Saturday, February 21, 2026

www-d21 (2.21.2026): stress snowballs

satruday 208.2; 40+

stress can snowball into dis-stress and dis-ease, as (seemingly) small matters resurrect poor coping practices.

his-story: yesterday, the VA told me i had pre-diabetes. this seemed like a minor issue, since i'm working on reducing belly-fat & excess weight via diet, exercise and (especially) reducing alcohol. later in the day, a family issue arose, and (instead of coping well), i focused on the issue.

it was a beautiful day and i had time for a nice walk, but i wound-up with the top down in the convertible, driving to a line-dance class. note that all seemed well at this point. the class was at the traust brewery, and (when i found out i was over an hour early), i got back in the car "for a ride." i felt good about not having a beer.

i drove in the sun, but ended-up going to j.r. cash's (my local neighborhood retaurant/bar). i said 'hi' to a few friends and had a beer. no big deal, right? i went back to traust, and, still early, had another beer. when the class began, it became instantly apparent (to me) that the instructor was not equipped to teach beginners, and i walked-out after a few short minutes, p-ed off.

i went home, opened a bottle of wine, and sipped through and after dinner. 

summary: a 5-drink friday during a weight-reduction process that focuses on sobriety. couple that with 2 beers (yesterday), and old patterns are showing-up. i'm not blaming stress, but even minor stressors can snowball.

the good news? i didn't have IPAs in the house, so i didn't 'binge drink'. i ate well, i stayed-in, and ended-up falling asleep in my massage chair. 

today? start again.


 re-cognize; re-member. re-view long & short-term goals. 
make today a great day.

sidenote: i also need to plan for success-stress. what??!?

in the past, i've experienced lapses when "closing-in" on 200 lbs. i've gotten overconfident, began consuming more, and gained the weight back. my awareness of this (and the pre-diabetes, and the great feelings associated with lean-ness) are going to get me over the hump, this time.

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