My Life Long Dieting Challenge

Another  challenge. This has been a dieting difficulty all my life,  and so far with this particular eating style, it has not been a serious problem. However, the circumstances that set up this challenge for me has not yet arisen. Yet.......

I am a serious stress eater. When I am stressed about something, my desire, my natural instinct is to eat, and eat a lot.

I first realized seriousness of my stress eating when both my parents had stage 4 cancer at the same time. During the months that they were in the hospital together, I thought about food all the time. I was continually planning where and what my next meal would be. I sought out every form of comfort food I could find. During every meal I ate till I was not just full, but stuffed. I had no control at all.

Since that time, I have eaten my way though many stressful experiences. Most of which have been family illnesses. However, the truth is that even after mildly stressful experiences, I often want a hamburger. That is not good.

Conscious eating and stress eating are not compatible. If you are doing one you can not do the other.  So far the conscious eating plan has worked quite well, and even while helping to prepare for our son’s wedding, during the wedding, and after the wedding, I never, not one time, ate beyond the full feeling in my stomach. I consider that a victory, and it gives me hope for being able to control my eating during future stressful moments.