Emotion vs. Eating

I am sure that many of you have heard people say, "I am an emotional eater". I have often put myself in that category. But I am an emotional person, so wanting something to eat is almost like wanting air to breathe. Like right now, I seriously want to go into the freezer and eat more of Adam's Peppermint Ice Cream. I am in a minor state of sadness and frustration. I didn't eat very well yesterday or today. Lunch for both days was leftover Thanksgiving stuff. Tonight dinner was Taco Bell. I had a Taco Salad, and it might not have been too bad if I hadn't eaten the shell. The upcoming weeks contain more Christmas parties that I can possibly count and there will be lots of stuff that previously I would not have given a second thought about eating. All of this compared to my weight loss goal is piling in on me, and I feel overwhelmed.

I find myself asking, "What should I do?" I could go to all the parties and not eat anything there, but I worry that this course of action will just make me want more sweets and at some point I will go insane (not that I am not already crazy). Some might say that I could skip a few of the parties, but alas this is not an option. I can't explain all the reasons, you will just have to trust me. I could bring something healthy and attempt to minimize the damage done by the one cookie I will actually eat (but how to choose one?). I could hang this whole thing on a shelf and say "Forget it, I will start on New Years".

I really want to take the last option. I have already shared with you that it's not my nature to stick things out. Even just the thought of not being able to participate FULLY in the coming month almost makes me want to cry.  A friend came up to me tonight and asked what I was bringing to the Women's Christmas Party. I said I hadn't decided and she said that she looked forward to whatever it was, because I always brought something good. It made me not want to disappoint her. So I really want to come up with something totally yummy and seriously bad for you. And I want to taste all the "bad for you" stuff that other people bring. This scenario would repeat itself five times over the month of December, and I haven't even thought about what we are going to do for Christmas Dinner yet.

Can I increase my workout schedule to allow myself extra intake? I worry that this is not a healthy approach and that it won't even work anyway.

Oh! I forgot that Adam's birthday is in the middle of all this craziness. Although he doesn't really like sweets so this might not be too much of a problem.

I am open to suggestions at this point. If any of my local friends would like to help me out and help me pay attention to what I eat at all these parties, that would be greatly appreciated.

For now, I think I will turn on some music and try to distract myself. Hopefully, I can get happy and stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer.