Nights without sleeping and children with yelling,
Hours on footsies with frantic-paced selling,
Trying to cope with the stress it all brings –
These are a few of my not favorite things . . .
Lisa Pietsch has been telling me for a long time that I need to get more sleep and reduce stress if I want to lose weight. I understand the principle, but to understand it and then to apply it are two entirely different things. With four small children, books to finish editing, a house to clean, and home schooling, my life is pretty hectic. Then we take into consideration the gym time I’ve recently added, not to mention the volunteer assignment I’ve accepted to work with the Cub Scouts in my neighborhood, and I’m one busy lady! Stress is a natural part of my life and the sleep – well, I’ve got to work on that, but when you’ve got twenty-five hours of things to do and only twenty-four hours in which to do it, you tend to let the sleep slide.
This last weekend marks the beginning of yet another stress factor – I do boutiques throughout the holiday season, which necessitate a lot of preparation, travel, and execution. I love doing the boutiques, interacting with people, pushing my wares – but again, I lose sleep and there is a degree of stress.
The upshot of all this is that I’ve gained five pounds this last weekend alone!
Now, I’m willing to wager a certain amount of that is water gain and undigested food. It happened so quickly, I doubt it’s actually had time to turn into fat cells. Whatever the cause, I’m seeing Lisa’s warning coming to life before my eyes. No sleep+stress=fat. It’s as plain as day.
So what am I going to do to keep this from happening again? Well, I’m trying to figure that out. I have another boutique in two weeks, and I’m going to do a little bit every day to prepare, rather than spending the last five days working frantically. I’m going to do my very best to go to bed earlier (we may have to bribe my two-year-old to stay in bed to carry that off). I’m also going to spend a little time sitting quietly and breathing deeply every day – you’d be amazed how much that helps.
Losing weight is about living consciously. When we just let things happen to us, we tend to gain weight. When we take control of what’s going on around us, and pay attention to our intake, our stress levels, our attitudes, we tend to lose weight. I’m trying to live more consciously and to stop drifting through life. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Related Blogs:
Lose the Stress, Lose the Weight
Waiting for the Numbers to Drop
Are You an Overweight Mom? Get Some Sleep!