PWLP: Week Six - Lesson Two

Personal Evaluation

1. When you feel stressed or tired, what is the first thing you think of doing to relieve the pressure? If you don't eat, what other things do you find yourself doing?    Before starting PRISM, I would turn to food to calm my stresses - namely chocolate, pizza, bread, and candy. I still have a tendency to think about turning to those things when I feel stressed out, but it's not habitual like it used to be. Now, when I'm stressed out, I de-stress by venting to my husband, and watching some Days of our Lives online. I exercise to de-stress as well, or remove myself from the stressful situation (going for a walk in the mall on my lunch break instead of taking my lunch at my desk).

2. When you are stressed and you give in to food, how do you feel immediately afterwards?    Usually, I feel guilty and ashamed. I never give in to food in a controlled manner - I eat everything in sight, and I feel guilty that I overindulged and know what the consequences will be later. However, I also feel relatively calm - food has that affect on me.

3. Think about a time this week that you ate while under stress. Think about a quiet, calm meal you had this week. Did you feel differently about how your appetite was satisfied? How was it different?    When I eat under calm situations, I don't feel 'as hungry,' and I certainly don't feel like I need more food to comfort me. I can understand and acknowledge my hunger and feelings of being satisfied more easily, without overstuffing myself in an all-fired hurry to get as much food into my body as possible. When I eat under stress, I usually undereat or overeat, and I don't properly pay attention to the signals my body is giving me regarding my hunger. I don't feel satisfied as easily either.

4. How does stress affect your ability to control your eating behavior?    When I am stressed, I lose control. It sort of parallels the situation in my life at the moment - I feel out of control in my personal/work life, so I lose control with my eating. I overindulge to numb the way I feel - stuffing myself until I feel overfull and can hardly move makes me feel comfortable and safe and numb to the situation. I'm not as careful with what I chose to eat, or how I eat it, or how much of it I eat), which makes it a dangerous situation.