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Stressed is Desserts Spelled Backwards

January 13, 2010   7 Comments

The inclination to grab for food when you are stressed is completely understandable. Food calms you down and makes you feel good.

Nothing

Food acts like a drug. See: Would you Like To Add Some Heroin To Your Order? Of course, when we are under stress we want to eat!

And, the availability of food that is palatable to you is amazing. One set of stairs, elevator ride, short walk, or short drive and you can get almost whatever you want to eat.

This wasn't true of our ancestors. If they were stressed, they had to go hunt and gather their food (no 7-11's or full fridges for them!).

So, what can you do to avoid the habit of eating when you are stressed? You can avoid stress (more massages, deep breathing, therapy, and/or yoga). But most of us will still have stress no matter what we do (be honest with yourself).

To stop yourself from eating, ask yourself if you are eating because you are hungry or because you are stressed. If the answer comes back stressed, look at a photo like the one above and take 5 deep breaths.

Focus on the inner turmoil that is leading you to eat. If you manage to stop yourself - way to go! If you still want to eat, plan to have healthy snacks ready for the stressful moments so you get some nutrition out of your stressed eating habit.

Eating when you are stressed, just leads to more stress. For example, you might get chubby and no longer fit in your clothes. Then you have to find money to buy more clothes, or maybe your doctor will tell you that you are on the path to Type 2 Diabetes. You REALLY don't need that stress.

How do you avoid stress eating? Please share below.

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7 Comments:

I am not a stress eater but I am a bored eater. I try to chew a piece of gum when I have a sweet craving. Extra Sugar Free Berry Blast does the trick. I completely lose my craving for sweets!

I repeat over and over to myself "if hunger is not the problem, then food is not the answer." If that doesn't do the trick, then I will get some exercise, even if it's just a quick walk or a few jumping jacks.

Candice...that's an awesome phrase to repeat to yourself! I'm going to have to try it...another one of my favorites is "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels"!

Love these ideas... I never realized that stressed is desserts spelled backwards. One thing I have done was switch jobs. I was a stress eater at my old job which was very competitive and deadline driven. They had snacks and sodas for us in the office so it was hard to pass them up. My new job is much less stressful and now I'd say my problem is more eating when I'm bored and still lots of junk food abound. I've been really disciplined since New Year's day. I set a weight goal for myself, a reasonable goal and I just think of how great it feels when I step on the scale and my weight has gone down, vs. up. But I love your sayings... This weekend we are going out of town to visit family and celebrate my little sister's sweet 16 birthday, I think I'll need to try all of these ideas to stay strong and resist the junkfood. But I can do it!

stephv:

You can do this. I started working out and watching my diet on Nov. 9th. I made it through both holidays LOSING 11 lbs. I still enjoyed the holiday faves but in much smaller portions. Instead of eating 5 cookies...I had 1. You're right...getting on the scale and losing is soooooo much better than gaining. Another thing I do is only weigh myself once a week instead of every day. When I weighed myself daily it was very frustrating. It's all about how your clothes feel but more importantly how you feel! Good luck!

well, for those who have a vending machine nearby (like me), i try not to bring change or dollar bills with me, so i wont have access to those chips! =D ... another would be, i started to practice to eat, only when i am hungry, but also cheat sometimes such as indulging on one specific craving, the trick is, you have to choose just one craving (eg: chocolate, nuts, chips) just choose 1, then get back to the diet =) ... also, some veggies are good snacks actually ... another is, i make the weekdays my diet days, and during weekends, i splurge a little, then, by sunday afternoon, i psyche myself to get ready for the diet days ... oh ... dont forget exercise, i swim at least 1x a wk (or more), do outdoor stuff (eg: hike, walk etc.) ... explore a sport that u have always been curious about (eg: martial arts, surfing, biking, etc.) =D ... ohhh one more thing ... this is the rule i follow ---> " Calories you can burn, Fat will take more effort to burn " ... so, for me, it helps a little to lessen Fat intake, coz, its actually Fat ur gorging on .. while if u choose foods with less fat, but a litlte more of calories ... ur taking in calories (which are not yet fat btw) .. so u can burn them easier than burning actual fat ... =D hope this contributes =D

Wow, thanks ghurl! i did not know a lot of that lol. But it makes a LOT of sense. I am always counting calories but hardly ever look at the fat intake. And Jackie, I LOVE Extra sugar free gum. I do the same thing, when i am bored, i pop in a peice of that gum and go to town. I do the same thing at school, because when i get bored at school, i bust out with the snackies! So, I keep a bottle of water handy at all times and good pack of gum near me. =)

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