Yesterday was a really crappy day (vent coming, it's ok to leave now if you don't want to hear it). We spent the weekend at my parents where it was difficult to stay on plan, but I did it, though I did stretch the limits (I'm pretty sure movie popcorn, even without butter, is not OP). In hindsight I'm very stressed out because we are doing our taxes this Saturday and each year, even though we decrease the number of allowances we take, we still end up owing money and I'm never sure if it is our accountant (who I love) or the tax code to blame.

Anyway, I was home with my son yesterday, who had spent the entire weekend with adults, and instead of planning an all day playdate (which I should have done), I took him into the city to meet a friend of mine for lunch, big mistake. We went to Chinatown and he wanted every crappy toy on the street and couldn't sit still and it was a nightmare to manage him on those tiny, crowded sidewalks. We ate at a restaurant where I definitely went off plan for the first time (deep fried tofu with a sugary lemon sauce???????) since starting SB. We finally came home and I tortured myself by doing several "tax refund calculators" on line and coming up with wildly different results (owe thousands/get a thousand back/owe $200 etc.) Because of my crappy lunch I was really hungry in the afternoon so I ate an extra portion of triscuits and more cheese and then didn't eat anything until 9pm because I was busy on line trying to do a more reliable tax calculation. In the course of this I realized to my horror that I in fact did take out more than my original contributions from a ROTH Ira we had so will owe taxes, and perhaps a penalty, on that.

I felt bad for my son because what could have been a nice day between us turned into me being very short with him because of my preoccupation with taxes, and I spent way too much money on a crappy meal where I went off plan, I made some stupid money decisions last year, and I think secretly in my head I was hoping we'd get some fantastic refund and now we will not.

Today will be a better day (it has to be), but I've got to get my focus on the food back. Help me ladies!

I'm sorry you had such a bad day...and I'm sure many of us can relate to the tax stress. Mine was a letter from IRS saying we owed $700 right before Christmas-which we did.

I'm sure the MTPopcorn isn't going to kill you, but I understand how you feel about the other. My first real blow out was McD, the works, but more importantly eaten for comfort from big time stress. I would have much rather it been Chinatown, personally.

It sounds like you're still stressed, and may have a little emotional reaction since you've found food comfort. Just recommit yourself and be really careful today. One thing for sure, is that eating back all your progress won't change your listed stressors.

Best wishes!

Thanks Big Mike. Welcome!

Mmc, that's a shame you had such a crappy day yesterday, and that you are stressing out. Try to calm down, worrying only tends to exaggerate the problem, and they're never as bad as we've imagined they'd be.
I would suggest doing a clean Phase 1 for a few days to rid your body of all the sugars and bad carbs. You'll feel so much better about yourself. And when you feel better about yourself, the whole world looks so much better, too.

I'm sorry you had such a bad day. You know what we say... pick yourself up, dust yourself off, get right back OP today. Don't let one bad day become more than that.

I hate tax season too so have empathy. My DH does ours and always waits until the last minute and it is stressful. Isn't it amazing how you can see that clear connection between your mood and your eating?!

How old is your son? He probably thinks way less of this than you do. But if not, kids learn a lot from us when we take the time to say something. If you feel bad still and think he does too, why not just sit down and apologize and explain that you were stressed.

Sending mental moral support

Big Mike - Hey, nice to meet you. I guess I can't keep saying "ladies" and "chicks" any more. Apologies in advance if I slip.

I hear ya, MMC. I am always TERRIBLY crabby at income tax time. I warned my husband I need to start working on the taxes.

I feel your pain!

(BTW - my kids are 5 and 6 years old. I can totally relate to your experience yesterday!)

Sorry you had a crappy day. It's hard to change behavior - that's my theory anyway. When I quit smoking it was so hard because I stress smoked, and then when that was gone it was stress eating.

I still do, not going to lie, but instead of eating crap food, I will have an extra serving like you did, of things like triscuits. I just try to figure out what the heck got me triggered and make sure I carry good foods with me. In the winter it's easy to keep stuff in the car (cheese sticks and almonds or cashews are what I have).

I know you are moving in the right direction. You've been a great inspiration and I KNOW one slip isn't going to derail that. Get back to Ph1 for a few days and take it from here

I hate tax season too. My husband is a CPA & he always waits till the last minute to even look at them. Hope things work out for you. We all have crappy days where we stress eat. Just gotta get back on plan! Good luck!

I'm so sorry! Hope the rest of your week is better!

Here's the good news... you were off plan for 1 day... and then instead of letting it roll into 2 or 3, you came here to talk about it and to get some help getting back on plan. That's great... you know what you need to do, just do it... and you'll undo the damage you did yesterday in no time.

I'm sorry your day was bad. Here's where you pick yourself up, take a deep breath, and start a new day with a fresh attitude. You can do it!

Sounds like a bad day, and very understandable that you had a slip up! I hope you have forgiven yourself. Everyone has days like that sometimes!

How are you doing today?

I'm doing much better guys, thanks. I feel much more focused and motivated now. I'm getting back on track with the food and trying to be much more 'clean.' This was a useful experience for me in terms of seeing what it might be like to eat in a more maintenance fashion. Too bad I'm not at the maintenance point yet!

Are you doing Ph1 again MMc?

Great attitude... every bump in the road can definitely be used as a learning lesson....