Stress Eating

Just exactly 7 days to go before the GRE General Exam. I am already in "panic mode" and have developed very unhealthy ways of coping with my test anxiety. For one, I have been gaining a lot of weight. Partly because I study in fast food joints in the early morning and have been eating more junk food than normal. Coupled with that is my increasing and big appetite. I think this is what people call "stress eating". I deal with my anxiety by eating. Indeed a very bad habit to develop!

I read that when you are under high levels of stress, your body's immune system gets affected. It makes it harder for your body to digest food properly -break down the sugar since the sympathetic nervous system is activated ("fight or flight"). If a person is not under stress, the parasympathetic nervous system is at work which is in charge of resting and digesting(sorry, this is info is still after effect of my Neuropsych review and exam last Sat). Hence, prolonged stress coupled with unhealthy diet could lead to diabetes and/or other health problems.

So now, aside from the exam, I am starting to get paranoid that I might have diabetes. Maybe I am just over reacting but I feel that I really need to start getting serious with my diet and lifestyle.

Although New Year is still more than a month away, I have made the following resolutions:

1. Walk daily (ideally) for at least 15-30 minutes (brisk walking). If not possible, at least every other day.

2. Avoid junk food and fast food after next week.

3. Add more fiber in my diet - fruits and vegetables.

4. Have myself screened for diabetes.

5. Avoid Coke, artificial juice. Drink more water and/or fresh fruit juices or shakes.

6. Avoid eating snacks. If I really feel the hunger pangs, just eat a cracker or fruit or drink fresh juice.

7. Avoid skipping meals. I notice that when I skip meals, I tend to eat more.

My goal is to lose at least 5 pounds this month and another in December. Hopefully, I can do it with discipline and serious determination.

Wish me luck!

MY GRE SAGA

Yesterday, I completed the GRE Advance Subject Test in Psychology and though I am relieved, I still have the GRE General Test to worry about. I have exactly 10 days before my test date and I am again (as usual) starting to feel panicky.

As I wrote in my previous post, I am a self-confessed "crammer". I am not proud of it but it seems that I do better when I cram. I think I did fairly well in the Pysch test considering I read an entire Psych intro book by McGraw (about 650 pages, not including the glossary of terms) in just two days before the exam.

However, last night, I had a mild (or was it moderate?) "panic attack" over the GRE General Test. I found out that starting this November, there would be new questions for the Verbal and Quantitative sub-tests which would make the questions more difficult. Since I was previously preparing for the Psychology exam, I have not really studied for this test yet and I felt that 10 days would not be enough preparation time. I had 3 options:

Option 1: Study seriously and take the test on the scheduled date, Nov. 14

Option 2: Pay extra $50 and re-schedule for first week of December. I need to do this at least 10 days before my test date lest I forfeit my $170 test fee. I already e-mailed them to ask if this is still possible for me but have not received a reply yet. . .

Option 3: Have my husband take the GRE on Nov 14 also so we could both seriously study for it together. (I need someone to help me focus since I get distracted with work, and other things. .. .). However, my husband feels he needs more preparation time since he works more hours than me and feels tired to study in the evening.

And so I am back to option 1: study and take the test on Nov. 14.

Then to motivate me, my husband decided that we should have a bet and see who gets the higher GRE score. But I already know he will get higher - for one, he is very good in Math while I am so terrible in it. And second, he is also good in English - he used to teach English as a second language in a private and elite university in our area. His part-time job also involves teaching Math and English to H.S. students of an international school. And although we speak to each other in English primarily than our own native languages (since we have an inter-racial marriage), I think he has better facility with the language having studied and lived in various countries during his formative years.

So instead of motivating me, I feel more anxious. I wrote in my earlier blog that a certain sense of panic is important for me to get to work. But the panic that I am feeling now isn't the healthy kind. I feel like crying while writing this and just thinking about the coming exam. (I think I am going nuts!)

It doesn't help that when I posted a discussion on GRE at MyLot, I received 3 or 4 out of 5 replies who said that they didn't even study for the GRE and they got perfect scores in Math (800). One tried to encourage me by reminding me that I am "Asian" and that "we never worry about Math." The thing is, I am Asian but I am the Asian who sucks at Math!

To add to my already low self-esteem, I was seated beside this young Math professor (we both graduated from the same university) yesterday during the GRE Subject exam. Obviously he was taking the GRE Advance Subject Test in Math and after we finished the exam, I asked him if he has already taken the GRE General. He said he did but is considering re-taking.

I was quite surprised and told him so: You are a Math professor from "XX" (our university is considered the "premier university" in the country and known for very good Math and Science programs), I am sure Math wasn't a problem for you. And then he told me he got 750 in English and "Only" 710 in Math! I guess he found his scores "low" and he wanted to re-take the test. Maybe because he is a Math professor in a prestigious university which happened to be his alma mater, nothing was good enough except a perfect score of 800.

Now, tell me why I should not panic!