August Already?

I eat when I’m stressed or when I’m bored. I know it and yet sometimes a lot of times have a really hard time stopping myself.

June of this year marked 1 year of being the RS president in my ward. In some ways it was a rough year. Just trying to figure out how to manage my time was a challenge. I think I’ve gotten the hang of a lot of stuff. Some things still give me stress, but probably always will because of my personality.

I sometimes eat mindlessly when I watch TV. To be perfectly honest, TV bores me but sometimes I just don’t want to do anything else anyway. But to just sit and stare at the screen is really not my favorite thing to do. I can handle a little bit and some TV shows I really like. I just can’t do a lot of it without eating at the same time. It’s a bad habit.

I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying that stress and boredom are my big eating problem areas and I haven’t dealt with them well this year so I gained back all the weight I lost getting ready for the Inca trail.  LOL – it’s not the first time and I know I’m not alone.  I haven’t mastered the trick of stopping the downward spiral before it gets too bad.

Anyway, I’ve been exercising regularly again and trying to make it a priority and I feel a lot better when I do. However, my trip to Asia will be coming up in a few months and I want to be able to wear my lightweight hiking pants. I’m not taking jeans. I’ve been to Asia before around the same time of year and the humidity is going to kill me even if I plan for it.

So I’ve done 2 things recently to help my problem areas and stop the spiral.

1. I bought an “adult coloring book”. How did I not know about these?!!  I think they are so cool! It’s a perfect thing for me because while I’m not very artistic and don’t want to create art of my own, coloring someone else’s design is fun. These books are actually marketed as stress relievers and I can see why.  It has the bonus of keeping my hands busy so I don’t eat while I’m sitting and I’m getting a stress release at the same time.  I actually have another one on my wish list at Amazon. I’m hoping this keeps me a little busy this winter when I want to hibernate. So far, I only have one picture colored but I’ve really liked doing it.

2. I bought the basic PiYo workout. I wanted something to motivate me that had a beginning and an end, if that makes sense. Not that I couldn’t have planned my own 60 days of workouts (ha ha, I have and didn’t keep with them) but just thought a program would help. And yeah, I get sucked into the hype and think this is going to “cure” my bad habits miraculously, when I know it just takes a lot of hard work and developing good habits. Anyway, it’s been on my radar for a while now and I bit the bullet. I don’t want to get a coach or join any groups or anything, but I think I will post a recap every week I finish just to help me keep going.

Life is good!