Stress = ice cream?

We have one, but darn, its broken.  We really need to get it fixed.

We don't even have one. SOB

But they have a bunch at the gym. So, if I have to, I'll go there.

When I just have to have ice cream, I make the Eggface protein ice cream. I have a small electri**** cream maker. Not as good as the real thing, but high protein and makes the craving go away.

You are right, I love her ice cream too.  It is not the same, but it works to get the cravings to go away.  On another note, my husband must be a little bit of a sadist, he just made chocolate chip Madeline's for the kids and some low-carb ones for me.  Now how do I say no to that? 

 
Paint the house !

frisco

My husband wants to be your best bud right now!  :)  You are awesome!

What I love about your post is that you got to the root of the issue - you need some pampering!  And there isn't a damn thing wrong or crazy about wanting to be pampered, lemme tell you!  What's crazy is the direction our addicted brains go.  My pre-op mind went instantly to ice cream when I wanted pampering too, and will again I'm sure (only 7 mos out at this point, still honeymooning).  Your process for working it thru was very inspiring to read - thank you!

Hmmm, so you say Stress = ice cream. My personal equation was always Stress = Chocolate. Somehow living in a cool climate makes ice cream less apppealing. But you are right that stress makes you seek some kind of stress relief or solice and it makes you want to escape into one pleasure center or another. I really think complex and aggrivating lifestyles are an underestimated contributor to the obesity epidemic in addition to the marketing of unhealthy foods and sedentary lifestyle.

But understanding that doesn't make the stress go away and we all have the challenge of finding ways to self  medicate for stress which are not about eating. Many good suggestions here including massage, facial or manicure, or shopping. I also like playing the brain age II on nintendo and doing the xbox kinect games or internet scrabble or blathering here on OH. And while its not always possible, sometimes identifying the source of the stress and then taking some small action to eliminate or decrease the stressfull event or solve the problem makes me feel much less stressed. Even jotting down what the issues are and the possible options puts things in perspective. Meanwhile, do the massage!    Diane

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.  I did do the massage last night and it was blissful.  I am going to have t make a point of incorporating this into my weekly routine.  I think you are right and stress plays a huge part in mindless overeating as a way to reduce stress and/or anxiety in our culture.  After all, it is the cheapest "drug" out there and sugar works quite well to increase pleasure.  I think becoming aware of this is part of the healing process of changing my relationship with food.  Sometimes I use this site as my personal journal.  It is awesome to have the journal talk back at you and give you great suggestions for dealing with your problems or issues. This group is so very helpful to me and I am sure many others.