I've been having an "off" couple weeks.
Last week I had my period and wanted to kill everyone. I barely ate. I would be surprised if my week total topped 5000 calories.
This week, I'm still not back on track food-wise. I'm doing better, but still not good. Yesterday all I had to eat was a box of raisins, a babybel cheese and pasta for dinner.
I'm not getting my fruits and veggies in - I'm in a funk.
Life is stressful and while I'm not completely reverting back to my old ways, I'm slipping and it worries me.
I'm still keeping under my maximum calorie range, and going to the gym 5 days a week.
I'm still dropping pounds, but I'm not doing this the healthy way anymore, now I'm just being stupid.
When I get really stressed I stop eating.
I need to kick myself back in gear. I need food in order for my body to survive, I'm not doing myself any favors by not eating.

Any tips for staying 'on plan' while going through a really stressful patch?

Thanks for reading my giant wall of text even if you dont have anything to say.

I wish I could give you some good advice. I find that when I am really stressed, I eat alot more than I would regularly eat. I just have to look at what is causing the stress, and figure it out or let it take its course, and then I find that I am ok. I think alot more about what I am eating, and why, and I just kind of tough it out.

A few weeks ago I posted an accountability thread for myself when I was heading into a very high stress period that lasted for a couple of weeks. It wasn't anything nuts, it was just a list of several things that I was going to get done each day, and then a followup post each day to confirm what I did or did not do.

It doesn't make you feel less stressed, but it does help handle it and you can feel pretty good about what you've done each day.

Sometimes, when I am so so stressed, it helps me to do some deep breathing or meditations or listen to a relaxing cd. At first it feels strange and uncomfortable - but, soon it really works.

Take it one day at a time.

Try to write down a healthy plan for the day. It is a useful guide for the day.

Hope you're feeling less stressed soon.

I no longer eat due to stress, but the kind of NOT eating due to stress that you're talking about, I simply can't relate to. I will tell you that a few days of lowered calorie eating will do no harm to you, you do have fat stores after all, but as a long term thing, well that is of course another story.

When I decided to stop eating recklessly, and start eating in a responsible, mature, intelligent fashion - I decided to do that ALWAYS. Regardless of the circumstances. For me, planning ahead is ESSENTIAL. I plan everything out in advance, this way all the thinking is done for me when I'm rational and reasonable and no outside factors come into play. I plan it out - and then there's nothing to think about.

I due hope your stress eases. But quite often, if it's not one thing, than it's another. You must learn to navigate healthy eating while dealing with whatever life throws your way. It is a learning process and it CAN and WILL happen as long as you continue to work on it.

agree COMPLETELY with this. There are always going to be reasons for stress, and whether you undereat or overeat, we've all got to learn to manage our eating while stressful things are happening.

For me, it's about focusing on going through the motions - I buy and prep my food the same as always - since I prepare my healthy breakfast and lunch at home and take them with me to work, I'm used to not being hungry when I make them so I don't have to even think "do I want to eat this." I have the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day, so that makes it even easier to just go through the motions.

And then once I have the food in front of me, it's easier to at least at some of it, even if I don't finish everything if I'm feeling majorly stressed.

I will admit that this week, I have dropped the ball on supper a couple of times, because of being exhausted and stressed out by then. Last night's supper was popcorn! But since I had already eaten my healthy breakfast and lunch, I didn't worry too much (plus it was a bag of Smart Pop so not out of control nutritionally).

So I'd say to try get in at least a couple of meals worth of healthy foods - even if you don't feel like you want to eat, keep to you habits and eat what you can from your normal foods, rather than relying on waiting until you feel hungry but then just grabbing something which may not meet your nutritional needs.

I have to agree with this too! Stress eating was a huge problem for me. But there will always be stress, so the trick is the stay on plan through the stress.

Lately, I've had some very stressful things going on, but I just keep on the plan-- the when the plan becomes a habit, then following the plan actually helps to REDUCE stress.

Regarding eating less- why not eat less? That's only a problem if you are going to later use that as an excuse to eat more...