Hi. I wanted to post that I wish you luck getting your groove back, but luck has little to do with it. You just have to DO it. There's no short cut, there's no magic wand to wave. The momentum, enthusiasm and feeling better doesn't come until later. It takes a few days (at least) of dogging it.
Your course of action will depend on your psychology, what motivates you, your schedule, and your living situation. Please feel free to share a little more if you'd like more specific info from people who have been in your shoes...
- If you work normal business hours, take today to get your sh*t together. Take stock of what decent LC foods you have. Make a meal plan, do some shopping, prep some food for the coming work week, toss the carb crap. Forget about wasted money: you wasted the money the day you bought it. Eating it doesn't change that.
- I do better when I see things written down. YMMV. I have a white board on my fridge that I use to remind me of meal ideas, things that need to be used up before they expire, and things I need to pick up next time I'm shopping.
- Talk to your family/roommates/whoever you live with. They don't have to like what you're doing, but demand courtesy. It's YOUR body, and you make the decisions. This might involve having adults and older kids hide their carb crap from you. If you're the chef, then they can eat what you cook or cook for themselves!
I sympathize with job stress, or any kind of other stress. But poor eating makes your ability to handle it so, SO much worse. I've had many times that I can trace complete meltdowns to poor eating. I think after the fact, "why did that even bother me?" Don't underestimate food's power over the brain and emotions.
Another important idea: scare yourself. The joint pain is what alarms me here. This is what scares me into never voluntarily touching gluten again. I saw a family member in the end stages of arthritis and it's hideous. I'm no rheumatologist, but the way I see it, every 'ding' your joints get is permanent. There is no healing it. You can reduce the inflammation, you can make the pain go away, but you can't re-grow joint tissue that's been eaten away.
Keep us posted; take care of yourself.