Stress eating (like serious stress eating)

tmoneyag99 · February 2020

So my husband and I have been under large amounts of stress over the last 5-6 years. 75% of my weight gain can be pin pointed to the stressful times in our lives.

Anyway I do not deal well with stress. I'm lousy at it frankly. And it results in me eating my emotions... ALOT.

Are there any other stress eaters here? What did you do during those times to stay on track.

I seem to do okay with my nutrition when times are good. It's the stress eating that results in me packing it on to the point I can't get it off between stressful times and so it just piling on now.

ReenieHJ · February 2020

I'm definitely a stress emotional eater. It's challenging to gain control over. If you can possibly find other ways to deal with stress, try alternate methods first. Dance, walk, journal, plug into some relaxing music or sounds, talk to dh or a close friend. Try to confront the stressful issues head-on and deal with them. Stress will never disappear, emotions will never disappear, so we have to change the ways we react to them.(so easy to say....)

I retired in May but until then, my job caused me a lot of stress and anxiety, so I handled it by eating. And since I worked at home, I constantly was around food. And since part of my job was feeding kids, I ate mostly what they ate. Not a good scenario. But once my stress lifted, I was able to find a way out of the eating rut I had created. I still have days where I binge and don't even know why. But, for the most part, I'm happy where I'm at now.

Wishing you the best of luck in gaining control!!

kshama2001 · February 2020

I used to be an emotional eater, but now I am an emotional exerciser!

Regular exercise helps me manage regular stress, and I increase exercise in times of increased stress.

Glad you posted this - am having some increased stress today and the Crunch n Munch I asked my OH to hide for me is calling to me. Time to exercise!

(I also had lots of therapy and personal growth work over the years which helps me do things like identify when my Addictive Voice is raising its sneaky head.)

wwwtheselion11 · February 2020

When im stressed out, or frustrated. I usually work out. An clear my mind. To concentrate on my work out. Then after i relax, an chill to some music. Just remember stress is energy building up. If you have the energy to eat. That food should be given you the energy to burn that stress an food off. If not then you will stress about not fitting into clothes. I been there.

midlomel1971 · February 2020

tmoneyag99 wrote: »

So my husband and I have been under large amounts of stress over the last 5-6 years. 75% of my weight gain can be pin pointed to the stressful times in our lives.

Anyway I do not deal well with stress. I'm lousy at it frankly. And it results in me eating my emotions... ALOT.

Are there any other stress eaters here? What did you do during those times to stay on track.

I seem to do okay with my nutrition when times are good. It's the stress eating that results in me packing it on to the point I can't get it off between stressful times and so it just piling on now.

omg, I am the worst stress eater. i think I've gained 30 pounds in the past year from stress eating. I'm trying to focus on the gym to relieve my stress.

SlayLikeAWarrior · February 2020

Be intentional. When you get that urge to want to, find healthy ways such as going for a walk with your husband or by yourself, exercise for 5-10mins if needed to burn that energy. If you snack because you are hungry avoid eating out of the snack container. Put the bag or container away once you take out what you need. Be sure to weigh to you are still tracking.

ahoy_m8 · February 2020

kshama2001 wrote: »

Regular exercise helps me manage regular stress, and I increase exercise in times of increased stress....

Such good advice! I'm sorry it's a stressful time, OP. And that the times between stressful times aren't enough to find your happy balance (at least in terms of weight). I don't have anything else to add. I'm an emotional eater, too, and exercise is the best antidote I have. Even in times of calm, I get pretty angsty when I don't get out to do something. If small time slots are all you have, find a handful of short shots of exercise you can fit in. There are tons of mental benefits to 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Plus, it's hard to make excuses when it's only 5 minutes! Even if you tell yourself, "I'm going to eat that pack of cookies, but first I'm going to do this shot of exercise," that's a huge step towards your emotional goal. Eventually you'll feel enough relief to postpone the pack of cookies. Postpone the off-budget treats often enough, and you'll realize you don't really need them. Here's hoping things get better. :flowerforyou:

PAV8888 · February 2020

I stress eat that's what I do! I try to avoid it by going for a walk, or pacing instead.

And also try to convert it to lower-calorie items. And of course log.

And of course move meals if I've already eaten the calories which is something that I did not use to do when I was obese.

I mean I just had a handful of hazelnuts and some chocolate. Planned lunch is moving to dinner.

slbbw · February 2020

I am definitely a stress eater for sure. Regular daily exercise helps manage the basic stress. Understanding the problem so that if I do end up stress eating I am doing so with things like celery and carrot sticks and not nuts or chocolate. I also try to find alternate ways to manage stress when i notice the stress munchies come on. Often times a walk will do the trick.

Danp · February 2020

I used to call myself an emotional/stress eater. But in my case I realised I was just using that label as an excuse to let myself overeat. It absolved me of responsibility for my actions. "Oh, it's not my fault I ate too much, I'm a stress/emotional eater".

It was a huge step forward for me to take full responsibility for my actions. If I overate it wasn't because I was the victim of some uncontrollable urge, rather because I allowed myself to give in to those urges. It helped that I also found ways to deal with the causes and try to reduce the stress in my life as well as find more productive/constructive ways to deal with the stress that inevitably remained.

Yivs_87 · February 2020

I am a stress/emotional eater/binger. It's been a struggle, but back when I first started using MFP it got me to learn how to be mindful about food. So, binging is now quite under control - I was just saying in another thread, that I haven't had a binge in maybe a couple of years. Stress snacking, however... that's what got me back here. Just a piece of candy here, or a few nuts over there, or just a glass of beer, or a piece of cake... and suddenly I'm back to my initial overweight status...

And to be honest, I think I'm already beyond stress but threading closer to complete burnout. So this time around I'm looking at logging consistently and eating mindfully as a form of self-care. It's not easy, and it's a constant struggle, but I keep on asking myself - do I really need that, do I really want it, do I really want allow X to cause me to eat something that I don't need/want and do more harm than help. And being honest to myself (and mindful about those urges and thoughts) usually allows me to just calm down a little and step away from the food and instead try to get away from the stress in another way - reading, listening to podcasts, cleaning, exercising or going for a walk, or having some me-time with a long shower and full skin/body/hair-care procedure.

EdB9992015 · February 2020

I am for sure. I put on nearly 40lbs over the last couple of years, which was especially disappointing having nearly gotten myself down to very near my goal weight over the two years previous.
This lined up with a very stressful work environment over this period as well as a house sale/purchase/move.

When stressed I do tend to reach for the biscuit tin (that is always full stocked in the office) and constantly crave stodgy comforting foods. Of course the problem with this behavior is that its self-compounding as the fatter I get the more stressed and depressed I am, so greater the urge to stuff my face.

While the stressful situation at work hasn’t completely been resolved it has eased slightly and I’ve managed to turn a corner and get the scales heading back in the right direction since Christmas.

The weight gain wasn’t the only effect, it’s amazing the physiological impact it can cause. Not only have I gotten a lot greyer over the last couple years but I kept breaking out in spots/welts as well as getting sty’s on my eyelid.

I’m starting to look into stress management techniques as I don’t think I can cope with this again!

AnnPT77 · February 2020

Just in to add meditation as another potential stress-management technique, and it's become more accessible in recent times, with - yep - apps available for that.

Some people are concerned that it will be somehow counter to their spiritual beliefs or traditions . . . but nearly every spiritual tradition includes some form of meditation, and many of the modern versions are not tied to a particular such tradition.

ahoy_m8 · February 2020

Came back to drop a link. Just saw it today. 3 different 6-minute workouts. Give it a shot!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/well/in-6-minutes-you-can-be-done-with-your-workout.html

Stress eating (like serious stress eating)

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