Day 62- Non-Food Triggers

From 100 Days of Weight Loss (Spangle)- Non Food Triggers are harder to identify since they could be anything and are very individual. It takes real mental thought to try to get deep in yourself to recognize these cues.
Some of the cues that Spangle mentions are- people, situations, habits, unplanned eating, relief from: pain, illness and fatigue. Spangle also says that sometimes they are subtle and hidden that you don't know it until you are already eating something that is not on your plan and you have already gotten through half the bag. 
For me this was hard work because I felt like I was mentally drained by controlling my willpower when I encountered it and was probably over analyzing the situation, but in the end the hard work paid off. I am able to pinpoint the non-food triggers and with that new awareness can tackle my emotional eating issues once and for all. It will not be easy, but now I can identify them and work on finding acceptable ways of dealing with the trigger.
For me my biggest trigger is stress from work. I found myself looking for ways to give myself a "break" from work by going to the break room and looking for food that was on the table. There is always something there to eat- cookies, nuts, candy or left overs from the last meeting. I also found that the stamina that is needed for my work can make me think that I need more fuel, but in reality I was just looking for an excuse to eat more. I was also eating at my desk so that I could get more work done which made it ok to keep eating while working instead of taking that much needed break to recharge my own mental capacity so that I could get something done with quality and efficency. These are habits that I need to change. 
The other big non-food trigger is anxiety of an upcoming meeting or just hoping that the plan to make things work like shuffling children from activity to the next actually works without a hitch. Anxiety to get things done in a timely manner is huge for me whether it is grading papers, important communcation that needs to get out to teachers or principals or even something as simple as getting dinner out. It makes me nervous, restless and makes me want to chew on something usually this is where my cravings for crunchy, salty-sweet comes in and I reach for salty nuts or sweet candies or both!
Spangle says that emotions are also a non-food triggers. Here is a list for your reference- depression, boredom, stress, anger, and lonliness.  I have eaten for all those emotional reasons.  It has to be that hardest thing to break since food becomes the temporary fix for me. It took a lot of observing my own behavior to find the non-food triggers, but is so worth the analysizing because of the new awareness I feel like I know my habits and cues so that I can make the adjustments that I need to make. This is where my I break that yo-yo weight loss and gain to break through to the new habits in this healthy lifestyle change. 
What are your non-food triggers?
YOU CAN DO IT!
JUST KEEP AT IT!
NEVER GIVE UP!
Always,
Mer