In the quest for a balanced life, I need to find the triggers that cause my life to be “unbalanced”. Today I concentrated on food. Why do I eat? I have spent the last 24 hours focusing on exactly this.

Here are the notes (starting from last night):

• 9 PM – ate english muffin with peanut butter BORED
• 1 AM – child 1 comes into our bed
• 3 AM – child 2 comes into our bed
• 6:45 AM wake up with both children
• 7:30 AM coffee and english muffin with butter AND peanut butter TIRED/FUEL
• 8 AM Have full day fitness training class so pack a healthy lunch and have great intention to only eat what I packed.
• 9:00 Coffee (Starbucks, no snack = good start)
• 10:00 Banana FUEL
• 10:15 Larabar BORED (from sitting in class)
• 12:15 Tofu Veggie Salad FUEL
• 12:30 Carrot Cake and Coffee BORED/TIRED
• busy all afternoon, no time to snack
• 5:30 Stop to pick up tortillas for dinner and pick up gummy berries and brownie with no intention of telling anyone or sharing
• 5:31 Eat 15 gummies while biking home BORED
• 6:00 Arrive home to see child 2 has just woken up from long nap (note time)
• 6:01 Eat 10 gummies FRUSTRATED
• 6:15 Child 2 is whiny. Handful of gummies FRUSTRATED
• 6:30 Dinner Panini Wrap FUEL
• 7:30 Kids are throwing pillows, and are wired and husband is going out for the evening.
• 7:31 Eat 10 more gummies FRUSTRATED
• 7:35 Husband leaves. Finish gummies FRUSTRATED/TIRED
• 7:40 Make Popcorn for kids, who are still wired and eat 1/2 bag FRUSTRATED
• 8:00 Kids are throwing popcorn and pillows. Sneak out of room and eat brownie FRUSTRATED
• 8:10 Stomach ache
• 8:15 Kids still wired, throwing toys, no end in sight. Eat handful of cereal TIRED/FRUSTRATED
• 8:30 Eat 3 yucky bailey’s chocolates TIRED/FRUSTRATED
• 9:00 Kids asleep. Start writing. Now 9:41 PM. Still full. Stomach ache.

Future plan?

• 10 PM Pre bed english muffin with peanut butter REWARD

OK. So by writing it down and reflecting, it is obvious to me what my triggers are:

1. Frustration: Simply, instead of losing it on my kids/husband, I eat. I mask my frustration with food.
2. Lack of sleep – It won’t make me eat more, just reach for more comfort items (such as butter on my toast)
3. Boredom – This is a biggy. When I am bored, I reach for food. Simple.
4. Reward – At the end of the day, I deserve a reward.
5. Lack of water – If I don’t drink enough water I eat more.

This experiment was simple and effective. I now know what my triggers are.

So… if I sleep a lot, stay away from my kids and my husband, stay busy all day, and drink tons of water I should be fine.

That was easy.