Stress and maintaining a diet
Moderators: Soprano, automatedeating
Stress and maintaining a diet
I was cruising along for a month on the nos diet and didnt have a red day. things got tight financially, i now have a part time job and havent been able to maintain due to a really screwed up schedule. If ones mind isn't in a right place, there is no way one can keep up with any diet plan. anyone know how to keep on this plan while working for 12-14 hours a day?
-
blueskighs
- Posts: 1787
- Joined: Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:11 am
- Location: California
Jerry Lee,
Sorry to hear about your tuff situation. Are you working two different jobs to add up to 12-14 hours? I think it would depend on how your work schedules go together ...
breakfast before the first, whatever lunch break if you have one and an early dinner before the second or late after the second according to your preference?
It will take discplining and planning, food preparation on the weekends for the week? I think the key will just have to be a commitment to prepare food ahead of time,
Blueskighs
Sorry to hear about your tuff situation. Are you working two different jobs to add up to 12-14 hours? I think it would depend on how your work schedules go together ...
breakfast before the first, whatever lunch break if you have one and an early dinner before the second or late after the second according to your preference?
It will take discplining and planning, food preparation on the weekends for the week? I think the key will just have to be a commitment to prepare food ahead of time,
Blueskighs
www.nosdiet.blogspot.com Where I blog daily about my No S journey
JerryLee - I'm sorry about your job - that's really tough stuff to deal with. Stress is my biggest problem when it comes to trying to stay on NoS. All I can say is that eating too much won't solve the stress problem. It can't. It may anaesthetise you for a while, but it won't help you. In fact, it is counterproductive in the long run because it makes you fatter, way more tired and far less fit. It also adds to feeling out of control - and it's horrible for the budget...
My biggest problem when I am overworked like that is that I have no time to plan meals and I am so focussed on just surviving that i chuck all self restraint out the window and just indulge myself with food on the grounds that I will just give myself this chocolate because I have to get through this particular difficult stage...hmmm
But that doesn't work.
Personally, I think pllanning is crucial and the routines of NoS can even be reassuring and comforting at times like this.
I don't mean to preach but this is a topic close to my heart...
If you can, try to:
- get to the supermarket regularly and buy your food in advance to avoid unhealthy takeaways during the week. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but actually it makes life much simpler if you work out what to cook for the week in advance. Work out, for example, one main meal for say 5 nights (calculating that you will eat with friends one night and eat leftovers one night). Then buy the food to make those 5 meals. Some of those meals might use leftovers from the night before, e.g. a roast chook, might turn into chicken stirfry the next night and also provide chicken for sandwiches at lunchtime. On that note, while you are at the supermarket, chuck in something for sandwiches for the days you don't take leftovers for lunch.
Keep lunch and breakfast as simple as possible (and dinner) so you don't have to think too much - that's the key. Breakfast can be cereal or toast and fruit or whatever, - make it so you don't have to think about it each day.
I only go to the supermarket every second week (weekly takes up too much time) and I freeze half the meat, fish, etc. I also keep frozen veg in the freezer because they are v nutritious and you can quickly add them to a meal if you don't have the time or energy to chop up vegies (they are fine chucked into a stew or a bolognese or into an omelette or even, if desperate, into a stirfry with soy or oyster sauce and a few drops of sesame oil,...)
- If you can, either cook several dinners for the week on the weekend or on your days off (I've become a master at having several meals on the stove at once so I spend minimal time doing this - e.g. a roast of some sort in the oven and a bolognese or stew on the stove top)
- and/or use a crockpot that you put on in the morning and so come home to a yummy hot meal
- and/or cook up big batches of food when you cook on the weekend, e.g. chicken casserole or whatever, and freeze meal-sized portions in plastic bags so that you can just grab one out of the freezer after work to heat up. You can freeze rice like this too. Instant noodles can be quickly cooked up if you want to add some carb in a hurry
- ...when stressed, keep the meals as simple to cook and as simple to put together as possible.
- But, if you are like me, you'll be craving comfort food, so casseroles, etc, are good things to come home to...
- BTW, are there ways to nurture yourself that don't involve food? - try to build one really nurturing lovely thing into your day so you feel good, e.g. a hot bath at the end of that long work shift? A nutritious hot meal to come home to? A truly special treat or two on weekends? A night out with friends on the weekend that you can look forward to? A walk after work to burn off that stress? I am trying to make morning meditation part of my day at the moment for the same reason and it seems to be working...
Well, that;s it for me - have run out of suggestions - echoing KCCC in her blog, thanks for posting the question as it has given me the chance to review my own practices and remember the things I should be doing too!
All the best
Funfuture
x
My biggest problem when I am overworked like that is that I have no time to plan meals and I am so focussed on just surviving that i chuck all self restraint out the window and just indulge myself with food on the grounds that I will just give myself this chocolate because I have to get through this particular difficult stage...hmmm
But that doesn't work.
Personally, I think pllanning is crucial and the routines of NoS can even be reassuring and comforting at times like this.
I don't mean to preach but this is a topic close to my heart...
If you can, try to:
- get to the supermarket regularly and buy your food in advance to avoid unhealthy takeaways during the week. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but actually it makes life much simpler if you work out what to cook for the week in advance. Work out, for example, one main meal for say 5 nights (calculating that you will eat with friends one night and eat leftovers one night). Then buy the food to make those 5 meals. Some of those meals might use leftovers from the night before, e.g. a roast chook, might turn into chicken stirfry the next night and also provide chicken for sandwiches at lunchtime. On that note, while you are at the supermarket, chuck in something for sandwiches for the days you don't take leftovers for lunch.
Keep lunch and breakfast as simple as possible (and dinner) so you don't have to think too much - that's the key. Breakfast can be cereal or toast and fruit or whatever, - make it so you don't have to think about it each day.
I only go to the supermarket every second week (weekly takes up too much time) and I freeze half the meat, fish, etc. I also keep frozen veg in the freezer because they are v nutritious and you can quickly add them to a meal if you don't have the time or energy to chop up vegies (they are fine chucked into a stew or a bolognese or into an omelette or even, if desperate, into a stirfry with soy or oyster sauce and a few drops of sesame oil,...)
- If you can, either cook several dinners for the week on the weekend or on your days off (I've become a master at having several meals on the stove at once so I spend minimal time doing this - e.g. a roast of some sort in the oven and a bolognese or stew on the stove top)
- and/or use a crockpot that you put on in the morning and so come home to a yummy hot meal
- and/or cook up big batches of food when you cook on the weekend, e.g. chicken casserole or whatever, and freeze meal-sized portions in plastic bags so that you can just grab one out of the freezer after work to heat up. You can freeze rice like this too. Instant noodles can be quickly cooked up if you want to add some carb in a hurry
- ...when stressed, keep the meals as simple to cook and as simple to put together as possible.
- But, if you are like me, you'll be craving comfort food, so casseroles, etc, are good things to come home to...
- BTW, are there ways to nurture yourself that don't involve food? - try to build one really nurturing lovely thing into your day so you feel good, e.g. a hot bath at the end of that long work shift? A nutritious hot meal to come home to? A truly special treat or two on weekends? A night out with friends on the weekend that you can look forward to? A walk after work to burn off that stress? I am trying to make morning meditation part of my day at the moment for the same reason and it seems to be working...
Well, that;s it for me - have run out of suggestions - echoing KCCC in her blog, thanks for posting the question as it has given me the chance to review my own practices and remember the things I should be doing too!
All the best
Funfuture
x