Anxiety/Stress/Boredom eating...help?

awenasangster
awenasangster Posts: 12 Member
edited February 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
So a bit of background about me: I'm 26 and spent Dec 18-Dec 19 living in Madagascar working as a diving instructor. Since I took up diving frequently two years ago I've not had to take anxiety/depression medication which I had previously been about for about 6 years. Chilled me right out, made me sleep better and had me a lot more active in places with routine. I lost 20kg over the year, going from 90kg to 70kg (I'm about 5'9). I still had a little more I wanted to lose but in my last few months there it was my birthday and I wanted to do all the touristy experiences and didn't want to have to limit myself.

So, return this Christmas to Scotland where I stay with my family in between work. I have a job at a small hotel down the road that I can walk back into whenever I want which is convenient and saves any travel money. Great right?

However...this job gives me really rubbish shift times a lot. I will sometimes work split shifts 5 days a week and these are killing me as you have no time to do ANYTHING at all that day. It's also throwing off my sleep and eating patterns a lot as they don't feed me. I work 10-3 and 6-whenever, typically I've never ate breakfast in the past as it makes me feel a bit sick but with these awkward shift times it means I can't eat at lunch. So basically what happens is that I will pick throughout the day. Someone orders a bowl of chips and doesn't touch them at all? Cool I'll eat some. Muffins that are getting a bit old so we want to get rid of the last few? Sweet hit me up. It's cold as the arctic circle? Hot chocolateeee. The problem is that obviously hotel food is super high calorie and it's difficult to track anything if I haven't made it or there's no labels. If I know I've snacked loads and overshot my calorie thing I feel too ashamed to log it.

I've gone back up to 75kg and the fact I haven't dived in months is making me really down, as well as with having the extra weight. I really struggle with not impulse eating out of boredom or stress as I had eating disorders in the past and sometimes I feel like if I totally push down on them, I might end up going the other way and ending up too thin. I crashed like 10kg within a few weeks at the start of Madagascar from pure stress and it was horrendous for my body.


Anyone have any advice for when eating isn't a craving issue but more a comfort, control and boredom issue? Any tricks for getting yourself to do something else etc?

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    Well, there are probably things that could make this job work for you. For example, did you also go long stretches without eating as a diving instructor? You could eat between shifts and after work. When I waitressed I just ate before and after. When my ex house-mate waitressed, she brought in smoothies and sipped on them as time permitted.

    I pick more when I don't get enough protein, and can eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied, because I am giving my body carbs and fat, when what it wants is protein.

    However, is this a temporary job? Are you going back to Madagascar? Sounds like that was a much better fit for you.

    Can you give up the AM shift for this job or find another job?
  • JohnnytotheB
    JohnnytotheB Posts: 361 Member
    Bad jobs are a major stressor on a person. I am a boredom eater but for you I think you have more issue with the job which is leading to bad habits. Find a new job or do "gigs". Get back to doing things you like to do and less thinking about some bs job. Life it short.
  • Luciicul
    Luciicul Posts: 415 Member
    Yep, I've definitely had times where I eat more out of bordom and comfort/stress eating than any need. For me, late at night when others are asleep or in their room and I'm still up on the computer or watching tv, it can be a bad habit to get up and go into the kitchen to pick at something. It is more a bad habit that needs to be broken than anything else.

    Some thoughts that might help your situation;

    1) Make yourself eat something before the start of shift, make sure it includes protein, and it will tide you over till you can eat after the first shift. I used to feel a bit sick in the mornings too and avoided breakfast, but once your body gets used to it it will be fine. If you like, ease into it with a meal replacement shake.

    2) Make it a strict rule not to snack on the pub food. Chips and muffins are all high GI (glycemic index) carbs which will spike your blood sugar temporarily but then quickly crash back down, leading you to feel hungry again even if you've eaten lots of calories already. You need to eat foods that have long slow sustained energy release, so you feel fuller and have consistent energy throughout your shift.

    A better snacking option would be a seed & nut mix, which you could bring from home in a zip-lock bag and keep in your pocket to eat when there is a moment spare; but still portion yourself not to overeat. (I haven't worked in a pub, but being a mum, the bad habit I picked up was finishing up my daughter's meals & snacks, because she would never eat all her food and I don't like waste. I have had to make it a hard rule not to do that or else I fall back into a bad habit).

    3) Create a new good habit to replace the old. If you are bored or hungry and feeling the urge to pick at food, have a big glass of water instead. Ditto, if the weather is cold, have a cup of tea instead of the hot chocolate.

    4) Have you considered bringing a packed-lunch to have nearby, to eat when there is time? If you currently are able to eat muffins and chips, presumably this could be substituted for food you have brought with you instead.

    5) Yeah, stress has a bad effect. You've only mentioned this job being bad in terms of eating and how the split shift doesn't leave you much time, but it doesn't sound like it is "bad" in other ways? Do you like the people you work with and find the work itself reasonable? Because there's no shortage of truly bad jobs, with psychopathic bosses, unfair working conditions, workplace bullying etc, and what you are describing sounds a bit more like an inconvenience than a really bad job. Not sure enough about your situation, career aspirations, skills, etc to recommend whether to stick with this or find another job, but I guess most people I know don't feel like there is much time mon-fri for anything but work, weekends are the only time to do what you want (and for people in hospitality their 'weekend' might be mon-tuesday off rather than sat-sun).

    6) Develop stress-reducing coping techniques that you can do anywhere. Mindfulness, meditation, deep breathing. When you get bored, dive into these for a moment (it is a mental state; you don't have to sit in a yogi position to do it). Are you allowed to listen to music while you work? This can pep you up, and get you moving a bit, even if you can't break out into full dance mode.

    7) When you say you are bored, is this because there are periods of inactivity in your job, or that you find the work boring? If the former, are you able to work on a suduko or crossword when there are no customers to serve? When I worked in a bookshop, it was okay to read a book during quiet periods.

    8) In terms of fending off anxiety & depression without returning to meds; stress relief techniques like I mentioned above, as well as ensuring you are doing things you enjoy on your days off, spending time with good company (friends, family, whoever makes you feel connected), eating well, exercise, and finding purpose in your life. Having some realistic goals that you are working towards, whether they are short term or long term, that you can see progression on, is really important for mental health. This might be that you are saving up for another diving holiday, or you take up another interest that you can do in Scotland, learning to run 5k, or something else.

    What was it about diving in Madagascar that made you feel good? It may have been the diving, it might also have been the sunnier climate, that it was an escape from normal life and life's pressures, the people you were around, regular exercise, controlled breathing etc. What can be replicated in some way in Scotland? Blue light to fend off SAD symptoms, deep controlled breathing in yoga and meditation, exercise, strengthen friendships?

    Good luck :smile:
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 988 Member
    i drink hot water. going to reheat it in the microwave, etc. is simply something to do!