Today I address the topic of emotional, stress eating…turning to food as a way to cope with personal stress.
While some people avoid food when stressed others turn to food as a way to deflect from the initial feelings of stress. The minute you turn to the fridge or pantry you are taking the first steps towards deflecting and temporarily pushing the real stress to the back of your mind. Unfortunately, this type of mindless snacking is a very small, temporary band-aid and doesn’t actually resolve anything.
If anything you just end up feeling worse. The only difference is that now you are stressed about something that IS within your control.
If this is something you’ve dealt with or are dealing with, I do have a few suggestions for you as a former stress eater myself.
1. Since we’ve already established that emotional, stress eating is a way to deflect and temporarily forget about the real problem at hand….what else can do that for you? Can you go for a walk, take a car ride, call a friend, clean the house, workout, take some time to journal, etc? Find something else that will help you take your mind off of the thing that is stressing you out.
I personally love the benefits of journaling, whether it’s to start my day off with a little gratitude and self-reflection or to literally brain dump all of my feelings and emotions onto paper when I’m feeling overwhelmed. It’s therapeutic.
2. When you find yourself in front of the fridge or pantry, take a second to stop and ask yourself, “Is this really going to make me feel better?” “Is this going to get me one step closer or further away from my goals?”
Take a second to really pause and think, do you want to feel better in the morning or worse?
3. Lastly, it’s important to recognize and address the actual thing that’s causing you stress. Especially if this is a recurring theme. How can you start to address the bigger picture? Realizing that most things can’t or won’t be solved overnight but realistically, what steps can you take to address these everyday stressors in your life?
With Much love,
Nina
P.S. If you want to connect further I would love to catch up with you on Instagram, you can find me at @fitwith_nina or you can join the Making FIT Work private community on Facebook here.
