Stress Eater

Totally get it. I've been one for years. I need some tricks and some handy snacks that are easy go to.

Well, first you have to keep the cookies out of your environment so they are not there to grab! That isn't always easy if you have coworkers or housemates who are cookie-pushers, so you might need to establish some ground rules to make that work. Like ask a housemate or coworker to not offer you those kinds of things and to keep them in designated areas that you don't have to look at all the time. I'm not saying to swear off cookies forever, but maybe to set some boundaries where you occasionally buy a portion that fits your goal in an intentional way, but not just keep them around to munch on mindlessly in weak moments.

Second, make sure you are eating plenty of good food and keeping that handy so you don't get starved and run down. My stress levels are much worse when I haven't been fueling my body properly throughout the day, as is the tendency to just eat the first thing I can grab. So plan ahead so you can eat properly and keep nutritious snacks handy that are okay to grab and snack on, like fruit or veggies.

Finally, you need to learn some healthier stress management skills and coping skills, besides eating. This is the most important and hardest part for me, learning break that food = stress relief connection AND put something else in the place of food. You can stop eating cookies temporarily but long term that doesn't fix the problem that cookies were a bandaid for, right? Still have too much stress and not enough healthy ways to cope. For me that has meant some life changes to reduce my stress, plus relying on other things like social support, meditation, exercise, a hot bath, getting plenty of sleep, a nutritious meal, etc as a way to cope with the stress that can't be removed.

I'm a major stress eater & I stress a lot. I eat when I'm board. Finals in college always sent me to the store to buy 2-3 candies! I use to smoke, 26 yrs ago but still have the cravings. So I really want to be chewing food most of the time. I try sugarless gum but I need some crunch and to get something in my stomach. I haven't figured this out yet but I do know that certain things can't come in the house or have to be hidden from me. Not a good fix but it has helped. I try and find lower calorie snack foods, healthy & not, and eat very small bites slowly (I once ate a 90 calorie fiber brownie for a full half hour! I would also drink water after so many bites since I was trying to increase my water intake too). I was very active when I was a kid & didn't have a weight problem til parents divorce, cross country move, & 8th grade. Just the other day I was trying to figure ways to increase my water still & since I found the sugar free flavor packs & remembered that I use to chew on crushed ice all the time I'm going to try freezing my flavored water into ice cube trays & have them crushed up in the chopper & I'll chomp on my ice cubes hopefully fixing 2 problems at once. My 5'8" mom has a major food stressing issue too, but she stops eating, so I'm trying to get her to gain weight to her 100lbs while I try to lose mine. So I'll love to see what people come up with to help. Good luck!

Docbanana2002 wrote: »

Well, first you have to keep the cookies out of your environment so they are not there to grab! That isn't always easy if you have coworkers or housemates who are cookie-pushers, so you might need to establish some ground rules to make that work. Like ask a housemate or coworker to not offer you those kinds of things and to keep them in designated areas that you don't have to look at all the time. I'm not saying to swear off cookies forever, but maybe to set some boundaries where you occasionally buy a portion that fits your goal in an intentional way, but not just keep them around to munch on mindlessly in weak moments.

Second, make sure you are eating plenty of good food and keeping that handy so you don't get starved and run down. My stress levels are much worse when I haven't been fueling my body properly throughout the day, as is the tendency to just eat the first thing I can grab. So plan ahead so you can eat properly and keep nutritious snacks handy that are okay to grab and snack on, like fruit or veggies.

Finally, you need to learn some healthier stress management skills and coping skills, besides eating. This is the most important and hardest part for me, learning break that food = stress relief connection AND put something else in the place of food. You can stop eating cookies temporarily but long term that doesn't fix the problem that cookies were a bandaid for, right? Still have too much stress and not enough healthy ways to cope. For me that has meant some life changes to reduce my stress, plus relying on other things like social support, meditation, exercise, a hot bath, getting plenty of sleep, a nutritious meal, etc as a way to cope with the stress that can't be removed.