What Meal Planning Taught Me About Stress Management
Only 3 months ago, it seemed the highlight of my day was sitting in front of my computer at night with a package of mint Oreos and a giant glass of milk. Whatever the day held, however chaotic it was, this was a routine that never changed. I would watch people live their “dream life” on YouTube while I enjoyed the minty chocolate and lamented that I would never have such freedom. I was too tired to try, feeling constantly bloated, unorganized, alone, and completely swamped.
When I started my program with Rachel, I was ready for change and knew that meant changing my habits. What I didn’t realize was that it would completely transform how I handled stress. I was pretty oblivious that those little chocolate snacks, the constant cups of coffee, and not to mention loads of sleep, was how I was “handling” stress. I had assumed that since I wasn’t drinking alcohol, or doing drugs that I handled stress pretty well. Well, except for the occasionally outbreak of hives. Oh, and the problems with my stomach and gallbladder. Oh, and don’t forget the switching between sleeping all the time or not sleeping at all.
Yeah, I wasn’t handling stress well at all to be really honest.
Once I was fully involved in a planned macro program, all my little snacks were now neatly planned. Food was no longer my crutch, and that meant I needed to figure out my stress management and fast. Not only did I have normal life things to balance, but combine that with a lockdown, COVID, and wildfires with possible evacuation, there were more than a few tears shed.
Food isn’t going to take my feelings away
It sounds a little gruff, but it is true. While chocolate may give me a major oxytocin boost, once my hormones level out, I’ll still be in the same situation with no new ways to handle it. There are some times when we just need to look on the bright side, however many times we need a plan of action. When your habit is to eat instead of brainstorming that action, your body starts to store the stress with the pounds, instead of shedding it. Whenever we get stressed our body retains water. In my case that is usually flooded with histamine, and well hives aren’t all that flattering. In fact, they are very damaging to your heart if you have too much histamine.
Coming to the realization that food isn’t making the problems go away was a real wake up call for me.
2. Nourishing my body helps me handle stressful situations better
We all know this to be true. There are millions of companies selling “nourishing products” to profit on this concept, but like eating chocolate, they usually fall short of actually helping. What I’m talking about here though isn’t just bath bombs and massages. I’m talking about day in and day out care. Consistently eating a balanced meal is a form of self care that equips you with the mental strength and clarity to handle difficult situations.
If you’re in the middle of an intense food craving and your boss brings you more work due today, you are not going to handle that very well. But if you have eaten breakfast and have lunch packed, you will feel more level and may have the strength to say, “ you also have this work for me to do, which one do you want done today?”
3. A meal plan makes one less thing to stress about
Hey, what’s for dinner?
Did that just stress you out? It did me and I know what we are having tonight! When you have to constantly think about food, you will be constantly on edge, especially if you are in charge of food for the whole family.
When you have a meal plan in place, there’s no second guessing. Everything becomes easier, and your brain gets a break, which means you have more time to either take care of something else, or rest.
4. I Found my real stress reliever
This realization came about 2/3s through my program. During this time, my little town, for the first time in my life, was under a “prepare for possible evacuation” watch. There were wildfires surrounding our county on 3 sides, with the ocean on the other! Going through that, while trying to decide which items in my life were worth taking and which weren’t, sent me into a full panic attack. I’m talking full body hives, alternating numbness and pain, sleepiness, and lots of tears.
At this point, I was so stressed I didn’t want to turn to food. I didn’t want to do anything, but had to find something, anything that would take my stress away and help me feel calm. The kids were asleep, my husband was taking care of the house, and so I put my headphones on with some worship music, pulled out a favorite journal, and sat with an empty page in front of me. I prayed. I cried. I felt all of the feelings, and when I was done, I wrote down everything that was on my heart. Then I prayed some more.
5. Give it to God
I love when things in my life are neat and tidy. I love when things work seamlessly and decisions are easy. Many times though, life is messy, chaotic, and a bit of crazy just for fun. As a Christian woman, though, who doesn’t drink alcohol, or do drugs, I often would joke, “Oh, I need this coffee today!” or “If I could just get a nap in!” or “These cookies are what is going to save me today.”
It’s even popular to lean on these things in the Christian world! But the truth is none of these things can take the place of an active, thriving prayer life. If we first turn to coffee or chocolate to relieve our stress, then that can be just as much a ‘sin’ as turning to alcohol. We are numbing the pain of whatever is stressing us out just long enough to “get through it.” When, instead, we should first take all our concerns to Him in prayer, and use food as what it’s meant to be, nourishment for our body.
Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7 KJV
God used this program to show me that I was using so many seemingly innocent things as a crutch instead of going to Him. I found that by setting aside the mindless eating, and 2-3 cups of coffee, that I now had to face what was stressing me out head on.
I’m not saying we can’t drink coffee for a pick me up, or enjoy some delicious chocolate chip cookies. I’m just saying to be careful what order of importance anything is place in your life. When you feel irked or irritated, what and Who do you turn to first?
Stress management and eating habits are so tightly connected. If we can create a good relationship with food in the way it’s intended to be, then that can help us focus more on what is important and how we can handle those important things with peace.
