I've had another incredibly hectic day.
I was up at 2:00 a.m. (only 3 hours of sleep) mainly because I was stressed/anxious about things that I had to do during the day --- partly related to work (papers to grade/presentation to prepare) but mostly related to my dad's hospital visit. I couldn't stay in bed so I just started my day just after 2 a.m.
The good news is that everything that needed to get done today did get done. However, it came with a lot of stress and anxiety throughout the day.
I spent 4 hours with my father at the hospital. He's doing ok, but he could be better. On our way home, as he was coming up the stairs, he fell.
I'm not a parent, so I don't know how it feels to see your child get hurt ... but what I do know is that when I saw my father on the ground, my heart hurt so much - it was unbearable. I immediately ran to him and helped him up. He was quite shaken and unfortunately also cut up and bruised a bit. We cleaned up the cuts and I bandaged him up ... but I was shaken for the rest of the day. I didn't want to let him out of my site. Strange how the roles reverse as we get older ...
By 3 p.m. I was so exhausted that my body was hurting and shaking from lack of sleep and stress. I tried to lie down for a bit and did doze for a few minutes ... but it wasn't enough.
My biggest worry - I wanted to get a workout in, but would I be able to?
After de-stressing a bit with D, I pulled myself together and got in a Zumba workout. I felt much better after that - a good ass-shaking usually does that.
Despite all the stress I felt today, not once did I think about turning to food to help me cope. There's nothing that food would do to help make my day any easier ... I just stuck to my usual plan. It's starting to feel normal for me now, and that definitely feels good. I didn't have much of an appetite, but I made sure I ate. I don't want to get into the bad habit of skipping meals and letting my emotions dictate how and what I eat. Stuff happens all the time; I just gotta learn how to deal with it in a normal way. No more excuses. I'm enjoying my newfound health and wellbeing way too much to throw it away.
Good handle on your eating & glad you got to Zumba; there is nothing better for stress than a workout. Hope your dad is doing better and continues to improve.
ReplyDeleteHi EW (energywoman):) Even you need a full night's rest. I hope you find it soon. Hope your father is better also.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to think you're Superwoman! I would never be able to survive on three hours sleep, let alone deal with the day you had.
ReplyDeleteReally hope your dad is ok today, and that you got a fantastic sleep. It's hard when start looking after your parents and worrying about their health!
Nothing worse than seeing a parent OR a child hurt.
ReplyDeleteHope you get some rest soon.
You are really doing well! I'm on the computer for a few minutes trying to catch up on my favorite bloggers and you are certainly one of them.
ReplyDeleteI was sorry to hear about your Dad and hope he is back to normal very soon. Good job on not turning to food during big time stress. It's still one of my first thoughts unfortunately.
Thanks for the comments guys! Dad is doing alright and I'm starting to get a bit more control over my stress. Slowly but surely ...
ReplyDeleteStress eating is so hard to break, but you've conquered it! I'm so glad that you fit in a Zumba workout, even though the easier thing would have been to just relax/sleep. It shows your "no excuses" attitude.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that your dad is doing okay - I hope he continues to improve