I am going through some incredible life changing events right now. Huge stuff like selling a house, new job hunting, moving, adoption, and long term relationship break up. I used to be the kind of person who would eat when stressed, now I’m not hungry at all. In fact, when under severe pressure, like in court, I want to vomit. I take ginger candy with me to court now so that won’t happen again. When I can squeeze a trip into the gym I come home ravenous, so I’m sure it’s stress related.
I’m doing all the stuff I know I am supposed to do. More vites, more water, trying to get more sleep (ZMA gets me a solid 6), and I think I have become addicted to Spike
I was just curious about other T-member’s reactions to stress. Do you eat more or less?
Was more, became less after I started working out. I have a big problem with missing meals when I’m busy. I let it slide since my body comp is usually fat and I rarely lose muscle, but I’d rather just get it right.
I’m in the middle of some nasty life shit myself at the moment, and I wound up with the same stuff…nausea and all.
So I figured it was a good time to start the V-Diet again, lose those last few pounds, since I can’t seem to eat anyway.
I’ve been going through life-changing shit since February. So I feel your pain.
Only when things first became really bad did I begin to miss a few meals or eat stuff I normally wouldn’t. Then I pulled myself together and got back on track. However, I didn’t find myself not being hungry. I am almost always hungry all of the time. But for a few weeks, I wasn’t “as” hungry.
Just keep eating and training for you. Stay consistent and know that you’re doing something positive, and it will help in the long run.
Dan John gave me some good feedback in his 5x5 article discussion thread.
When I’m stressed, I can’t sleep, can’t eat, I drastically loose weight (particularly muscle), and just look/feel awful.
You ever try taking 5-htp? It might help you sleep and relax, but I don’t know if you can take it with Spike or not, especially if there is St. John’s Wort mixed in.
Depends. A lot of too-much-to-do, not-enough-time stress causes me to crave all sorts of things that aren’t on the approved list, like chocolate chip cookies or brownies, and Pizzeria Uno pizza. But if the stress comes from serious WORRY because alles ist verruckt, then the stomach knots up and I can’t eat.
In your situation, I’d be catabolizing like crazy.
Good luck; see the light through the tunnel; concentrate on coming out on the other side as the person you want to be.
Sorry to hear that things are not working out. Sometimes, but not always, things work out for the better and I hope this will be true for you.
When I was fired from the first agency that I worked for, I was devastated. As much as I bitch & moan about my current agency, I’m much better off here and in my personal life than if I were able to continue with the first one.
Back on topic:
Under severe stress, I tend to lose all appetite which results in zero energy and also had problems sleeping. I also developed TMJ. The same jaw problem that David Barr has/had.
I’ve never felt like vomiting in court but I’ve had two polygraph examiners become very irate with me because they felt that I was intentionally holding my breath to throw off the test. Under stress I have a tendency to forget to breathe. Go figure.
I recently got a promotion at work & much, much more responsibility!!! Now i am dealing with deadlines, staff issues & everything else u can imagine. Before this new set of responsibilities i was an “every 2 to 3 hour” eater, now with the stress & the pressure there r times when its 4 to 5 hours between meals & the meals r kinda forced down!!! for me i definitely have the same reaction that u do!!
Hey everyone thanks for the well wishes and yes it is all going to be good once it’s all done. It is getting through all the crud to make it happen. Some worry about the what ifs and preparing for them.
Lately it’s been just plain forgetting to eat until my hypoglycemia lets me know I’m going to pass out any second. Biotest’s Grow! bars have saved my butt several times in the last few weeks.
I am a stress eater. Also when I don’t get enough sleep, my stress levels go up, and my diet goes into the toilet.
Meditation, even for short periods of time, are very helpful, but not as helpful as dealing with the stress at the time. Learning to notice when stress appears, and working to reduce or eliminate it immediately prevents it in the first place.
Another thing to do is prioritize your time. List the most important things in their order of importance, and treat them that way. If a minor event comes up, blow it off because it is a lowly 12 compared to your 2 event. You can always deal with it later.
Also stress is cumulative, so avoiding contributing factors such as loud noise (including music) and trying to release tension in your body throughout the day can help.
My body used to go completely wack when I was ultra stressed out. Still does a bit, but not like it used to. I used to get skin rashes and my IBS would rear it’s ugly head. Of course maybe that’s because I would only eat two meals a day, and they would consist of whatever horrible foods I felt like eating at the time (pizza, pasta, cake, pie, etc…). I usually haven’t gained weight during these periods, but rather changed body composition for the worse.
My immune system goes to shit. I eat crap because I don’t get the time to go grocery shopping and am forced to eat in the uni cafeteria. I took Spike over my exams, which really seemed to help.
911 Girl, I firmly believe that you’re going to be an amazingly better person when all this is said and done. You know that already, but it’s worth saying again.
I stop eating all together when I get too stressed. I just try to remain in attendance of how I am doing and avoid Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. Sometimes they are hard to avoid, but once aware of them they are usualy easy to counter act.
[quote]graphicsMan wrote:
My body used to go completely wack when I was ultra stressed out. Still does a bit, but not like it used to. I used to get skin rashes and my IBS would rear it’s ugly head. Of course maybe that’s because I would only eat two meals a day, and they would consist of whatever horrible foods I felt like eating at the time (pizza, pasta, cake, pie, etc…). I usually haven’t gained weight during these periods, but rather changed body composition for the worse.[/quote]
Yes the weight is flying off and you just described how I have been eating since May 24. I’m on the last buckle hole on my belts and the pants are still sliding down. Yes, the body comp is going down the drain too. That’s the part I’m not happy about.
For the most part I’m sticking with the V-Diet (shy a few shakes) with a solid meal per day with my girls to try and keep some semblance of normality. I wouldn’t be losing the body comp if I could find the time to lift, but alas I am happy to have found the time for a run every other day or so.
Thanks for the well wishes and support. I am a fighter to my core. I consider these “incredible” life changes as in all for the positive.
