How do you stop stress eating??

For me, just realizing that I want to eat for not good reason keeps me mindful to just wait it out and not give into that nonsense, It is more a problem before a person makes the connection that it isn't he food you really need or want....it is the stress that's making you look for a distraction.

If it's too hard to change the habit, change the food. Instead of candy bars, donuts, or whatever else is kept around the workplace, I line up apples, plain non-fat Greek yogurt, water, and protein shakes. At least, I won't feel guilty about junk food...

stop getting stressed by regular life. it isn't good for you. save stress for emergencies

Recognizing the urge to eat when you're stressed and maybe stopping to recognize it and analyze it a bit better.

For example, sometimes when the stress of my caregiver role is getting to me, I'll crave fast food on the drive home. If my calories are actually pretty low that day I will allow myself to stop & get the 210 calorie small item with decent protein. If I am at or over my calorie goal, I keep driving and remember that I am just looking for the "good feeling" of eating Taco Bell which isn't worth it to me.

Another thing I've done is planning out my stress eating. This is probably a weird unhealthy thing to do by some peoples' standards but it works well for me and my long term goal of keeping off the 130+ pounds I have lost. We had to get my mom into a long term retirement home this week due to her medical condition. That was a big source of stress for me and my husband. We both knew it would make us feel stressed out and want to eat "badly" over this weekend...so we got up this morning and had a small breakfast of homemade French toast and then we went out for Japanese bento boxes for lunch, followed by a very long walk. It was a "treat" but it also cheered us up way more than if we had gone out for a dinner of heavy pasta dishes and appetizers and wine and then just relaxed at home.

Another example is when I have a PMS sugar craving I'll get up early and walk 1/2 mile to the donut shop and grab a donut each for us and then come home and have it with black coffee. This is much more satisfying to me than hitting the Starbucks drive thru for a mocha - and at about the same calories & sugar.

In my case, when I desire to stress eat I pour myself a big bottle of water and make myself drink it completely. Then I ponder if I still want a snack.

If I do, I try to choose something that'll fit into my calorie limit. Most times, I don't, because my body is satisfied by the water.

I keep my hands busy and drink some lemon water. So cleaning, cooking, crafts, etc.

Ducks47 wrote: »

How do you not stress eat? What do you channel that bad habit into instead? When I’m quite stressed I eat a lot and binge. When my lab work load is manageable I do not do this. How did you change your habit and what do you do instead now? I was good last year and lost 4.5 kg/10lbs but in the last two weeks not so much. How do you handle being overwhelmed and continue on your goals? Change your mindset?

I crochet. It is something I can do with my hands without committing too much brain power so I can combine it with other things like watching TV or talking with people and the act of creating something relieves the stress. It has the added bonus of not wanting to get food residue on my project so I avoid eating to keep my hands clean

I exchanged one habit for another. Instead of stress eating, I now hop on the treadmill. At least, most of the time. Sometimes I stuff my face, but I do it a lot less than I used to. For me, it's been all about refocusing my habits that don't revolve around food.