Stress and Weight Gain

It's alright. If I can admit it, you can too. For those of us who are compulsive eaters, during times of stress, crisis, and trama, food is our comfort, our friend, our drug of choice. Even though we may have great faith in God and recognize His Presence in our difficult situation, we still cling to food for release and escape.
During the months of turmoil and anguish when my parents both had stage 4 cancer and were in the hospital for weeks at the same time. Food was never far from the ''front burner' in my mind. Many days, by 10:00 a.m., I had already decided what I was going to have for lunch even though it was less than who hours since I had had breakfast. As soon as I finished lunch, I started thinking about dinner. And there ya go. Day after day. Week after Week. Month after month. The pounds kept on coming.
After Daddy passed away, the major stress was over, but the bad eating habits were, well, habits and I did not have what it took to change them. Till now.
I'm not sure why now, except that my daughter gave me hope and inspiration about a month ago when she began to tell me about the diet she and her husband had started. I was ready to embrace this new way of eating with commitment from my head and not emotion from my heart.
In Mary Kay I have learned that working from commitment will keep you focused on a task even when your emotions make you want to quit. Making a decision to change your eating habits is no different.
There are, there will be times when you just don't feel like eating right. It is in those moments, and that is what they are --moments, that the strength of our commitment will take charge over our emotions, pull us through and give us true victory.
Our emotions then will be in charge when we step on the scales and see the numbers going down or when we put on that previously tight outfit and WooooooHoooooo! it is not tight any more. Yea! Cheers!
I write this last paragraph not as one who has allowed this commitment concept to be the dominating control in my life during times of stress. I write instead as one who is a fellow struggler, as one who still gives in to emotional eating from time to time. My charge and challenge to all of us is to, during times of stress and crisis, allow our commitment to becoming a healthy person be in control of what we eat. Yes, again, easier said than done, but we WILL reap a harvest of benefits by being stronger the next time we have a difficult moment, as well as being able to shop for clothes in a smaller size!