Stress Eating?

I posed this very same question a couple weeks ago on this discussion board. Not many replies. I'm with DLDzioba! Someone help us out!

That's a super tough challenge. For years, I used food to numb my stress, then lost weight and used alcohol to de-stress. Quit drinking and I'm back to food as a comforter. We know intellectually that the food will be a very short-lived break from the stress, but we eat it anyway. Exercise helps me a LOT, as does finding something else to keep your hands and/or mouth busy. Good luck! You've made a great start. You can do it.

Plan plan plan! I know it sounds silly, but if you're stressed out, the last thing you want to be doing is trying to figure out what to eat. Plan out exactly what you'll eat during the day. Have healthy snacks on hand (nuts, seeds, dried fruit if you have to.) and put them into little snack sized boxes the night before.

I am also a stress/emotional eater and I have really found that this helps a lot. If you have an exact plan of what you can/can't eat, then you'll be far more likely to stick to it., even if you know you need to eat out, research your options and make a decision in advance so you know what you're having and your brain speaks over your stomach! Haha. Good luck.

DLDzioba wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Ok, well first figure out how to deal with the stress.

1. Is this my fault?
2. Can I do anything about it?
3. Is this a good thing?
4. Am I letting other peoples' opinions of me affect me?

1. Your friend quitting? Not your fault, and no one will look at it that way.
2. The scheduling? You have to do it, right? Work with it. Plan to bring healthy food so you don't give into vending machine stuff.
3. The house is an awesome, wonderful thing!! Congratulations! Whatever little glitches come up, it is the Realtor and mortgage peoples' job to fix. Relax and start picking paint colors.
4. The 50 people can each bring a dish and you make it a potluck. If that won't work, reschedule it or make it a short event (like 2-3 hours) so you don't have to feed them.

The 50 people thing is I was asked to cook one meal during a weekend long Role Playing event. I'm just frustraited because I don't want to make the same thing I've made three times already (Shepard's pie).

As for the house, our landlord kinda sprung on us that he wants to sell NOW.

Okay. You don't have to cook the meal. Say NO. No is a complete sentence.

Same for the house. You don't have to buy it - but if you want to buy it, and it is meant to be, it will happen.

One day at a time.

I started going to the gym to help my self get in shape. As time went by I realized that I enjoyed the gym for much more then that. I tend to go after work and it kind of helps me unwind for the day.

Been through a lot of personal issues lately and yes I may eat something that isn't the best or may eat a little bit too much of something else but generally when I am stressed I spend more time in the gym than any other day. I know personally if I am super stressed I'll put on my beats and just go for a run. The music and the run seem to take most of it away for me. Just log what you can and try to make it up. Its a marathon not a sprint to the finish.

I'm in the same boat. I'm a former addict of many things and food is the last thing I have. I love chocolate and it makes me feel good. I usually ask God for strength to push me through my diet plans, as well as gym plans. So I make sure I save enough from my calorie intake so that I can enjoy a small portion of chocolate. I love food and sometimes I have rough days but I really think logging what you eat and praying for strength and focus is what gets me through.

DLDzioba wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Ok, well first figure out how to deal with the stress.

1. Is this my fault?
2. Can I do anything about it?
3. Is this a good thing?
4. Am I letting other peoples' opinions of me affect me?

1. Your friend quitting? Not your fault, and no one will look at it that way.
2. The scheduling? You have to do it, right? Work with it. Plan to bring healthy food so you don't give into vending machine stuff.
3. The house is an awesome, wonderful thing!! Congratulations! Whatever little glitches come up, it is the Realtor and mortgage peoples' job to fix. Relax and start picking paint colors.
4. The 50 people can each bring a dish and you make it a potluck. If that won't work, reschedule it or make it a short event (like 2-3 hours) so you don't have to feed them.

...As for the house, our landlord kinda sprung on us that he wants to sell NOW.

It will take him longer to sell it if he puts it on the market and has to deal with lots of prospective buyers. He needs to be patient. Have you looked on zillow.com to see what zillow thinks is a fair price? Consulted with a realtor?

There are two fronts one can attack this on, the stress-eating habit, and the stress itself. Here are some thoughts based on things that have helped me (no miracle cure, sadly, just helped).

Stress eating: Obviously, it's a habit, so a replacement habit would be good. You could work on a "nearby" habit - like maybe a hot cup of relaxing herb tea? - or a distant one, something completely different from eating. Someone mentioned exercise, and that's been the best one for me, because it literally attacks the stress physiologically. But reading between the lines of your post, it sounds like you could already be time-crunched.

So, maybe think in terms of spending approximately the amount of time you would've spent getting a snack & eating it:

• This could still be an exercise idea (do a few minutes of something vigorous & portable, like jumping jacks or another exercise that works for you).
• Do some stretching, thinking about relaxing the muscles, while breathing deeply and slowly.
• Consider an non-fussy 'meditation' technique, like the Relaxation Response approach. (relaxationresponse.org/steps/. That says to do it for 20 minutes, but just doing the sitting breathing part (#4 & #6) for a much shorter time, 2-3 minutes, can be helpful.

Stress itself: For me, it helps to focus on the parts of the situation I can control, or at least influence. Practice letting go of the parts that are not under your influence or control - for those, all you can change is your reaction to them.

For the parts you can influence/control, identify something(s) you can actually do about it, either right at the time, or write it down as a goal (including when you plan to do it), and commit to it. After you've done that, try to set it aside for a time.

I know all this is hard, but changing our deeply pre-programmed behavior takes a bit of time, practice and patience. But working on it persistently (when one can find the emotional wherewithal to do it) eventually leads to improvement and a sense of mastery/control - good stuff.

Beyond that, consider relaxation breaks when you have a bit more time. Some candidates include taking a walk (outside if possible - sunshine is especially good), giving yourself a non-food treat (even something simple you enjoy like reading a chapter in a good book, doing your nails, whatever), or doing a little self-massage on a tense body part (maybe by rolling a tennis ball on it - for back/shoulders, you can trap the ball between your body & a wall and move against it). A warm bath or shower can also be nice.

In addition, good nutrition and adequate sleep are a big help, if you can manage.

Good luck and best wishes!

I actually find being on the diet to be something of a relief in stressful situations. It means I eat certain foods at certain times, and I don't have to think about eating, I can focus on everything else.

But there's one thing I do need to do in stressful circumstances, and that's exercise. I need to do something active each day. Even if it is just a half hour walk.