Stress

I'm a very stressed out person.  Yep - I know you all know it, but now I'm admitting it!!!  I do have a lot of stress.  My life looks like this...

I'm on a constant roller coaster.  The problem is my roller coaster doesn't go from no stress to lots of stress... it goes from medium stress to above-the-charts stress!!!  I'm still working on how to control it.  I definitely am not very good at mastering stress.  I definitely overbook myself.  I keep saying that needs to change - but honestly, it probably never will.  (At first I typed in "I'm a very stressful person."  HOPEFULLY you don't think that of me!!! ha ha :)

But.... instead of you all just reading about my stress issues - the point of the post is this... I read an article the other day that was talking about weight loss and stress and how it affects everyone differently.  It mentioned one part in particular that I loved because I knew they were talking about me.  The said that a lot of people carry stress in their jaw.  So they eat to work out that stress.  The chewing helps relieve some stress.  I really believe this is me.  I LOVE to crunch!  I've always loved crunchy foods - and sometimes when I am SUPER stressed, I totally feel that need to "crunch."  Even when I'm not hungry.  Hence the reason why a lot of people - especially including me - tend to overeat a lot of times - or do "mindless eating" at nighttime.  Not only is dessert a stress reliever - cause we all know what desserts spelled backwards is...... :) but also by eating, stress is leaving our jaw and hopefully the whole body!

Now the obvious solution to this would be gum.  Gum allows you to chew and chew and chew without taking in any calories.  Well - FIVE calories to be exact if you are choosing Extra. 

But sadly, gum doesn't always work for me.  I'm completely open to suggestions about what is great to crunch and munch on.  Let me know your favorites!  Kari pointed out rice cakes.  I LOVE the little ones from Quaker.  I think I've only had the cheddar ones and the caramel ones - they are both good.  If I'm in a healthier mood - I love carrot sticks (I like the really long ones better than the baby ones - but baby is usually all we have...), sweet pickles, raw cauliflower, ruffles potato chips and a little bit of lowfat ranch to dip it all in.  Yes, I've had this combination multiple times.  ha ha

Jen loves to eat gogurts frozen.  They may not be the healthiest kind of yogurt out there, but the goal this month is making healthy switches and choosing yogurt instead of ice cream is a GREAT switch!  Not to mention - eating things frozen is a BRILLIANT thing to do.  It takes longer so a lot of times you feel full before you're even done eating.  I remember one time Alex didn't want the frosty in his kid's meal.  I put it in the freezer and ate it a couple days later.  It's just the teeny one (from the kid's meal) but it took me forever to eat because it was frozen.  And usually you can down one of those in seconds. 

Chips and salsa is a RELATIVELY healthy thing to eat.  Okay, the chips aren't.  But I read in an article that it's a great snack idea if you pile salsa on each chip.  Then you're getting plenty of veggies in - salsa is really low in calories - and still getting that crunch from the chips.  Just limit the chips and pile on the salsa!

I had already started this post when I received an email from Kelli.  It had a link to another site where the girl wrote 100 healthy snack ideas.  Here's the link... http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/fresh-food-friday-100-healthy-snack.html.  Her first item was "frozen grapes."  I've heard from a lot of people that this is fantastic.  It seems too weird to me!! :) 

Kelli also mentioned eating homemade peaches and cream.  Slices of fresh peaches in a bowl with milk and a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top.  Also good with fresh raspberries.  This sounds really great.  Also, if you buy strawberries that aren't that good, you can take a teeny bit of sugar, sprinkle it on them, let it sit for a few minutes and eat.  As good as new!!

Cheryl has a GREAT recipe for granola that I really like.  As I've mentioned, I LOVE crunchy things.  This granola is SO easy to make and I eat it plain or mixed with yogurt. 

One of my ABSOLUTE favorites is the 100 calorie packs of popcorn from Orville Redenbacher.

They have Butter if you're in the mood for salty or Kettle if you're in the mood for sweet.  Plus, you get SOOO much for just 100 calories.  Most crackers / chips reach 100 calories in just a few pieces - but these give you a pretty big bowl.  I also love Fresca.  And while I don't drink much pop, a Black Cherry Fresca with a bag of this popcorn - I feel like I've had a VERY good, big treat and it's only 100 calories. 

THAT is the kind of snackin' I'm talkin' about!!!