Calm After the Storm
This past month has been a whirlwind of events and emotions. Anticipation, panic, anxiety, sadness, being overwhelmed, thankful, blessed and heartwarming. A few days after school started, our world was turned upside down with Hurricane Harvey’s arrival. Preparing for the storm, sheltering in place during tornado warnings, hearing a tornado pass by two blocks away, and quickly going from voluntary to mandatory evacuation. Hurriedly loading up the family, leaving your house and not knowing what you will return to is a scary feeling to say the least.
We were evacuated for almost a week, family safe and somewhat sound. Our home survived the storm with no damage. We are thankful for that but very sad as we watched what was going on. It became very real once we were able to return back home. The devastation was like none we had ever seen firsthand. Widespread damage. 50” of rain in a very short amount of time was crushing.
It was very heartwarming to see everyone come together helping neighbors, friends, family and strangers. Everything from rescues during the flood, helping clean out houses to fundraising and helping rebuild. A true sense of community blossomed.
I would be lying if I said the storm did not affect my eating. While evacuated, I had about 4 days where I did not even open my tracker. I wasn’t worried about what I ate or tracking. Emotional eating was in full force. Toward the end of the trip, I decided to gain control and track again. Overall, I have done well after getting home with a few days that I had some excessive snacking. I weighed in, and to no surprise had a 6-pound gain.
The storm affected everyone. Whether physically, mentally or both. I have been in a post storm funk (for lack of a better word). Doing the best I can hour by hour, meal by meal and day by day. This week was the first time I started feeling like myself again. It is going to take a long time for our city to rebuild. In turn, I think it is okay for me to take my time too. I am not going to stress over quickly losing the weight. I know I will do it. I will be kind to myself as we get back to normalcy and into the calm after the storm.
—Monica
#texasstrong