said I’ve missed the traditional foods that I associate with Holidays. The community of friends, coworkers, family, and people who would like to see me fail (I’m haven’t encountered one of these yet, but I’m sure they’re out there) drive me in those moments when I feel like tearing into something that I know could derail my gains.
• Meals Made Easy – I mentioned the food I have access to is good, and perfectly proportioned. I eat 6 time a day. The best part, and critical part for me is it’s all planned out so I don’t have to go hunting for food when I’m hungry. In the past I would stop to get a bite wherever was convenient, and that typically led to poor choices. If I was driving I needed a milkshake to stay awake right? That’s the program my brain was running. It’s running a new program now!

Stress is a killer, but you can cope with it much better when you have a good physical and mental health health balance.