046: Stress (and other excuses we make)

So much has happened in the last few days. I keep meaning to blog, but by the time I get home, I'm so tired and run down I pretty much want to lose consciousness as soon as possible.

So hmm, where to start. Well on Thursday, I went back to Laidback Fitness for another kick butt workout. This one was my third, and while the workouts are definitely challenging, and I am sore afterwards, it is a good kind of sore (if there is a good kind of sore), where I still am able to function. Even though they are tough and at the end I am sweaty and exhausted, I really look forward to these sessions. I already feel stronger, if that makes any sense. And I always leave feeling like I really got the most out of my workout that day.

Other than that I've been taking it pretty easy on the workout front. I've learned that if you work out really hard a couple of days a week, you can get by doing smaller things the rest of the week. So I go for walks. I teach a dance class that is mostly just jumping around with the kids at the daycare. And yesterday I played a show, which was more of a workout than I was anticipating.

It's been a long time since I've played a full set anywhere. I feel kind of rusty and out of practice. I kept making stupid mistakes, and then mentally obsessing over them, which led to more careless mistakes. I hate that feeling. And even though this show was at The Locals, a really great restaurant that I play at all the time, I was stressing about it all week. I think I psyched myself out.

Which brings me to another point. It didn't really resonate with me until Ryan (who I train with) said something to me during our workout on thursday. He said that after diet, keeping my stress level low was probably the most important part to weight loss. And the more I thought about it, the more I figured that's probably true.

The past two weeks have been a lot more stress than I've encountered since I started on this adventure. I've had 2 majorly bad things happen at work that have stressed me out. There was this concert. And then there was my sister's wedding, and all the financial familial anxiety that goes along with that. And, truth be told, I have not been as dilligent with my eating or my working out in these past two weeks as I have in the previous weeks. My body is reacting as well. I'm sick, I'm exhausted.

Clearly I don't handle stress very well.

But that got me thinking. Am I really subconsciously eating because I'm stressed? Or am I using that stress as an excuse to eat poorly?

It's like the kids I work with at my job. Some of them are on ADHD medication. And sometimes their parents forget to give them those medications. Some kids use that as an excuse to be absolutely off the wall, when, in reality, they are completely cognisant of their actions and simply choose not to control themselves since they have an excuse.

I did have a pretty healthy day yesterday. I think that was mostly because my herbalife coach, Josh showed up to see me play at my show last night. There just seemed to be something so wrong with ordering a burger and fries (which was what I wanted to order at the Locals last night- granted, it's all farm fresh beef from the area and all that) with my coach sitting accross from me. So I had a grilled chicken ceasar salad. I don't think I will ever get used to salads. nope nope nope.

Regardless of my healthy day yesterday, I have a sinking feeling that this week's weigh in may also be a little disappointing. I've just got to once again re-focus, re-commit, and stop with the excuses this week! Stress be damned!

But I mean, aside from this being an excuse, food really is how I tend to de-stress. I just check out, relax, and eat crappy food for a little while. I've tried other things. Spa nights, spending time with friends, reading, being crafty, playing music. Sometimes none of that works though. So I guess, once again, I'll as all of you out there. What do you do to de-stress? What's your go to, fail safe, when your back is against the wall and absolutely nothing else will work?