Exhaustion/Stress Overeating

HeyJudii · February 2018

I am hoping to get tips on how to preemptively avoid overeating when I am exhausted and/or stressed. Of course, the best course of action would be to never be exhausted and/or stressed, but this is real life, and stuff happens.

When it does, all my resolve, good intentions and self-care just go the way of the dinosaurs. And, I don't even care - at the time.
Anyone else have this problem and successfully behavior modify? If so, how?

kommodevaran · February 2018

Have a routine of/aim for regular, satisfying meals, moderate exercise and sufficient sleep. Don't have too much "too easy to overeat" foods available.

AnotherPlate · February 2018

The best cause of action isn't to never be exhausted or stressed because that's unrealistic. You need to acutely disassociate nemotionsfeelings with wanting to eat. Understand these negative feelings is your bodies way of interacting with you letting you know something is up. That isn't a call to stuff those feelings down with food. You're just letting it build up internally. Those feelings are a call to check in with yourself and be mindful of what your body actually requires. When your exhausted is it physical or mental? Do you need more sleep or more mental rest? When you're stressed, eating isn't actually solving the pending issue. Maybe take a breather and do something productive that takes your mind of the situation and return to it with a clearer mindset than you left it. There's a lot if introspection needing to be done. Journalling can also help with getting the emotions out if you so to speak. Emotions are just energy in motion. They're not here to stay unless you trap them inside your body.

Nursie863 · February 2018

When you feel that way (and as sufferer of depression and anxiety, a night-shift nurse, grad student, and step-mom, believe me I have) I agree that it is sooooo easy to slip into bad habits and fall head-first into some comfort food. But there is always that point of "this is it....this is the one point at which I can stop myself from doing these things that will be detrimental to my health and to my goals". If I can catch myself there, I can go drink a big glass of water, maybe a protein shake with some peanut butter, or take a short brisk walk, a long hot shower, then an hour long nap.Call a friend and cry if you need to. I always feel better even after one simple thing. Remember that you've created a lifetime of current habits, and behavior modification is not an overnight process. It'll take time to form new habits. Give yourself some grace, and don't give up.

gems74 · February 2018

I find that regular exercise really helps to handle stress in a healthy way. I do approx 30 minutes of combined cardio and strength training almost every day. It’s been a game changer for me.

TriPaulCantRun · February 2018

Exercise is key, the fitter you are the more energy you will have. I also sleep better after exercising and so feel less tired the next day.

If I have exercised I am also less likely to eat badly, just because I'm in the right frame of mind.

It doesn't have to be a trip to the gym either. A 20 minute walk or 15 minute session of crunches/push ups on the living room floor while watching tv.

Good luck!

lightenup2016 · February 2018

I've had this issue with stress eating as well. I found it was worse before I got motivated to lose the weight I've gained. Now that I'm back on track and losing again, I'm not looking to good as much during stressful times.

When I do get the urge to wander around the kitchen looking for something I don't really need, I try to go for water, hot tea, or coffee. Still comforting in a way, but almost no calories. I agree that exercise helps, but stress makes me less likely to workout.

kshama2001 · February 2018

gems74 wrote: »

I find that regular exercise really helps to handle stress in a healthy way. I do approx 30 minutes of combined cardio and strength training almost every day. It’s been a game changer for me.

Ya, assuming the OP is referring to emotional exhaustion, regular exercise is my recommendation as well. If I don't get a little cardio at lunchtime, I'm sluggish later that afternoon, as well as prone to the munchies.

I used to be an emotional eater - so glad I realized how much better regular exercise works for me!

I often have to force myself to start, but once I get started I'm fine. On my really bad days, I give myself permission to stop in 10 minutes if I need to, but I never do.

@HeyJudii - another thing I find helpful is preplanning meals and snacks and never letting myself get too hungry. I have a snack bar in my purse for emergencies, and it's a flavor I don't especially care for, which means it's safe until I truly need it

AliceDark · February 2018

It's helpful to have a list of other self-care activities ready so you can choose a different de-stressing technique when you need to. You've probably spent years teaching yourself that food is a good means to reduce your stress and make yourself feel better (because food IS effective at those things), but you probably haven't practiced other ways to de-stress as much. If you wait until you're stressed to come up with something, or if you just try to white-knuckle through stressful periods without using anything to help manage your stress, you're going to be unsuccessful.

Exercise works for me. So does going for a slow walk outside in the sunshine with my dog and a good podcast or audiobook. I like fancy facial products and lotions, so sometimes taking a bath or a hot shower and using some new home-spa-type stuff works, or sometimes I do my nails. (Bonus points, because I can't eat while my nail polish is wet). Sometimes I put my pajamas in the dryer for a few minutes and then wrap up with a blanket and a cup of tea or coffee.

angiemb87 · February 2018

Hey OP,
I totally understand you. I'm the same way. I'll be great and doing great with my diet until something stressful happens, or I just feel overwhelmed. My father died suddenly two years ago and my anxiety and stress levels have gone through the roof since then. I was never very anxious or stressed before but now it's almost unbearable some days. This is what I do to help.
First step, don't be so hard on yourself. Not because it isn't good to push yourself to rise above, but because being so hard on yourself causes even more stress and feelings of failure when you aren't "perfect", which for me at least, leads to way more binge behavior. Everyday isn't perfect and your response to the day won't be either, so don't be so hard on yourself if you do binge, just try again tomorrow.
Second, I was always a stress eater and became even more so due to grief and sadness. My trick now is to always have snacks on hand that aren't going to make me feel horrible if I do succumb to the need to binge it out. I buy a crap ton of bananas and keep them in the fridge for banana ice cream. Halo Top strawberry. Apples. Smart Delight White Cheddar popcorn. The ingredients for buffalo chicken salad. Frozen cherries (which I just like to eat out of the bag). Whatever you actually like that is low calorie and won't blow your calorie budget too bad if you go ham on it. If I feel like drowning my sorrows in a pint of ice cream, realizing it's only 230 calories makes me feel a bit better than a 780 pint of Ben and Jerrys. Probably not the best thing to do but sometimes you just can't. It's not an everyday thing so a small indulgence every now and then should be okay.
Third: Everyone is right, exercise helps TONS! Besides creating more of a deficit or covering some of those calories you binged on, it tones and helps me feel accomplished. My chosen workouts are heavy weights in the gym 3 times a week (which makes me feel super buff) or I turn on the grimiest club jams and turn my house into a disco. There's something very stress relieving about twerking it out to some Lil John and the Eastside Boyz. Just saying. I do that at least 4 times a week. Doesn't feel like exercise but about 10 songs in and my Fitbit says I've burned about 500 calories, so shoot. I pick songs from my college days and the nostalgia always puts me in a better mood.

I hope some of these tips help. They help me so hopefully they will for you.

HeyJudii · February 2018

Hi all, and thank you for the replies.
I guess I should have added more details, so here goes.

Monday-Thursday, my week is pretty structured and my access and ability to overindulge is limited. Thankfully. Friday is tricky, because of that whole, "Woo hoo! I'm off; let's celebrate by overindulging!" But, I seem to have a handle on that at this point.

BUT,
Saturday and Sunday? I still have to get in my FitBit footsteps, which is much harder on the weekend than it is during the week. So, I hike for at least an hour, and then I return home to try to get all of those weekend chores in. The fact that my hour+ hike, doesn't get me as many footsteps as I would think, considering how exhausted I am when I am done (although recovery is coming quicker as the weeks pass, but still...), and I still have to try and accomplish all I need to over the course of the weekend, and still find time to go for a walk in the evening - if I still need more footsteps, stresses me out. When I finally accomplish all I feel I should on both days, that is when the exhaustion and stress from the day makes me susceptible to comforting myself with food.

I do limit what I have in the house, but I try to eat real food, not artificially sweetened or "lite", processed or otherwise altered to be lo-cal. I also am trying to learn to be a real home cook as a legacy to my late mom who turned me on to cooking shows. So, the foods I have on hand, like Irish butter, heavy cream to make my own whipped cream, and so on, which in the correct amounts (a tsp on fresh baked bread or a dollop on fresh fruit) make me feel righteous and decadent, but in extreme amounts gobbled down as comfort food, wreck havoc on my good intentions and health. Plus, knowing I can have that stuff if I want it, has been a great help in behavior modification, since I have had it in the house for weeks, and barely touch it. Except during the stress and exhaustion periods. I could not have this stuff in the house, but believe me, nothing would stop me from getting in the car and hightailing it to the Micky D's drive through, so that isn't the solution.

I don't think more exercise is the answer either. But, maybe if I can find some foods I find comforting, that aren't highly caloric in controlled portions, and put them in those portions, and FoodSaver them in advance, then when I am exhausted, grabbing a portion at a time, will keep me mindful of what I am doing. ("This pack is 160 calories. If I eat 2, that is 320. Do I want to do that?")

@angiemb87: I like the frozen cherries idea, since I already have those in portions for smoothies. I can pre-portion out ice cream also.

Any other real food, comfort foods that can be pre-portioned ideas? Note: celery is not a comfort food.

Exhaustion/Stress Overeating

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