Dealing with the stress...

 Today... started off with the perfect storm of turmoil.  I was woken up by the kids after a not so restful night of sleep.  We heat our house with a fireplace, but of course the only wood we have in our ill-planned supply is wet, red cedar.  It wasn't as if I could just let the house go unheated, because it's still snowing occasional outside (I have a certain groundhog I'd like to have a few words with).  While I was spending way too much time trying to coax the fire alive, my children are impatiently demanding of me breakfast, juice, movies... whatever.  While trying to keep my cool, I try to keep the fire going, get the girl's breakfast, and get my own breakfast.  I continually trip over the clutter that has built up around my house because I have been preoccupied with other "stuff"... you know, like grad school.  While washing out a juice cup, I look out the window and notice the dog, who is normally contained by an electric perimeter, is wandering out of bounds... through my garden which is off limits.  I knock on the window to shoo her out of there... and she tears through the new, spring tulips.  And this all happens while my husband is making his way out the door for work.

STRESS!!!
...and I've come to realize that I am a stress eater.  Eating used to be my way of coping with an overwhelming situation.  Mornings like this one strive to send me into the bottom of a bag of potato chips.  But through the process of losing weight, I have come to realize that I have a choice in everything.  No one is forcing those chips down my throat (which thankfully I don't have in the house).  I put them there, by my choice.  And even though everything is crazy right now, I can choose to let it beat me down or I can choose to take on the challenge.

 

I took the challenge!

 

I put on my red Wonder Woman earrings, my "No Whining" shirt, my "I'm working" bandana, put on some tunes, drank some water, and got to work.  My goal was to get SOMETHING accomplished today that was out of the norm.  It's overwhelming to look at all the problems as a whole.  I'm one of those people who has a mind like "Wonderbot" on Robots-- too much and my brain overloads and short circuits.  But I've found that if I just take ONE thing at a time, I can get a lot done.  I start with something I know is doable, like putting away the silverware from the dishwasher.  That then flows into putting away the plates.  Before I know it, I've unloaded the dishwasher and loaded it up with another load.  While that's running, I know have a bit of kitchen counter space.  I can throw the garbage way... and it continues from there.

 

 

Well, the mess I intended to "super clean" is still there in the background, but look at that shiny, clean counter I have to work with now!  I used it to make brownies (don't worry, they're on plan) and store them in the fridge.  I feel a sense of accomplishment, I got some good exercise, and the overwhelming problems I experienced before suddenly aren't so big anymore.  I'll get to the super mess later, but now I'm going to revel in the triumph of not eating my way to comfort.  I drink my water in salute to a healthy lifestyle.