Tag Archives: Stress Eating

Anxiety, CLEAN EATING, Depression, Depression, Emotional Eating, Empowerment, Health and Fitness, Healthy Eating, Healthy Food Guidelines, Managing Stress, Mental Health, Stress Relief

Stop Stress Eating at Night

Stress eating can happen any time of the day (or night).  In fact, it is usually worse in the evening.  So, every effort should be made to stop stress eating at night.

Stress Eating at Night
Image by artisticco

You have a hard day at work, or one of the kids give you grief after school.  Finally, dinner is over, dishes are cleared, and everyone is asleep except you.  You are finally alone and have time to relax. It is so nice and quiet.

Unfortunately, there is also too much time to think about the day and everything that has happened, or might happen. It is all TOO MUCH!

All you can think about is eating something sweet and yummy – the great distractor – to make you feel better. AND . . . you deserve it! What can you do?

There are a few tips I can share that may be helpful.  They work for me; maybe they will work for you, too.

When You Want a Snack – WAIT!

This is a tip that not only works in the evening, it is a good one to use anytime of the day when you have the overwhelming urge to grab an unhealthy snack between meals.

Find some other way to distract yourself. Ignore the urge for a few minutes. Tell yourself you will get the snack after you take care of “one more thing.”  This gives your body time for the craving to disappear so you can move on with healthier activities.

After 15 or 20 minutes, if you are actually feeling hungry, then maybe your body really needs something.  Go for a healthy snack of fruit or a small handful of nuts to take the edge off until meal time (or bedtime).

There is a good chance the craving will fade and  you will know that you were in “stress-eating mode” rather a real need to feed your body. Plus, you will have made it through without giving in.

Clean-out Your Pantry – No Junk Food Allowed

Take the necessary steps to make night-time stress eating difficult.  Clean out your pantry, freezer and refrigerator. Get rid of all the chips, ice cream, buttery popcorn, hot fudge, cookies, pretzels, and any other favorite munchies that you typically have readily available.

When you have multiple choices of favorite unhealthy snacks lying around, you will almost always go for them. It is difficult to choose healthy alternatives when stress is in control of your mind and body.

If your pantry is bare of such temptations, you are more likely to eat a healthier substitute that you have on hand than you are to jump in your car and drive to get something unhealthy.

When your pantry is clean, make healthy options easy to find and eat. Always have fresh fruit you can peel, or cut up quickly. Also, keep small portions of raw nuts like almonds, cashews, walnuts, packaged in snack-sized baggies ready to grab and munch.

Hard-boiled eggs are great for a quick evening, high-protein snack – even a few slices of real cheddar cheese, or apple slices dipped in almond butter.

Snacking can be fun and healthy if you want it to be.

Always Eat at the Table

Eating should be reserved for the kitchen  or the dining room.  When you get used to eating in the living room, your favorite recliner, or in bed, you will have a much harder time breaking the night-time stress eating habit.

In fact, eating in any of those places creates a double whammy bad habit. You are not only stress eating unhealthy foods, you are doing it in parts of the home that are meant for relaxation (not eating). It can easily lead to overeating and serious weight gain.

For the health of the entire family, make a strict rule that meals and snacks are only eaten in the kitchen, breakfast nook, or dining room.  No eating should be allowed on the sofa, the recliner, in front of the TV, in the office, or in bedrooms.

Establish a Healthy Evening Routine

How do you wind down and get ready for bed?  That may be part of the problem.

If you make it a habit of grabbing a bag of chips or a big dish of ice cream to eat in front of the TV before you go to bed, you have already established a pattern that must be broken.

Change things up! If your family enjoys dessert, serve smaller dinners so they have room for a small tasty dessert that is served at the end of the meal, with a nice cup of tea or coffee.

Start a tradition of enjoying conversation with the whole family over dessert.  Then clear the table and have the whole family go into the living room to watch a little TV before bed.

Or, take a leisurely walk around the block – a great way to relax before settling down for the night.

Another great way to de-stress is to use aromatherapy while taking a long bath. It clears the mind, relaxes the body, and helps release tension for a better night’s sleep.

The more relaxed you are the less likely you will be to indulge in stress eating at night.

I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for a good evening routine.

What ideas to you have for de-stressing and relaxing in the evening before bed? 

Anxiety, Depression, Emotional Eating, Healthy Eating, Healthy Living, Managing Stress, Meditation, Mental Health, Stress Relief

Triggers for Stress Eating

In my last post, the question was asked, Are you a stress eater?

Today we are going to look at triggers for stress eating.  When you can identify the triggers  that set you off, you will have a much better chance of stopping the binges before they start.

People sometimes joke about being a stress eater and really don’t give it much thought, which is dangerous. It can leads to general poor health, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.  Good enough reasons to stop?  I certainly hope so.

But . . . to stop, you must know what your triggers are.  How do you find out?

Keep a Journal

Triggers for Stress Eating
Image by Seth Sawyer

This one is a pain in the “you know what,” but necessary.  In order to identify your triggers, you must know what you eat and when you eat it.

Keeping a journal is the best way to keep track.  It is more than simply a list of foods you eat. You must also include the thoughts and feelings you were having when you chose to eat – plus exactly what you eat and the time of day that you eat.

For example: You start the day with a quick cup of coffee and a banana that you grab as you walk out the door.  Then, about 9:30, you have a couple of doughnuts in the break room, with another cup of coffee for a quick pick-me-up.

You make it until lunch and manage to eat a fairly healthy salad – good job!

But, at 2:00 p.m. your boss calls an emergency two-hour meeting that leaves you frazzled and facing another couple of hours of work before you can go home.  You make a quick run to the local McDonalds for a cheeseburger and coke, which takes the edge off – and back to work.

Finally at 6:30 you drag yourself out of the office, tired and annoyed.

You get home at 7:00 p.m., eat some cheese with crackers because you are too tired to fix dinner and enjoy a pint of Rocky Road for dessert.  You are tired, alone, and you deserve it.

You must record everything – the time, the food, and the reasons you ate – including anything you told yourself about why you were eating.

BTW,  don’t forget the half bag of chips that your neighbor shared with you around 6:30.

Choose a small note pad that fits easily in your purse or pocket so that it is always with you and you can makes notes throughout the day.

Make a List of Triggers

Be diligent with your journal and after four or five days, study your notes.

Start by looking for signs of binge eating.

  • What did you eat? And, how much?
  • What time of day?
  • What triggered the eating? (A fight? Anger? Disappointment? Fatigue?)

For example, you may have binged at dinner. You had three pieces of cheesecake for dessert.

Look at every detail of the entry to see what was going on in your head and/or the circumstances? Maybe you had a fight with your teenage daughter just before dinner.  Or – you received an overdraft from your bank in the mail when you arrived home from work.

Start a page in your journal for things (situations, circumstances, emotions, specific actions by specific people, etc.) that lead to binge eating – those are your triggers.

What You Eat

After you have looked carefully for triggers, go back and look for the types of foods you eat when you are stressed.  Make a list of your most common stress foods.

For example, you may be someone who can eat a whole package of Mother’s Taffy Cookies or Andes Thin Chocolate Mints  when you are stressed, or you maybe you prefer a bag of Lay’s Classic Potato Chips with large bottle of Coke.  Everyone has their favorites.  What are yours?

Identify Patterns and Primary Stressors

In addition to triggers, you will also find patterns that lead to stress eating.

For example:  Finances are a big stressor for many people.  Anytime you have to deal with financial issues, note differences in your eating patterns – frequency, types of foods, when you eat, what and how much you eat, etc.

The stressors that seem to create the biggest problems, with the greatest frequency are the ones that you want to work on first.

Tackle one at a time.  If finances create major stress for you – that is where you start.  If a relationship is your biggest stressor, start there.

Start paying attention to what happens, how you feel, what you tell yourself about the situation, and what, when, and how much you eat as a result.

The triggers and patterns will become clear after a fairly short time.  Once you have identified them, you can decide how you are going to deal with them.

Test the techniques mentioned in the previous post:  Are You a Stress Eater?  And find the ones that will work for you  Meditation?  Massage? Food replacement?  Or, possibly a combination.

For your peace of mind, and your overall health, start journaling and finding ways to manage your stress other than eating.  You will be glad you

Alternative Health, CLEAN EATING, Depression, Emotional Eating, Health and Fitness, Healthy Eating, Healthy Foods, Healthy Living, Managing Stress, Meditation, Mental Health, Stress Relief

Are You a Stress Eater?

1 Comment
Are You A Stress Eater
Image by Massonforstock

Are you a stress eater? If you are not, you are very lucky. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I am!  If you are too, or think you may be . . . please, read on.

Stress eating is a bad habit that develops over many years. For those who are afflicted, you may or may not be aware of it, because it has been part of your life for such a long time that it seems perfectly normal.

Stress eating involves bouts of over-indulging in foods that are bad for your health –whenever you feel stressed.  You may be doing it because it makes you feel better and it gives you a sense of control at a time when your life feels out of control. It may make you feel better in the moment; but, it is a dangerous habit that should be broken.

 

Important Facts You Should Know About Stress Eating

How It Develops

The interesting thing is that not everyone who deals with a lot of stress eats large amounts of bad food to feel better or to hide from negative feelings.

In fact, some people do just the opposite – they stop eating.

People who overeat generally, or who are emotional overeaters, are at a higher risk for becoming stress eaters, as well.

For other people who fall into this trap when they are  stressed, but, otherwise have fairly normal appetites, there are studies that suggest it may be due to a hunger hormone, which spikes when a person is stressed.

If you actually feel hungrier when you are stressed, and it isn’t just driven by the need for a distraction, the hormone may be the problem.  For me, it’s the need for distraction – so be honest with yourself about this.  When I am stressed, I often eat when I am not hungry at all.

Symptoms of Stress Eating

You may not know that you are a stress eater. You may think you simply have a big appetite; or just not particularly great at controlling your cravings.

It you are not sure, keep a journal.  Make notes of everything you eat (and how you are feeling at the time) that are outside of regular meal times.  Look for patterns of stress eating.

For example, the times when you head to McDonald’s right after you have a fight with your significant other, or the boss has chewed you out for something you did (or didn’t ) do.  Or, the evening when you eat an entire pint of ice cream when you are sitting alone after a hard day of work. Or, you eat two pieces of pie when you were worrying about the big test that is coming up. Those are classic signs of stress eating.

Other signs of stress eating:

  • You always gain weight during stressful times in your life
  • You feel like you deserve to eat what you want because of everything that has happened
  • You feel a sense of urgency in terms of eating certain foods – there may be a compulsion to get in the car and drive to get that hot fudge sundae you want.
  • After a long difficult day, food is the only thing you can think about.
  • You have uttered the words “I need this to feel better.”

What You Can Do About It

When you recognize the signs and think (or know) that you are a stress eater; then, it is time to STOP! It may be difficult to stop completely – and NEVER do it again. But, there are some things you can do to slow it down, and eventually stop completely.

Things that Can Help

Acknowledgement – It order to change any habit, the first step is to acknowledge that you have the habit, and are committed to breaking it. If you do not take this step, anything else you do will be temporary. Your efforts may help for a short time, but you will fall back into the pattern at some point.

Meditation – Meditation is a tool used by many to overcome harmful behaviors. It is a great way to ground yourself and empty your mind so that the stress no longer overwhelms you.

Meditation is not necessarily easy in the beginning. It takes practice.  Do not feel discouraged if you don’t “get it” right away.  Stay with it.

Because of the vast number of advocates for this practice and the fact that it has been around for centuries, there is obviously real benefits that can be enjoyed from meditation.

Begin slowly and work up to longer periods of time. Try a few minutes of meditation each day and let your mind clear itself. It may take as long as a couple of months before you are consciously aware of the benefits.

Some people find they do better if they go to a community meditation facility – others prefer to do it in private.

Aromatherapy – This is another relaxation method that has been used for centuries; and seems to work well in managing stress and eliminating stress eating.

Some of the methods of aromatherapy include aerial diffusion (typically with an oil burner), topical application, and inhalation. The scents enhance focus and aid relaxation.

Some practitioners claim that it is important to use only natural essential oils because the synthetics may contain ingredients that can irritate the skin if applied topically.

 Massage – This is the combination of touch and physical manipulation of joints and muscles to release stress and tension – often combined with aromatherapy.  As tension and stress dissipate, the need for stress eating diminishes.

Food replacement – As you become more and more aware of your patterns, try replacing the bad foods you tend to eat when you’re stressed with healthier alternatives. Instead of a plate of nachos, eat tortilla chips with salsa. Replace a pint of ice cream with a low-calorie frozen yogurt bar or a high-protein granola bar in place of a candy bar.  You may be surprised how well this works, but you do have to be prepared.  And . . . remember you don’t eat the whole box of high-protein bars – just one.

The main thing is to recognize that stress eating is a problem – then, do something about it.  Begin today!