Stress eating- any suggestions?

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sabineh12
sabineh12 Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
I have realized that my problem is eating out of stress and giving myself a reward in the form of food for a stressful day. When I come home after work I find myself starting to snack around and eating stuff before my self-cooked dinner is ready (i am living with roommates, but currently no partner/relationship). can you give me some suggestions of what i could do instead of rewarding myself with food? i can't take a hot bath, cause i don't have a bath tub ;) and i feel like i need to do something relaxing and easy without a lot of barries to actually do it (i do go to sports classes but that does not prevent me from rewarding myself with food once i get home).
unfortunately it has become a routine to reward myself with food after work or other things i do outside of my house. the first thing i do when i get home is get some small snack from the kitchen. i really want to change that and replace it with something equally relaxing and satisfying.
any recommendations? thanks a lot!!!

Replies

  • sabineh12
    sabineh12 Posts: 16
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    any help?
  • sabineh12
    sabineh12 Posts: 16
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    please... :)
  • ciki90
    ciki90 Posts: 51 Member
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    Change up your routine. If you snack because of stress, try taking a bath first thing instead of heading to the kitchen. If you're picking at food and should be done for the day, try painting your nails. If you want to wind down but snacks are calling your name, distract yourself with video games, a book, drawing, or another hobby. If you are stressed out but need energy, try a workout video or do some yoga.

    Try new things. See what works for you! Feel free to add me if you like :)
  • ThatOperaGirl
    ThatOperaGirl Posts: 138 Member
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    One trick I've heard of to avoid boredom/stress snacking is to brush your teeth instead. It'll give you something to do, and the idea is that afterwards, you'll feel less inclined to eat because of your new minty freshness! Chewing gum might work in a similar way for you. I've heard that the peppermint flavour of toothpaste and chewing gum is also a mild appetite suppressant -- not sure if it's actually true or not, but this usually works for me.
  • Ian_Stuart
    Ian_Stuart Posts: 252 Member
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    My solution to this was to go grocery shopping after a big meal so that I wasn't the least bit hungry and simply not buy the things I usually snack on. If I have to put on pants to go get a snack, it simply isn't worth it! :)
    I also found that, after weightlifting, I am much less hungry than I was before. Later on I become ravenous, but directly after I'm usually not that hungry, so I would come home from work, do stuff around the house, lift, then eat a dinner of some sort and go to bed. Dinner was usually smaller due to the lifting and by the time I woke up I was hungry but noticeably thinner than when I went to bed.

    These days I do something called intermittent fasting, which is described in the article below:
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/08/06/a-beginners-guide-to-intermittent-fasting/

    This has made it so that I really don't even feel hungry anymore. If someone offers me a brownie, it still looks good and I still don't say no, but I don't go looking for snacks anymore because I just don't feel hungry. I highly recommend it if you can get past the initial week.
  • NzBuilt
    NzBuilt Posts: 235 Member
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    Take a drink of fresh lemon juice,or teaspoon of fresh honey and brush your teeth before bed,floss often aswell...

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