Stress/Anger and Food!!

It's a hot Friday afternoon and I have been at home with my 4 year old twin boys and my 3 year old nephew all day - At 3pm my 7 year old boy arrives home. 

Within 10 minutes it's tears and fighting - one of my 4 (nearly 5) yr old twins is a little tyrant and he causes nearly all the trouble!! Long story short - I was wound up like a spring arguing with a 4 year old and was really angry (seething in fact) and when I had sent him on his way (skipping without a care in the world aahhhrrrggg) the first thing I wanted to do was eat something really bad!! I'd baked chocolate cookies for them and I juts wanted to wolf them down out of sheer frustration but the emotion is almost a 'F**K YOU" feeling - like a sense of rebellion!

Anyone else feel like this?

Did I also mention the full moon - and I'm on day 3 of the 5day pouch test - and my P is due!!!!!

Forgive me if I say "FFFFAAAARRRRKKKK"

Yes I have definitely been there... Anxiety also does it to me, or if I get multiple things stressing me out.  I can usually handle one or 2 things, but when I get too much I want to go back to what worked for me before, but now it doesn't work the same. 

iT sucks doesn't it!  We have to learn things to help us cope or distract us.  I'm still working on it.  I am better with being on a Anti-Depressant.  Come here to vent, maybe get a journal and start writing about your feelings... and triggers.

I just signed up for a weekly support group on weight management, I liked seeing a psych, but can't afford it right now,  140.00 a pop is too much, I am going to these classes for aboyt $12.00 a week.  I an hoping between the support and the new behaviors.

We all have those days and i can only imagine how hard it is sometimes to deal with several young children who are being fussy. Not easy being rational with little people who are not. Funny, when i read the start of your post i sort of expected it so say something like i gave the kids cookies to get them to settle down and stop fussing. Thats because it  is something that happened when i was growing up and started some bad eating habits at an early age.

Don't blame you for wanting to eat those cookies. who wouldn't want them? Might just have to go scream into a pillow and then have a cup of herb tea. and say FRACK FRACK FRACK all you want. I had a tiring somewhat stressfull couple of days these last two culminating in eating too fast and getting the foamies which hasn't happened to me in a year. funny how that stress and eating thing works. there are people in the world who are unable to eat when upset. I can only remember about 3 times in my life when i felt that way. otherwise, stress = eat. we all gotta work on that one but it sounds like you handled thinks fine. good for you!  diane

PMS makes me a ravenous beast that wants to suck up everything in sight! I can't imagine having that stress, baking cookies, dealing with 4 young boys AND having PMS AND not eating those cookies! You have nerves of steel!

I never bake crap for other people when I am at my weakest.. that's like an alcoholic being in a bad mood and going to hang out at a bar. They sure don't need the cookies either if they are behaving bad as it is.

So I'd say get the cookies out of your house, and when the kids go to bed get a nice hot cup of tea and take a long bubble bath with a good book. Sounds like you need to spend some time taking care of yourself and put your guards up around those foods.

My two cents.. hugs for you...

Can absolutely relate. Its most acute for me when I am let down in life for some reason...that negativity takes hold and wants to come out in the form of eating anything in site -- just as you said -- as a kind of f* you to the world (but, its really to myself).

Happened last night actually. I worry about doing it too. Vicious cycle if I start to gain...

Anyways, you're not alone!

I guess that's the hard part of being a parent and having a food addiction (man I find it hard saying that - it sounds so melodramatic - but it is what it is!) is that you can never get away from food or the children. I am lucky that I have a good support network and can get away from the boys when I need to and I DO need to reasonably often.

I have always struggled with emotional eating - I ate when I was happy/sad/bored/stressed but the stress response is so strong I can feel it when it hits! I have hung off every word on this board for the last month as I was getting out of control with my eating and was eating up a 'carbohydrate storm'!

The hardest part about that is that it screws with my head to the point of insanity and so I have gone cold turkey and have been doing the 5day PT and trying to get back in the game.  The thing with doing this for me is that I kind of get this sense of calm when I say no to everything 'bad' . I use the kind of alcoholic analogy whereby at the moment it's a bit of an all or nothing mentality and I find it easier to say 'no' to all the trigger food. I just need to get my head around this as a lifelong deal which I will because I aint going back to the old me!

Anyway - yada yada yada - funny wee thing that happened this week was I ordered that book that I've heard about - 'Shrink yourself ...' (forget name) and I had to order it online from US as I couldn't get it in NZ and I was really excited when it turned up after only about a week. So I tore open the pkg and was ready to dive into it to be confronted with Ozzy Osbourne - Prince of Darkness - 4 CD pack! Needless to say I laughed my ass off and duly sent an email!

I don't care how upset or stressed you are, that would make anyone laugh.  Glad you found your smile again.

Blurg!  Children!  Sometimes you just need to sell them to science and be through with it!  :}  Just kidding.

Here is what I find to be true for me, (as a person who used food also, for ANY emotion, not just bummery/sad ones) - for me, abstinence ALONE only works until I get the HUGE life squeeze (and depending on how my foundation is - meaning, has it been a good day, or is my foundation already in a horrible sandy bottomed place, from many things - like yours was) that is when practicing my "way out" measures (how I talk differently to myself) makes the difference.

That is funny that your Shrink Yourself was an Oz-man CD!  Its coming soon and you know if you want to talk about anything you think/learned/wonder or anything about it, I am always glad to exchange words (shock - I know :} ).

So anyway, yea, I am not sure I would have waited for those cookies to come out of the oven to eat them !! 

I hope your book comes soon and know what?  Maybe think about that episode as a teachable moment!!

Looking at it now (a *little* saner) what would you do differently, how could you have prepared for it differently? (like, you could not know that you would be arguing with your inner and your outer 4-year-old :},) but you could have known the moon was in possibly dangerous position, that you had the hormones et cetera.

DO you track your period?  I take Oil of Evening Primrose all the time, but I up the dose on day 15 after the 1st day of my last period, because THEN I start to be more "fragile" (for lack of a better word) hormonally.  My periods will show face anywhere from day 22 to day 32, but since I track them, and if its my period AND the moon is in a possibly dangerous position then I need to not have things like fruity nut bread in the house, or even START to look lustfully at fella's trail mix.

I caught the plague and am feeling super crappy and have not slept well the past 3 nights because of feeling so puny and achy at night, so for me (and Wednesday was day 15 after the 1st day of my period) so I have been getting to have a LOT of conversations with Trix about "feel good sick people food."  None of which will actualy help me feel any better once it leaves my mouth :}, so I am going to think good head convesations for you too while I am conversing with Trix! 

Oh.. I had one more *briliant* thing to say, but, umm.  It seems to have left my noggin.  :{  I wonder if it will come back, and if it does I will share it.

But here too - amino acids can help with the craves some, I am going to go drive up to a field and let the dogs run a bit because we have not gotten to have exercise for them, and with the steroid induced meanies that are about to show up in my body (see!  KNow danger, plan for it!) I do not need to feel bad from being sick AND guilty for having strangled the dogs, who just want to run and play a little, and are used to doing it every day!

Muwah girlie.  Good on you for sharing, seeing, and being willing to do what you need to do! 

I am so proud on you!

hey i just ordered that book too! boy if i get ozzy stuff i will be fracked off!!   you took it a lot better than i would. !   diane