November is usually the start of a challenging time for me. First, I experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) usually from Nov-mid Jan. You wouldn’t think that people in the sunny state of Arizona would be affected by lack of sun light, but the days are shorter. Driving to and from work in the dark is never fun. I tend to have minor bouts of depression at this time, nothing major, but enough that I notice. Also, this is the start of our busy season at work. Work gets crazy with long hours and weekend work, all in preparation for Jan 1st – the start of a new benefits season. And of course, there are the holidays. In the past, this is when I would get out of control with my eating. Binges would occur on a regular basis and I would either justify my behavior due to stress or completely get depressed over it.
To add to my challenge for this year, my family is going through a major change in November. My husband is going back to work after being a stay at home Dad for close to 12 years. I took a 12 week maternity leave when our 1st daughter was born and when I went back to work, my husband resigned from his. This is something we planned for long before I even got pregnant. It was always our intention for him to return to the workplace once our kids were in school full time and that happened this Sept when our youngest started Kindergarten. We are so grateful and feel so blessed that we were able to have one parent at home. He did all the typical stay at home parent stuff – changing diapers, play dates, library, feeding, entertaining, driving to and from events, shopping, budget monitor, laundry, homework review, Dr appts, cleaning, and preparing family dinners. I love the relationship he has with our girls. They are so close and the girls have picked up many of his traits – like his wild sense of humor and off the cuff responses like, ‘that’s how I roll’. I really have had it easy over the years… going to work , taking time to exercise, participating in events, because I could depend on my husband for lots of the household stuff. But now I need to step up to the plate and do more around the house, for the girls, and for my husband. Homework review should be interesting. In the past, I would find myself just doing the homework and not showing how to do it. I think I wrote an entire book report once. OK, not good. It will be a big change for all of us.
Last year around this time, I attended both the Half Size Me Holiday Survival and Binge 101 workshops. I learned to accept the fact that I have binge eating issues and implemented my post binge plan which was to get back on track at the next meal and NOT beat myself up. I was not at the stage where I could prevent binges, but I was more aware of what and why they were happening. I have grown a lot this year, thanks to this community especially, so I am better prepared to meet these challenges. I have been binge free for almost 5 months now and I feel confident I could prevent one if it the urge should arise. That being said, I still need a plan to face my winter challenges:
Sleep: Get at least 7 hrs of quality sleep a night – more on the weekends.
Diet: Keto: Low Carb, High Fat Moderate Protein.
Plan: plan meals and try out some new low carb recipes
Exercise: Continue to swim, bike, run, and weights. I have 2 Tri's this month and a 5k
Water: drink, drink, drink, and drink some more
Laugh: I just want to have fun this season with my husband and girls and laugh a lot!
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