Looking forward page

[Kryz]

I've been horribly inactive here lately. And horribly inactive in general - went off primal, stopped working out, let stress take over and bring back my procrastinate-y ways. But rather than dwell on that, I'll just be grateful that I didn't seem to gain back any/much weight, that winter break is coming up soon (thus, less stress), and that I have you guys to come to for advice and support.


It's the last two weeks of the semester at school, which means crunch time, which means barely any time to eat. I was having a hard time eating during the rest of the semester, not sure how I'll be in the upcoming days. Tips for things to eat? Links to any reliable protein bar/coconut bread/almond bread recipes?


Dedicated December will at least encourage me to do a little exercise. It's meant to be 50 situps + 100 pushups + 1 mile run daily, although I'm gonna mess with that last bit depending on how I feel each day.


And then there's the stress. My arch enemy. I get nervous/anxious pretty easily, but I've kept it in check for most of the semester. The past few days it's gotten bad though (probably because the 3-months-away-from-boyfriend thing just started, he's usually my mental support), and I've been procrastinating, which of course leads to more stress. I've gotten panic attacks before and I'd like to avoid them. If you have any good meditation/relaxation techniques, I'd love to hear them. I just started journaling again, it seems to be the best way to get things out of my head without my boyfriend here to listen to me blab about crap.


Thanks, guys.

[hannahc]

Try the energy bars from this site, they turn out so well! And all the ingredients together should definitely cost less than buying the same amount of Larabars or something similar. Other easy grab meals/go to snacks can be precooked bacon (as in cook a bunch on Sunday and keep it in the fridge to reheat later), hard-boiled eggs, cheese sticks if you eat dairy, frozen berries, and almond butter. Those are the easy things in my kitchen right now anyway.


Whenever I have a stressful time coming up I just keep reminding myself to take it one day at a time. Get the things done today that you need to/can get done, and don't worry about tomorrow just yet. I also like making lists (for everything really), just to keep myself on track. Exercising should help too, but don't beat yourself if you don't fit it in every day! Take deep breaths, stay in the present, and you'll be fine

[arthurb999]

What are you studying in school. If you aren't in med, law or an ivy league MBA program... you have time to eat and workout... in fact, you have more time than most people on the site who work full time, have a house, kids, etc.

[chima_p]

You could also do what some of us are doing. Intermitant Fasting! I eat all my daily calories between 3pm and 11pm. Some use only a 4 hour window.

That way you really only need to worry about one "meal" and not worry about eating while you are busy.

[Acmebike]

Hey, Kryz, sounds like you have your December dialed and dedicated, make it all a habit! Get on Skype and "race" your boyfriend in push ups, sit ups, burpees, air squats etc every day! You can do sets of 10 or whatever and just race/encourage each other, it's goofy, but a good time to connect AND get some fitness.

[MandyGirl77]

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. I've been in my head and anxious so much lately too. I started reading "Meditation for Beginners" by Jack Kornfield. It comes with a CD too. It is really great in terms of helping quiet the mind...though it does take a ton of practice...but great for beginners.


Hugs to you!!

[jc2bg]

Kryz,


If you have time to put them together, I've been keeping a batch of the banana-nut bars on hand for the past few weeks, and they taste good and are an amazing source of energy.


Just made some last night. I tweak the recipe a bit each time I make them, and each time I like them better!


*3 cups chopped nuts (I used 1/2 cup of pecans, 1/2 cup of almonds, 2 cups walnuts this time around.

*1 cup shredded coconut

*2 bananas (I used 1.5 bananas and about a cup of shredded carrots this time)

*2 eggs


Chop the nuts but not too fine. I use a food processor for this. Shred the carrot, also in food processor. Chop the bananas, ditto. Mix coconut with nuts and bananas and carrots [if desired] in a large mixing bowl, then stir in eggs. I also like a few pats of butter stirred into the mixture. Then butter an oblong baking pan, spread the mixture, and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cut into squares and store what you don't eat on the spot in the refrigerator.


Someone smarter than I am can figure the nutritional breakdown, but perhaps the most amazing part about these bars is that a little goes a long way. They are very, very chewy, so in that sense satisfying to the "eat impulse." The addition of some carrots and a little butter this last time around seemed to make a bar that hangs together better, so they're easier to carry without turning into crumbs. -- JC


Caveat: Don't blend bananas and a large quantity of nuts in the food processor, as I did one time. The bananas squished together with some very fine nut choppings and made basically an impenetrable paste at the bottom of the container. It all turned out in the end, but I had to pull back to a manual process to finish the "processing."

[SerialSinner]

Kryz I can relate to your experience a lot. Stress and procrastination can blend badly and produce depression, binge eating, etc. I believe that the root of all evil is procrastination.


This worked for me sometimes:


- Virtually lobotomize yourself. When you find yourself procrastinating a paper, for example, just sit in front of the word document without thinking about what you are doing, like a lobotomized crazy person. Procrastination seems to be an unconscious defense mechanism to avoid uncomfortable/stressful situations, so by just sitting there and typing you are easing the transition from the "damn I still have to much to do" stressful feeling into the "ok things are starting to flow now" more positive one. Sounds crazy but it seems to help.


- Have breakfasts very rich in protein and fat. Scrambled eggs with bacon seems ideal. When you scramble eggs they acquire the ability of absorbing a ton of fat. I am always amazed of how much they can absorb. 3 scrambled eggs can suck up the fat from 4 or 5 bacon strips. Anyway, a breakfast like that is very easy and quick to make, and will quench your hunger for a long time.


- As some said before, IF. And this goes along the lines of a big fat/protein-rich breakfast. IF-ing and ketosis seems to make you more alert and sharp, and a good big primal breakfast can get you going easily until 7 or 8pm.


- Try to avoid inflammation as much as possible. Chronic inflammation is linked to depression (http://tinyurl.com/yabbdzs). You know what the emotional effects of procrastination added to stress and binging on carby inflammatory foods can do to your state of mind. To avoid inflammation keep your Vit. D-3 levels up, try to avoid carby foods and fruits, get the best quality meats and eggs possible, and supplement with O-3.


- Stretch. Propioceptors (http://tinyurl.com/yle4vvm) appear to have a big effect on our "fight or flee" instinctive mechanisms (ie, stress): http://tinyurl.com/yzaw25o


- DIY Yoga. I am not an expert on this, but 62Shelby, a regular here, knows a lot about it. Maybe she could give you a hand.


Best of lucks.

[Catalina]

Hi Kryz. . .I know what you mean about this point in the semester--I come at it from a teaching standpoint, but the stress is pretty similar. I've looked a lot into the procrastination thing, and something to consider is this: many people procrastinate from a fear of failure. Sounds odd, but think about it--if you wait until the last minute, you can blame that for not doing as well as you would have liked. I know that's one of my reasons.


Here's one of my favorite bread recipes. It uses dairy, but it's easy to store (in the fridge)and grab. I put it in an 8 x 8 pan for 40 minutes. I've also made it dairy-free by substituting cinnamon for the herbs, coconut for the parmesan and canned pumpkin for the farmer's cheese. Oh, and BTW, I use a cup of regular cottage cheese instead of farmer's cheese and water--it's way cheaper. Good luck, and I'm glad to hear you're moving back into primal.


http://www.guideforselfhealing.com/2...-can-be-tasty/

[Shine]

Kryz, I feel like I just read a page out of my own life. The growing stress and frantic workload of this past semester have completely derailed my healthy endeavors. Although I feel as though I have no time to work out, I also know that my efficiency drops if I don't work out. Physical inactivity fosters mental atrophy, which only places a further time constraint on my academic workload. And so the vicious cycle of lost time continues...


So, long story short, I don't have any suggestions because I'm in the same bind as you! I just wanted to commiserate and thank you for making this thread. There have been some really great suggestions so far.