Last Monday I woke up like any other day. I put on my work out clothes and headed out of my apartment door and walked to the gym. This is my favorite part of the day. It’s still quiet outside and it’s just me, the birds and my thoughts. I like to get to the gym before most other people, when all I hear is my thread mill running and one TV in the background.
Last Monday however did not go as smoothly. As soon as I walked up the stairs to sign into my gym, my phone rang. It was my fiance telling me that our apartment manager and a bunch of workers were at the apartment to test for mold. Apparently our upstairs neighbors had a huge kitchen leak and they needed to test and make sure it wasn’t coming down into our apartment.
Fun.
Sensing the panic from my fiance, I slowly turned around and walked back down the stairs, out of the gym and back to my house. That was the last time this week that I saw the gym.
Since Monday, we’ve been put up in a different hotel every night. They aren’t sure when the problem will be resolved and don’t or can’t make a commitment to us about the time frame we will be away from the apartment. They are buying all our meals, but that has led to us eating out every meal and ultimately, not eating very well. I feel sluggish and tired and overall extremely stressed out. Not knowing the state of our apartment, when we’ll be able to move back in or how all our belonging are holding up is making me anxious.
Needless to say, I gained weight this week. Not as much as I could have but still it’s a plus on the scale and not a minus. I feel defeated. What do people do with so much stress in their lives? Usually I would say “Go work out!” but I don’t feel motivated, I just feel upset.
How do people on diets or life changes deal with the unexpected?
Seeing how negatively I was affected from this situation last week, I know I need to make some changes. I need to keep as many things as I can the same, I need the routine to keep me from being a stress ball and to stop me from overeating and choosing bad things for me. I am making a list and hoping if I check things off then I’ll feel a sense of accomplishment again and have better luck sticking to my diet.
Things I want to accomplish this week:
- Walk five miles every day. (I was doing this before the mold problem and can easily walk around our hotel to get in exercise.)
- Choose healthier items when dining out.
- two salads a day.
- Drink more water.
- No more sweets!
Hopefully by writing down my goals I will be more successful in overcoming my stress eating and I will find more productive ways of releasing tension. How do you deal with unexpected and stressful situations when you’re on a diet?
Realize that a change in our lives needs to mean a change in what you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. Look at the unexpected as a way to see how far you come and how you can make the most out of a crappy situation. See what you can do to exercise in a new and different way, your body will respond well to it. Also, don’t see eating out as something that has to make you gain wait. We can’t control what goes on around us but we can control what we put in our mouths. Be glad that your gain was so minimal and I have learned from experience that writing down goals and looking at them every day will be a big boost, also get someone to keep you accountable to them as well (although a blog is pretty much as accountable as you can get
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