Stress Eating – Under Stress, We Say Yes!

Last weekend, I went to a coaching conference in Washington D.C.

While I was there, I had very little hunger. As a result, I didn’t eat very much the entire weekend.

As I thought back on the weekend, I wondered why I had eaten so little. I had few urges to eat and rarely even thought about food.

I considered the fact that I was very busy having a lot of FUN.

I was with a wonderful group of coaches, learning and socializing together all weekend long. On Saturday, we went to see the cherry blossoms in the city.

Saturday night was purely social – I even got talked into doing karaoke.

Yes, me — “Stop in The Name of Love” may never sound the same again! 🙂

But I don’t think those factors really made the difference, because I keep very busy here at home, and I can create fun anytime I want to.

The really important factor seemed to be more about what was NOT there during the weekend – factors such as phones, faxes, email, hungry children, dirty laundry, dishes piled in the sink, and a dog that pesters me to go walking (not a bad thing!)

Demands, responsibilities, stress – all zapped out with one simple plane flight!

It’s not that I would change my life in any extreme way, but it sure is nice to extract the stress and see what is there.

It reminded me of a saying I once heard “under stress we say yes!”

It’s the self-talk I didn’t hear . . .

“I’ll just have _______, then I will be able to ________.”

And the constant demands and responsibilities, all by my own choosing, “Mom, can you _________? “Honey, would you mind ________? “If I can just get these last few chapters written . . .”

I realize that I can recreate that stress-free feeling by doing kind things and taking more time for me.

I tend to work too hard, and can feel overwhelmed trying to meet all the demands.

I can be more intentional about decreasing stress, setting more boundaries and counteracting stress with fun activities and social time.

I don’t know anything that will increase stress more than failure to set boundaries.

A break from all those responsibilities and demands sure makes life look a lot clearer.

How about you? Are you taking enough time for you? What can you subtract in your life to feel less stressed?

Here’s to seeing cherry blossoms more often!