School, Stress, and Scarfing

I am here to firmly attest that these three things are not mutually exclusive. Especially for me. I am sure that there are those of you out there who can agree with this. You get stressed out and the first thing your mind thinks is, "Cheeeeesssseeeeburger!!!" This is often followed with some sort of fried food such as french fries, fried zucchini, curly fries, or waffle fries (my personal favorite). This duo of diet disruption isn't complete without a shake or soda. Sure this "relief" feels good in the moment, but as the pounds start to add up this choice doesn't seem so good.

Plus there are SOOOO many good excuses for eating fast food. (1) I work from 8am to 5pm and I go to school from 7:30m to 9:30pm. There simply isn't the TIME to make a healthy dinner. (2) I have an assignment due in a few hours that still needs to be finished (or almost always for me, starting AND finishing), so I don't have TIME to make a healthy dinner. (3) I only have an hour for lunch . . . what could I possibly find in an HOUR that is healthy? (4) I have so many OTHER things to do in the morning, I don't have the TIME to pack a healthy lunch.

There are probably far more excuses out there, these are just some of the bog ones that I tell myself. Luckily for me, towards the end of the month I run out of money and hitting the fast food joints, just isn't in the cards for me. Like today. I have .18 to my name until pay day. I am FORCED into eating food that is prepared at my house, but that doesn't alleviate the exhaustion I feel after having worked ALL day and gone to school for the better part of the night.

I don't mean to sound like I am whining about my life, but I am kinda whining about my attitude about my life. I have all these reasons for why I don't have the TIME to take care of myself, but if I don't start doing it I am never going to be truly happy. This doesn't mean that I am unhappy. I have a great job in a time where they are scarce, I have FANTABULOUS friends who support me no matter what I want to do, I have an amazing family who loves me and who are involved in my life, a wonderful Fiance who pretty much was made to be in my life from God himself, and am nearly finished with my Master's in English degree. There isn't a whole lot in there to be unhappy about. It is all about how I feel about myself.

I am proud of all the things therein that I have set my mind to do AND accomplished. I just wish that losing weight and staying fit was also included. Yes, I go to school. Yes, school is stressful. Yes, LIFE is stressful. I just don't know how I can get it into my head that all these outside forces do not equate to a need for food!! As I was watching Biggest Loser, hoping for a spark of inspiration, I saw a man who's brother had passed away. Instead of reaching for a cheeseburger, he reached for exercise. How easy would my life be if I could find myself in a stressful situation and think, "I really need to hit the gym" instead of "Ooo . . . Panda Express is right there!"