Emotional/Stress eating

jlrush2312
jlrush2312 Posts: 57 Member
in Motivation and Support
Is it emotional/stress eating when you're always stressed? What is the best way to eat when you're stressed?

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Yes, I think you can be stressed more or less constantly. I think it's smart to attack this at several fronts.
    Reduce number and intensity of stressful situations.
    Learn to handle stressful situations better.
    Schedule regular, satisfying meals, have them ready in time, and sit down and enjoy them.
    Remove from your immediate vicinity, or remove yourself from, too tempting and too easy to eat foods outside of meal times.
  • countcurt
    countcurt Posts: 593 Member
    If you currently self medicate stress/anxiety with food, you’ll need to address this issue before you can successfully remove eating from your stress management arsenal.

    A friend succinctly put it this way on a different message board: If you want to quit stuffing your face, you’ve got to start facing your stuff.
  • alicebhsia1
    alicebhsia1 Posts: 82 Member
    I think it all boils down to that we have a choice. I've come to realize that my bf being around makes me stress eat. Now that I know that i have this problem, I can consciously make the decision to not eat out of stress and do something else to placate myself. I bought a 5 pound kettlebell and a resistance band. Using those just for a few minutes a day has made a big difference. I''ve had to stop doing it everyday because i was getting too muscular. I also got a pilates yoga band (one of those long stretchy ones) and have started stretching with it. Just little things you can do to divert yourself from eating unnecessarily, something positive..
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    One of my “ah-ha’s” was when I asked myself, “why am I eating this just because I’m stressed? I’m not hungry. Why am I, in actuality, punishing my body with unnecessary calories because of <insert stressful situation here>?”

    Find something to do instead. Go for a walk. Find a fun game on your phone. Call a friend, something.

    In the end, over-eating is only going to make you more stressed.
  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    I'm going to say that stepping up my activity level has helped to curb a lot of that. For a couple of reasons.

    First, exercise CAN be a great stress reliever. For the record, I don't do a lot of strenuous stuff. I'm a fan of long walks and I strength train with dumbbells in my basement (currently ranging from 8 to 25lbs; as soon as I can get a pair of 30s onto my shoulders to squat with, I'm buying them). I ran a 5K recently and might keep that up. We shall see.

    Second, while I'm exercising, I'm not eating.

    Third, I try to log as accurately as I can. Granted, if I'm out for a walk, I want a snack, and I buy a banana to eat on the way, I'm not weighing it and it'll go into my diary under the generic "1 medium banana", but by and large, I use the scale. So when I see the calories I've earned from exercise, I realize that if I really want to have a cookie or some ice cream or whatever, most of the time I can make it fit. And recognizing that means I get to skip the added stress/guilt of 'going off my weight loss plan'. Because I'm really not. (Plus the logging works as a reality check; a moment to decide whether I truly want/need/will feel better if I have the treat. And sometimes? The answer is a resounding 'YES'. And sometimes it's more... 'You know... I could have this. But I don't think I need it as much as I thought. I think I'll hold off. Or I'll have a smaller portion.')

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