Monday, April 4, 2011

Fried

I had a pretty craptastic weekend. It began with my daughter having some sort of stomach bug and being up all night Friday and Saturday. Because of the lack of sleep, I wasn't much in the energy department and my house has suffered. In fact, it's a total wreck. Anyone who knows me, knows I prefer things neat and tidy. Having kids has been quite the adjustment in that department. So by the end of the weekend, I had gotten almost no sleep, had a kink in my neck from laying with my daughter in my arms for 8 hours, had been puked on (not baby spitted up on, but puked on), my house was a wreck, I had only gotten the bare minimum of walking in (no Jillian Michaels), and had not managed to get any studying for my Accounting test done.

I tell you all this to expose a realization I have uncovered. And that is I am stress eater. Last night was the first time since I threw the last Snickers wrapper away that I was really yearning for one. I seriously contemplated it. I came up with different scenarios in my head that would minimize the calories. I would try to find a bite size one. I would eat only half and put the other half in the freezer. I would make my husband eat most of it right away, leaving me with only a little bit. I'm happy to report that I did not give in to my desires. I did, however, cheat. I ate 3/4 cup (equivalent to 3 servings) of my trail mix that has chocolate pieces in it. And while calorie wise it wasn't much better than a Snickers, it had nuts and seeds comprising a large portion of the nutritional value. A setback to be sure, but it didn't open the door to remembering what that deliciously nutty, chocolatey combination tastes like.

Today presented its challenges in the world of my life, as well. I fared much better in the face of my stress today, though. After having not been to a fast food joint in 5 weeks, I was there twice today. My son asked me once and he had been super duper good all day, so I gave in. I contemplated getting a little chicken nugget kids meal for myself, I thought "what's the harm", but I resisted. I did get a fruit and yogurt parfait (160 calories, 2g fat) and a bottle of water. Later in the day, my husband wanted McDonald's for dinner because tonight was my seafood night. The smell of the fries on the way home was almost too much to bare. Those salty, greasy, hot sticks of potato made me want to rip the bag to shreds and lick the sides of the fry box. But I didn't. I fought through the draw of the aroma and made it home, fry free. I made my gnocchi, asparagus, shrimp, and pesto and it was delectable. Totally worth the torture of the ride home.

Out of the ashes of this weekend I have added another weapon to my arsenal. Understanding what triggers my "eating fits" is a huge hurdle for me. Those nights of Snickers and soda make a whole lot more sense to me right now.

2 comments:

  1. Oh my god, your dinner sounds SO SO SO much better than McDonald's. Do you offer cooking lessons?

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  2. I don't do cooking lessons, but I do have a food blog at http://whats-that-smell.tumblr.com/. Thanks for reading!

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