Positive life changes -> bingeing

Hi, all. 5'7"/43 yo/F/SW 234-CW 207-GW 150.

A month ago, I got an amazing new job. I really needed this job. My family needed me to get this job. I feel valued and happy in the new workplace. But I'm facing some challenges in my weight loss journey, all related to this new job. I've gained 6 lbs back in the month I've worked here. I need to turn this ship around before it hits a weight-gain iceberg. I need some support from this dear community. (Also, I welcome advice.) So here's what's been going on:

1. Changes = stress = depression symptoms. Even though the change is positive, I am experiencing a recurrence of depression symptoms because major events send my brain reeling, apparently. I don't want to get back on meds because those make me gain even more weight, and I am cleared to be off them. (I got off my meds in 2020 and have been well since.) I know this period will pass, but right now I oscillate between frustration, weepiness, and feeling so overwhelmed, I think I might explode. It's hard to get up in the morning, and I am "powering through" at work. (The workload is manageable, but I am new and have to learn everything all at once.)
2. Stress = binge eating. If it's sweet, I stuff it in my gullet, even when I am not hungry or the food makes me feel sick.
3. Full-time desk job = sedentary life. Wow, I am unaccustomed to sitting for such long periods of time. When I was at home all the time, I kept busy and kept moving.
4. A never-ending bowl of chocolate sits in the breakroom at work. If it disappears, the admin assistant refills it, no questions about how quickly it disappears. I've been bingeing on it.
5. Long-ish commute = less time to go to the gym + exhaustion at the end of the day. (I do get 2 work-from-home days each week, though!) I leave for work at 6:45 am and it is a 15-20-minute drive to the gym, so getting a morning workout in is not feasible. I feel too guilty to go to the gym in the afternoon, as I have 2 kids, and 1 is young enough to miss me if I'm gone too long.
6. Exhaustion. Constant exhaustion. Early-waking insomnia + stress + sedentary lifestyle. OMG.
7. Foot pain from arthritis. My feet are killing me because I'm heavy. It's hard to walk a ton because my feet hurt. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Here's what I am doing to try to help myself. But your advice is welcome, as it is clearly not enough:

1. I reached out to my husband and my sister for support because I could feel that my mental health was off. They have been extremely supportive and loving. Hubby is carrying more of the load at home so I can take a breather every once in a while.
2. I just purchased some low-calorie snacks to keep at the office so I can avoid the Chocolate Bowl. My low-cal snacks are single-serve 120-calorie oatmeal packets and 30-calorie instant miso soup packets. I also cut up a carrot into sticks and bring it to work every day with peanut butter for dipping.
3. While I cannot eat vegan food for dinner because my family are all carnivores except for me, I've been eating mostly vegan food every day for breakfast and lunch. (Vegan instead of veg because of food allergies & sensitivities.) I do the "same breakfast" thing, meal prepping a tofu-potato-sweet potato-mushroom-bell pepper-garden greens scramble with nutritional yeast. I portion it into sandwich bags and freeze it. Every day, I grab one bag and put it into my lunch bag to have for breakfast. My lunches are usually those little microwaveable pouches of channa masala or similar Indian foods with tons of fresh veggies cut up as a side. Sometimes I bring a tuna sandwich instead of the pouches because it has a lot of protein.
4. My legs feel stiff and swollen if I sit still too long, and I fall asleep if I am not in motion. I've been popping up from my desk a few times a day and walking down the stairs from my 3rd-floor office to the first floor and back up again. When we aren't in the middle of a heatwave, I go outside and walk during my break time instead of doing other things. But right now it's jungle-hot out there, and I can't bear the heat enough to walk.
5. My desk adjusts to standing. I try to stand 1-2 hours of the day. The first hour and the hour after lunch are my stand-times because I don't want to get sleepy.
6. I've been trying to hit the gym on work-from-home mornings and on Saturdays, though I have not been consistent about it. Some days I just take a walk instead because I live in a beautiful place. But it's been hot and icky-sticky for a while now, so it's tough to get out. (Also, the AC is broken at my gym and it is stifling in there.)
7. I've gone back to meditation, which I used last time I struggled with anxiety and depression.

So, dear lose-it compadres, I need support, suggestions, anything ya got. Throw it at me.

submitted by /u/Oh-Oh-Ophelia
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