Why do I over eat when I'm stressed?
Some individuals use food to fill emptiness, provide good feelings, and soothe job pressures and family conflicts. Often eating has nothing to do with being hungry. Instead it is a response to anxiety or depression. This is emotional overeating and it can be controlled. Tips for Coping with Stress-Related Eating 1.Try to wait. Tell yourself to wait 15 or 30 minutes to eat. The craving to eat may pass or you may become distracted and forget about food. 2. Keep track of what you eat. Looking at the day's list of what you have already eaten may convince you not to have that extra helping or that sweet. Plus you will get in the good habit of thinking before you eat. 3.If you have a pattern of snacking at a certain time of day, change your routine to keep yourself occupied during that period. 4.Make it a habit to eat only when seated and when not otherwise occupied by a task. You will focus more on eating and tend to eat less. 5.Eat regularly. If you wait until you are 'starving,' you may lose discretion over what you eat and how much. 6.Put a Post-It note on your bathroom mirror or on your office computer or in your car reminding you to think before you eat. Examples might be "Are you really hungry?" or "Think about why you're eating." 7.Know thyself - and your weakest times and places. Don't go there. 8.Remove trouble. Throw out tempting foods from your home or desk. Never grocery shop when hungry; bring home only food that you feel good about eating. 9.Make time for physical activity. Exercise is a natural stress-reducer. 10. Sometimes nothing works. If you cannot stop obsessing about food, then indulge yourself. Tomorrow is a new day in which to excel. 11.Psychologists are frequently contacted to assist people who need either basic behavioral weight loss treatment while others suffering from depression and low self-esteem may require more specialized treatment.
I binge eat when I'm stressed!! Any way to help fight it?
a) go with it. pick foods you'll find attractive and jsut work them into your diet. if you are otherwise a healthy eater, the occasional cheat day (ie, once every 2wks or less) isn't going to torch everything. b) stop thinking about it. when you find yourself thinking about pizza, just think "yes, a pizza would be enjoyable right about now", accept that you like pizza, and then get back to your homework. c) find another habit to replace bingeing. when i quit smoking, i found a habit to replace lighting up. d) use mental imagery - when i start thinking wistfully of a big ol' 16oz steak smothered in fried onions and mushrooms, i imagine my daughter at age 9 having to care for a mother who'd just had a hip replacement (which is what will happen if i don't shed this weight asap). OH!!!! i should've asked: when you say "healthy eater", what exactly do you mean? you're eating at least 1800cal/day, right? if you're not, then it could be a sign that your body *needs* more nutrition.
Is it binge eating when I eat when I’m stressed?
Binge eating is generally used for someone who normally has good control over their eating, but occasionally loses it and overeats considerably for a while.
How do I stop stress binging?
To stop stress binging, you have to realise what draws you to food in the first place. It makes you feel comfortable and safe, right?Food makes up for up to 90% of your oxytocin production. Oxytocin is the hormone that tells your body that it is safe and happy, similar to a hug.What you need to do is find something else that makes you feel good and do that. Food binging is a hard habit to break, but you need something that will make you feel happy and safe.Try playing with your pet and cuddling when you've had a hard day instead of reaching for the ice cream. Take up knitting, or another craft as a hobby. Adult colouring books are actually proven to reduce stress.If you absolutely cannot stop binging, visit a healthcare professional. They can help you figure out what you need to do.Best of luck!
Why does binge-eating help in dealing with stress?
Stress can be described as some kind of high blood pressure in the brain region. When you are eating , before the digestion insulin will be produced and will get into the blood stream. This will reduce the glucose level whole over the body including brain. So, automatically brain will get tired, and the blood pressure will reduce through some low amount. So you will be temporarily relieved from stress. But in a long run the person will impair his/her body's insulin-glucose balance by binge eating.
Help! How do I stop stress eating?
Umm okay I just ate a family sized back of chips and drank two sodas in the span of 3 hours. I gained around 5 pounds in the past three months. :( I’m 5’2 and 135 pounds, slowly gaining as the time passes. Ever since I started high school this year, the stress has been piling up and I’m beginning to stress eat. My parents bring home unhealthy snacks even though I tell them not to, since my sister indulges in the sort of stuff and doesn’t care about her health, so there’s always a temptation. When I’m at the lunch line the donuts, cookies, fries, rice crispies, and ice cream sandwiches are so tempting. How can I stop stress eating and resist the urge of eating junk food? Thank you so much for any advice.
How do I stop stress eating? I’m 18 and I’ve been gaining some weight. I’ve always been a stress eater, but I used to be one of those people who could eat a lot and not gain weight.
Parts of this answer are taken from here: (Tina Huynh's answer to How could you self-cure bulimia?)I, too, know how you feel. I used to eat until my stomach was so stretched that it would hurt to stand upright. And even when I was at this point, I wanted to continue eating... and most of the time I did.Here are some steps that I took to stop my binging:I stopped dieting. I know this is difficult for someone with an eating disorder but this is a necessary step to recovery. You have to learn to declassify foods as good or bad. No food is inherently good or inherently bad. You have CHOSEN to classify those foods that way. Don't listen to yourself. Allow yourself to eat. Once your brain knows that it's allowed to eat whatever it wants, it suddenly doesn't want to eat EVERYTHING as soon as it gets a taste of "bad" food. There are no off limits food. This is really important.I dropped the all or nothing mindset. Just because you had ONE cookie doesn't mean your day is ruined and now you might as well eat another twelve. Just because you made one mistake doesn't mean your whole life is a failure. Just because you ate one all-vegetable meal doesn't mean you are a vegetarian. We have good days and we have bad days. Acknowledge the bad day, accept it as it is and move on. One small misstep will not make a difference in the long run.I celebrated all of my victories, no matter how small. Did you drink eight glasses of water today? That's a win. Did you remember to floss today? Win! Did you choose to eat broccoli instead of french fries? Major win! Celebrate. Everything.I stopped rewarding myself with food. If you've had a stressful day and you immediately walk to the fridge when you get home... STOP THAT. Go shopping instead. Get a massage. Call a friend you love talking to. Find other ways to reward yourself. Food is not the reward.If you’d like more information, check out my nutrition/dieting blog at How to Stop Dieting
I only purge when I'm really stressed. Do I have bulimia?
Bulimia can be excessively trying to remove the food from your body, or occasionally. You do not have to binge to be bulimic, so don't worry about that. However, I do suggest you get help, to prevent doing it again in the future.