Stress Diet

I received the diet below and want to share it with everyone who is struggling with food. Enjoy!

“Formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey's kiss

Afternoon Tea
The rest of the Hershey Kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers Bars


Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember: Stressed spelled backward is desserts.”

I laughed when I read the diet and all of a sudden realized it was not so funny. I remember starting every morning eating half of a plain bagel and a cup of coffee and lunch having a small plain salad and coffee. Then when I walked into the house after work the floodgates would open and I could not get the food into my mouth fast enough. After eating everything in site I would hate myself and start exercising to get rid of all the food I ate. This was my life for many years.

Ten years ago my thinking switched and I started to eat healthy, use portion control and moderately exercise. What happened to change my behavior and look at food from a different prospective? It comes down to self-respect and loving ourselves.

It has often been said. “I would never want to be my own best friend.” We tend to be the hardest on ourselves. When we start treating ourselves with kindness our food perception changes and we stop wanting to continually hurt our bodies by overeating.

Following are a few daily steps you can take to change your behavior and thinking towards yourself:

1. Remind yourself you are a human being who has many gifts. Example: You always have a smile on your face and people feel comfortable around you. Reminding yourself about your special gifts helps change your thinking.

2. Take care of yourself, even if you don’t feel like it, do it anyway. I often heard it said. “Act as if.” Continually practicing a new behavior becomes a habit after 21 days.

3. Acknowledge yourself for your accomplishments. Example: Today I had a piece of fruit instead of cookies. Acknowledging yourself helps you to start focusing on your accomplishments instead of your disappointments. You are a special person and deserve the best your life has to offer.

This is the first step in changing your behaviors and thinking. Say hello, to the new beautiful person, who is loving and taking care of You. Please try one or all of the steps above and let me know what difference it makes with your food struggles. I love you all. Helen