Are you the kind of person who eats when stressed? Some of us, don’t realise it while some of us do but don’t know how to deal with it. Turning to food is a common habit as it comforts us. Potato chips, colas, cakes and pastries, fried snacks and chocolates are the most popular foods that one finds comfort in.
The term in psychology is known as emotional eating, commonly known as stress-eating which involves using food as a coping mechanism to help you feel better. “Typically, it has nothing to do with physical hunger and everything to do with soothing or suppressing uncomfortable feelings and situations,” says psychologist Salma Prabhu.
Feeling anxious, worried, and stressed isn’t a great combination, especially when your favourite snack food is nearby. “When you eat to satisfy an emotional need, the relief it provides is often temporary, and the ‘real’ issue is not resolved,” adds Salma.
From a physiological standpoint, stress causes your adrenal glands to release cortisol - a hormone. When this happens, you may notice an increase in appetite and a desire to eat sugary, salty, or fatty foods. However, this urge to eat isn’t the result of an empty stomach. Instead, it’s your brain telling you to eat so you can prepare for a potentially harmful situation. Typically, the stress subsides, and cortisol levels return to baseline.
Being overwhelmed with daily stressors and not finding ways to manage them can lead to high cortisol levels and overeating.
Stress-eating is also associated with uncomfortable emotions. Sadness after an unpleasant incident, sudden loss or frustration after an argument with a loved one, leads us to reach out for a snack.
How can I stop stress-eating?
The best way to deal with stress-eating is to stop and ask yourself if you need this snack. Are you really hungry or reacting to something unpleasant?
Putting an end to stress-eating might seem like a difficult task. That’s why it makes sense to tackle this habit in steps. Here are three ways to stop stress-eating in its tracks.
Know your stressors
Are you aware of your emotional eating triggers? Knowing the stressors that cause you to reach for food is the first step toward stopping stress eating.
This begins with checking in with yourself. Before you head to the kitchen, ask yourself if you’re eating because you’re hungry or if it’s a response to something else.
What can I do to reduce
my stress?
Avoiding stress-eating in the moment requires quick thinking and some go-to replacement behaviours.
A more long-term solution may be to prevent or at least minimize the stress that causes stress eating in the first place. Here are some ways to include stress-reducing activities in your day.
Move your body
Any movement for the body is good. It could be household chores, yoga, walking up and down stairs on a daily basis. Tension is released through movement and as a result stress is reduced. Not only does exercise help your body feel better, but it also calms your mind. Exercise helps to reduce blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, chronic headaches and sleep issues.
Practice mindfulness meditation
The daily practice of relaxation through meditation and deep breathing can help. But it should be done before you feel stressed so that you handle stress better.
Start by carving out 15 minutes each day to devote to one or more of these activities. Each week, add 5 minutes to your routine until you hit 30 minutes.
Learn and understand stress eating
Turning to food when you experience internal or external stress is common. When you stress eat, however, any relief it provides is often temporary. Emotional eating can affect your weight and overall health and well-being.
Avoiding stress entirely is not possible. That’s why it’s critical to find healthy ways to deal with daily stressors and anxiety that don’t involve stress eating.
Check where this
behaviour happens –
at home or in office?
Remove common offenders from the kitchen – do a check of your kitchen or pantry at home. Identify the unhealthy foods and throw them into the bin.
As you can see, these will always be high in sugar, heavily processed, or high in trans or saturated fat.
At work, are you keeping these snacks in your office desk? Or stashing them in your car?
Replace these foods with better options like apples, carrot sticks and hummus.
Not only does exercise help your body feel better, but it also calms your mind.