Stress Eating

Looks like you've already taken the first step and acknowledged you're overeating because of stress. You need to find healthier ways to deal with stress. I'm a Canadian and I don't' know what resources are available to you, but this site looks interesting and you may be able to find what you need here: http://www.nmha.org/index.cfm?objectid=C7DF9899-1372-4D20-C89412D66A4FF88D

My personal stress busters are martial arts, walking the dog, gardening and doing crafts. I have also learned to stop worrying - either I can do something about a situation; then I can make a plan. Or I can do nothing in which case I plan how to cope.

Good luck to you! The first step is the hardest so you're already halfway there! :flowerforyou:

I know the feeling. i have an overbearring boss, which i know is nothing in comparison to having your love in the military, but it does drive my to stress eating. well... it did.

i find that if you only keep healthy foods stocked, its not a problem to go grab a bitewhen you are stressed, but before you even think about going to that pantry or fridge, drink an 8 ounce glass of water and force yourself to wait 10 minutes. You can pass this time by picking up some knitting or starting a puzzle, doing a load of laundry. beleive me, those ten minutes will zoom by. If you are still stressed and hungry, go grab a small snack. i guarentee you will feel fuller before you finish that snack and you wont have the guilt to go along with it. and if your cravings have gone away, then problem solved. Honey, whatever you do, don't starve yourself, but don't over indulge. also try to find other more productive ways to de-stress. I hate to even bring it up, but did you ever see Legally Blonde? If so, do you remember the line "excersize gives you endorphines. endorphins make you happy. happy people just don't kill their husbands" even if you never saw the movie, that line holds true. if you are stressed, go for a jog/walk. take your three beautiful kids to the park and play frisbee. It will make you feel better.

Hope this helps!

I'm a terrible stress eater. It happens a lot when I'm at school, where the building is surrounded by fast food places! But I do it at home too, and I just have to talk myself down from it. I make myself take a breather. I ask myself if I'm really truly hungry, then I will have a quick bite of something healthy. That will often take care of it, and if it doesn't, I negotiate with myself from there! It is a tough battle though!! There is support and strength in numbers here

Does anyone suffer from stress eating??? and if so how do you deal with it and not head straight to the Frig or pantry????
I have been having a lot of issues with stress eating and dealing with it.. and it's causing me to gain weight and become very depressed about not reaching my goals. Im a stay at home mom with three very active children and we are a military family which causes a lot of stress and worries. Im trying so hard to avoid eating junk when im stressed but it seems like it's the only things that calms my stress level..
Please if anyone can give me advice of how to over come this i would really appreciate it


Thank you!

First don't keep the bad stuff in the house even if you only buy it for the kids, that was one of my mistakes that I corrected. Don't worry about the kids they will live, lol. Mine have.

We are also a military family, I usually don't see my hubby till 7pm every night, I have a 16yr old and 10yr old who keep me extremely busy. So I can relate.

I realized that planning really helped. I look at my schedule for the day once I get the youngest on the school bus. I see where I will have pockets of time so I plan to eat my snack or meal then. I even pack food & drinks to keep with me so I don't have to resort to eating out half the time.

For Example
5:30a - wake up
5:45a - go on 10mi bike ride thru neighborhood
6:35a - get home, stretch
6:45a - wake up 10yr old, make both kids breakfast
7a - teenager leaves for school
7:30a - get 10yr old on school bus
8a - have breakfast, shower & dress
11a - run errand to Walmart
11:30 - eat a nectarine, green tea
12p - 1hr appt with therapist
1p - have lunch in car, whole wheat turkey & cheese sandwich , with baby carrots, & green tea
1:30 - 1hr appt with optometrist (Uugh, dilated my eyes, didn't know they were!)
3p - pick up son and take to sports physical
stop at McDonald's to get each of us a fruit & yogurt parfait for snack
3:30 - sports physical at dr's office
4p - teenager gets home, does his chores, homework
5:30 - pick up dinner for the two of us, happy meal for him, 2 grilled chicken snack wraps for me
go home, eat, leave son there with his brother to help him with his homework
6:30 - go to school for meeting on fieldtrip
7p - get home and recoup with hubby
8p - hubby gets son ready for bed
9p - go to bed

That is the kind of day that totally stresses me out but since I ate before I was ravenous, I felt alot better emotionally even though I was dog tired.

Usually my days are not that bad but I still set a time for when I eat. I have breakfast by myself as soon as youngest is gone, have lunch between 12 and 1, make dinner by 5 so that we are eating by 6.

I think the exercise has helped too since I worked so hard to burn the calories I really do not want to just shove whatever in my mouth. I keep alot of fruits, raw unsalted almonds, frozen grapes to snack on when the stress urge hits, if the chocolate urge is really bad, I have Dove mini chocolate ice cream bars, they are only 60 cal.

Try deep breathing, drink a glass of water or go for a walk if possible. I am there with you in the battle of the stress eating! LOL. Good Luck.

Demetria