Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Definition of Stress Eating

It's official. I am a stress eater. I took a quiz and met the requirements. As a matter of fact, I answered yes to every question. "When you are stressed, do you eat without thinking?" Absolutely. "When you are stressed, do you crave carbohydrates?" This took some thought as I don't really crave anything in particular but look more for geographic location. What is closest? If that is an apple, I'm good. If it's a box of See's candy, you can see the problem. "Do you find yourself thinking about food when you are stressed?" Again, had to put some thought in. I find myself thinking about food lately most of the time. Now, using the if A=B and B=C, method, A=C which could mean that I am just stressed all of the time. Or I have Prader-Willi syndrome and you may want to put a padlock on my refrigerator. Sooo...in any case...I've always been told that having a diagnosis is always better. At least then you can treat the illness. Now I just need to determine the treatment plan.

You may be asking, "why are you stressed?" Let me take a short moment and describe the past three months. The past three months have brought three internal audits for accreditation prep and one external audit. The second is next week. We run a very good ship but I am a bit audited out now. Its amazing how time consuming accreditation prep can be even when you are crossing your t's and dotting your i's all along. I'm going through various changes in a few other programs that I oversee...again, positive in nature but very time consuming. This is all while continuing to do the daily operations that are a crap shoot when it comes to time planning. Some days are quiet....some are absolutely crazy. Where is that candy?

I started school in January. I just finished my first term. Let me give you insight as to what type of student I am. I missed four points this term. Out of 1000 possible points, I received 996. I am the definition of Type A. Where was my focus at the end of the term? How did I miss those four points? Arghhh. I would hate to be my own instructor. How sad is that? Isn't there a bag of corn chips around here anywhere?

Overall, my life is pretty great. I work with a skilled team of instructors that will pitch in to help with anything I need. I have learned, however, that I am not a great communicator. Several situations have arisen lately that have more than proven that. This has lead to me doing a majority of tasks myself. Now there are some tasks that I have attempted to delegate, only to find myself grabbing them back later. Again....I'm starting to see that this is from lack of appropriate training time given to the receiver, not necessarily a lack of desire to help. But...taking that time to train other people stresses me out, I'm discovering. Where did that bag of pretzels go?

So...much of my stress level is self inflicted. I think that is where I'm going to start. What can I delegate effectively? How can I work on my communication skills? Is it OK to get a B? Ok...I'm feeling a snack attack coming on just thinking about it. I just popped some gum. Hmmm....helping. I'm chewing but not really eating. This may work. Maybe if I invest in gum during the week, I can get this thing under control. I'm thinking, maybe about 30-40 packs? I agree...that's pretty optimistic. Better make it 50. My staff will tell you that I'm fortunate to not be a smoker. I am a chain-chewer. When I do chew gum, I can go through a whole pack in an hour. Scary, isn't it?

So this is my plan for today. Hmmmm.....come up with a plan.....today. Something to take my stress level down and help me get this stress eating under control. I have gained back ten of the pounds that I lost. There...I said it. It's out there now. If I don't stop, I will no longer look like an apple but will take on a full melon form. Or even worse, I will start looking like Jaba the Hut. I still have some semblance of an hour glass form (Albeit a very large hourglass!). Time to get back on track (please don't go back through my blog to see how many times I have said that!). I would like to be around to see my grand-kids and enjoy retirement. Keep me in your prayers. Love to you all!