Dealing with stress... without eating

This week has been very stressful for me.  As I have mentioned numerous times before, I blame a lot of my weight gain over the last three years on work stress.  We had a major re-org back in 2015 which changed and added to my job responsibilities, last year we started a major project which affected my whole work group and which again, changed my job responsibilities.  In October of last year, my supervisor (and my friend and confidant) decided to take early retirement, mainly due to the stress of the project we were working on.  This meant that my co-worker and I shared the "acting section supervisor" duties until a new supervisor was hired in January.

Our new supervisor was a godsend!  He had lots of project management background, so he was able to tweak a few things here and there to get us on a better path with our project.  He offloaded a lot of the work that was causing me major stress (and what was keeping at the office for 8 1/2 to 10 hour days and weekends).  Because I had more time (more or less), I was able to attend a Effective Leadership series which helped me understand my role in my work group, and helped my attitude tremendously.  

And because work was less time consuming and stressful, I finally felt ready to focus on me for a change.  I started tracking my food, got back to Weight Watchers, and started adding activity into my day.  

Life is great!

Then on Tuesday I find out that our awesome new supervisor is leaving to move back east (he actually announced this last Thursday, but I was out of the office for a long Memorial weekend).  It was heartbreaking and stressful at the same time.  All the insecurities, stress, and feelings I had 5 months ago came flooding back.  

I wanted to eat for comfort.  

Instead, once I heard the news, I left my cubicle and headed out for a much needed walk.  I walked, did some deep breathing, reminded myself how far I'd come in the last six weeks.  Once I had my feelings under control, I went back to my office.

The next couple of days were stressful, but I got through them without eating.  Wednesday morning, I went for a run and did 2.5 miles at a 15:35 pace.  When I weighed in yesterday at Weight Watchers, I was down another .6, for a total of 8.4 pounds in 6 weeks.  

Yesterday was also my supervisor's last day.  I struggled all day to not eat for comfort (and not break down in tears), so I took a few short walks throughout the day, took a long walk with Hubby at lunch, and made it through.  I did splurge on our dinner out and had a Mike's Hard Lemonade with dinner, but other than that, no overeating.  Yea me!

This morning I woke up at 4:20 with a headache.  I attributed the headache to stress, so I got out of bed, sat on the couch and did a guided meditation to relieve stress.  Didn't help.  Still had the headache.  So, I watched some funny clips on YouTube.  Still, the headache lingered.  Then I did the 45 minute Warrior Workout on ROMWOD (45 minutes of stretching).  And the headache persisted.  Pretty sure the headache is from stress, but because it continued (and still continues), it may be part allergies as well.  But through it all, I did not eat to make myself feel better.

I know the next couple of months will be stressful since we are still working on the major project at work and we are without a supervisor once again, but I hope to make it through without turning to food for comfort.  

Stress will always be part of my life and I need to learn to deal with it, without turning to food for comfort.  I will keep focusing on my health, deal with what is in my control at work, and remember my goals for the future (running a half marathon before I turn 50!).

I can do this!