First, I want you to know you are never alone in this and there is nothing wrong with you. 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. Food and eating it is an emotional thing and food is meant to be enjoyed.
But just like anything else that doesn’t serve our best interest, over or under eating out of sadness, stress or anxiety can become a problem when it starts affecting our health. (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, a lot of us are struggling to stay out of the kitchen when we find ourselves bored or stressed. Working from home hasn’t made it any easier when the fridge is right in the other room.
If you are noticing that the first thing you do when you become stressed is eat, you might want to consider looking into different stress and anxiety coping skills.
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. Mindfulness is simply becoming aware of your thoughts and sometimes asking yourself why you might be thinking them.
Make sure you are eating enough food at each meal. Fill up on 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 snack between meals as well.
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 a craving is a sign 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. If you want to face whatever is causing you to want to eat out of stress, then do so. Write about what is stressing you out. Why do you turn to food? While yes it is comforting, where did that stem from? Talk to someone about how you are feeling these days.
If you still cannot stop the desire to eat more (trust me I was there last month with my pregnancy cravings - an actual bottomless pit that never felt satiated) 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. Not all of it, but a reasonable portion of it to satisfy your desire.
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, just as with anything else that is not serving your body and mind's best interest. Instill self love and care practices into your life. 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.
