Stress without the stress-eating
 

I've got it piled on.

A couple of weeks ago, I lost an aunt who passed away suddenly. Now my grandmother is on her deathbed. My grandmother raised me, and gave me a lot of stability in my childhood that I would not otherwise have had. I'm in Washington, she's in Kentucky, and there's no way I can go. Just started a new job; can't get the time off.

Still caring for our aging cat, too, whose recent strokes have left her blind.

I can do nothing for my aunt. I can do nothing for my grandmother. Both of them would want me to take care of myself. But I am finding that I have to fight stress-eating. Chocolate, sugar, whatever, things I can't have anyway because I'm diabetic. I've also heard that stress can pack on pounds even without the stress-eating.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom? Thanks.

:hug: Hello, I have no words of wisdom but just hugs and prayers.

Thank you. They're helpful. Hug back.

so sorry for all you are going through right now. I've been dealing with a lot of external stresses right now too. I've been trying to keep reminding myself that food isn't going to make any of it go away, and gaining back weight instead of losing it isn't going to make it any easier for me to handle everything I need to handle.

I also focused on the Points challenge on the 100 lb Club thread. That's where you get points each day for sticking with your food, exercise and water goals (you set the goals yourself, for whatever works for you). That helps me break things down into one day at a time, and also gives me a fresh start the next day if I do miss on anything. Giving myself these small and manageable goals has helped me to be able to keep my focus on achieving them. And at this point, having something that I can control if I put the work into it feel good too, when so much is not within my personal control.