First, I want you to know you are not alone in this. We all at some point eat emotionally. In fact eating is an emotional act. Over several hundreds of years, we have celebrated occasions around food. Food brings us together. We usually have a pretty good time when friends and family are around, and food is almost always involved. Eating food triggers signals in the brain and body so of course we can feel emotional reactions with food.
But just like anything else that doesn’t serve our best health, over and under eating out of sadness, stress or anxiety can become a problem. (Remember I am here to help you if you are struggling right now with your nutrition or want to start taking better care of yourself and you need support and guidance. My inbox is always open.)
Right now (pandemic), a lot of us are struggling to stay out of the kitchen. Working from home hasn’t made it any easier when the fridge is right in the other room.
If you are noticing that you use food as a coping mechanism, you might want to consider looking into why that is.
Here are some ideas to manage stress and anxiety eating:
Become more mindful. Recognize when you are heading to the kitchen for food out of boredom, stress or actual hunger.
Make sure you are eating enough food at each meal. Fill up on the nourishing foods first. Make a whole and complete healthy meal and eat it. If you are still hungry, have another salad, or a piece of fruit. Eat something you still enjoy but that has less calories. Do not restrict yourself and try to eat a balanced meal that involves a protein, carbohydrates and a fat. Make sure to give yourself a healthy snack between meals as well. (Also, this is where meal prepping can become a powerful resource for staying out of the chips and candy).
Restrictive eating, as in starving yourself, should not be used for punishing yourself. If you are upset about the amount of food you ate yesterday so you want to skip a meal today, you will probably end up binge eating later. Never beat yourself up about the foods you ate. Just be self aware. But if you did go a little nuts on the bread, the pasta, the cookies, the pastries, the everything carbs, here's what I do:
If I have a day where I ate WAY too many carbohydrates, I just cut back a little the next day because I know I have plenty in reserves to use. Your body stores carbohydrates for energy and converts it to fat when you don't use it. Carb cycling is a very easy and healthy thing to do. So rather than beating yourself up about it, just cut back a little on carbs from your meals today.
Tune into your body and listen to it. Typically cravings are signs that your body is lacking in a certain nutrient. A specific craving for sweets more than likely means you need magnesium which is why we crave chocolate. Salty cravings could mean you are simply dehydrated, low in electrolytes, stressed or, like me, pregnant, so have some water.
Stay hydrated. Hydration is going to help curb some of those cravings. Personally I have been drinking a specific electrolyte supplement powder mixed in water to help me stay hydrated during pregnancy, curb my crazy cravings and since I have orthostatic hypotension, it is extremely helpful and important to preventing my blackouts. I know drinking just water can get boring so I like to have some sparkling water, adding my bit of my pre-workout for a mid afternoon pick me up, or like I said my electrolyte powder which tastes super yummy! Just avoid too much coffee as it becomes dehydrating.
Find something to do to take your mind off food. Pinterest might come in handy for this! Find a hands-on hobby. Something that will require you to use your hands or move your body. Start that project you’ve been putting off. Create something. Take care of your house plants. Clean something. Do a laundry. Take a shower. Work out. Go for a walk. Drink more water. Listen and dance to music. Pamper yourself with a pedicure, manicure, or hair and skin care treatment.
Find something relaxing to do. Not everything has to be energy expending so if you’d rather and feel comfortable doing so, meditate, listen to relaxing music with your headphones, take a nap, paint to Bob Ross, do yoga, or journal.
Or my favorite, take some of that stress off your mind and put it on paper by making "to-do" or "to remember" lists. If you're always stressed about "what's for dinner" (and lunch and breakfast these days since everyone is home all day every day!), find recipes, write a grocery list (if these are too difficult because they involve thinking about food, don’t do them). But write down whatever needs to get out of your head.Talk with a friend.
Work through your emotions. The idea is to find new coping mechanisms for your stress, anxiety and depression. Face whatever is causing you to want to eat out of stress head on. Eating is just a way to avoid really facing it. Write about what is stressing you out. Why do you turn to food? When and Where did that coping skill stem from?
If you still cannot stop the desire to eat more, trust me I've been there, then have a piece of whatever it is you are craving. Usually you can subside an intense craving for junk food but when you can't, just have it. But I implore you to try something new each time first.
Lastly, remember to be kind to yourself. Emotionally eating is not the end of the world. But allowing it to take control of you and your life can become a problem.
Instill self love and care practices into your life regularly. Be patient and consistent. The more you practice something, the easier it becomes and better you get at it. Don’t worry if you continue to deal with it for a while or if it creeps up now and then. It’s totally natural and normal. And when it does you'll be better equipped to deal with it.
Sometimes you just must face things head on and aggressively. Even self-care practices and nurturing. If you want to live better, healthier and cope better with stress, then actively pursuing ways to take care of yourself is what you will have to do.