Ice Cream.

Congrats to Jamie on her almost 5 lb. weight loss in a week! I'll weigh in tonight at Atomic Crossfit, as I like their scale better than the one at my house. I honestly think the scale at my  house is about 4-5lbs off. I guess that's what I get for buying a $20 scale!

Holiday stress has begun to set in! I'm now noticing my reaction to stress, to eat! In short, got home late last night, meat was already ready (yummy pork chops that Ryan grilled) and I had to make sides to go with it. Rushed in the door, washed some broccoli, threw it in the steamer, put my things down, threw a bag salad in  a bowl. Dear hubby says "we need to run to Toys R Us tonight to pick up some things for Ansley. Quickly take broccoli out of steamer, throw some butter and spices on it, food to plates, eat quickly and hurry to the car to head to Toys R Us.

By this time I can feel my blood pressure going up, partly because we were hurrying so much and the other part because I knew we HAD to go shopping because I've gotten almost nothing done. As soon as we got in the car, I turned to Ryan and said "I could use a bowl of ice cream right now".
      
Red flag #1- After a good meal with veggie carbs, protein and lots of fat, I'm wanting more sugar.

On we go to Toys R Us, which surprisingly was not very crowded. But I can definitely tell that Ansley is becoming a toddler, because we were fighting the "I want" battle with her. Everything she saw was intriguing. She wanted to stand and look at everything for extended periods of time, especially toys with Dora on them. By the time we left, she was on the brink of a meltdown. Partly because she was tired and because we wouldn't let her take everything home with her.
     
Red Flag #2 - Lots of deep breathing and rubbing my face. This signals stress and again, when we were in the car I still wanted something sweet. At this point I don't think I really cared what it was!

As we drove home we were talking about all the other Christmas stuff we needed to do and as we drove by Dairy Queen I actually reached my hand out towards the mecca of ice cream as if to use my magical powers to make the Blizzard come to me. It was quite desperate and pitiful. I also thought of Grace and actually said "Well, Grace eats Blizzards and they give her power!" So. Lame.

I made it past Dairy Queen without jumping out of a moving vehicle to get to a Blizzard, because Ryan wasn't stopping. Got home and had 3 (yes, three) pieces of dark chocolate and was shocked that I was satisfied and feeling kind of full.

This was the first time where I actually felt an almost uncontrollable craving for something. I was acutely aware of what triggered it, which was stress. Awareness is the key to fending off potential food bombs. I also let myself have a "compromise" in eating dark chocolate. It's all about acquiring the skills I need to not turn to food to help me cope with emotions or deal with stress. Lesson learned.