Is Stress Eating Sabotaging Your Weight Loss?

You’ve had a stressful day.  It started out with finding out ants invaded your kitchen, you got the kids to school late again, then you found out forgot a key document in that important project that was due today at work.  All you can think about is going home and diving head first into a box of donuts. 

BUT, you’re really trying hard to stay on plan and you know that those donuts are just going to end up making you feel worse.  So what can you do to avoid raiding the pantry during those times that you are most stressed out?

Now if you’re actually hungry, I will always say EAT!  Hunger is your body telling you that it needs something!  That doesn’t mean eat all the donuts though!  Eat a good meal focused on protein and fat - a meal that will help satiate you and nourish your body - which is particularly important during times of stress.  I kid you not, it really does help stress when you feed yourself well.  Then you also avoid adding the additional stress that comes along with eating something you regret afterwards.

But if you aren’t actually hungry, that's a different story.  Eating when we’re not actually hungry is what got a lot of us in trouble in the first place.  So what can you do to change that?

My best advice will always be - get busy!  The more you sit and think about eating the more you’re going to think about eating ;P  If you can do something that keeps both your hands and your mind busy that can be really helpful!

Just get yourself moving and out of the kitchen!

Go for a walk

This one makes my pup particularly happy!  She’s always more than happy to join me for a walk!  Get out, get some fresh air, and more importantly get out of your own head.  Have you ever noticed that when you try not to think about something, you tend to think about it even more?  

Listen to a podcast or watch a YouTube video

Whether is something completely unrelated (my favorite is true crimes stuff!)  or maybe something health-focused to help inspire and motivate you.

Clean

This is my go-to and maybe the least “fun”, but I do love that feeling of being productive and getting stuff done.  My house is particularly clean when I’m the most stressed out! ;P

Take up a hobby

Find something that you enjoy doing just for you - not because of a goal - just something enjoyable that you can turn to when you need help relaxing and decompressing from your day.  Painting, pottery, scrapbooking - whatever it is that you enjoy.  I often hear knitting is a good one because it keeps both your mind and your hands busy!  I’m not very crafty anymore (though I wish I was!) so thats not one that I’ve personally tried but it makes sense!  Then you have something you made at the end of it - pretty cool!  But any hobby or interest that you enjoy will work here!

Go workout

This is another one of my go-tos particularly if I’m stressed out!  There is nothing like a good cardio kickbox workout or lifting heavy things to work off that stress!

Take a long hot bath!

Go all out, bath salts, candles, whatever it takes to relax you and help you feel good - you deserve it!

Go play!

If you have kids this kills two birds with one stone.  They’ll love it (assuming they’re not teenagers ;)) and you’ll love the quality time together!  A quick game outside shooting some hoops with your kids, a quick game of hide and seek.  Even just playing catch.  Do something retro and play a board game or do a puzzle - your kids might look at you like you’re nuts (games that don’t include electronics or technology??) but they’ll enjoy it once they’re doing it!

Call a friend

What better way to get your mind off food than catching up with a good friend!  It can be a great way to improve your mood as well!

Manage Hunger

Ok this one is more long-term and may not help so much in the moment.  But if you are feeding yourself well and supporting your metabolism that magnetic draw to the fridge seems to be less powerful!  Cravings aren’t as intense and easier to recognize for what they are.

Take care of yourself!

When life gets stressful this is when I double-down on self-care.  For me that doesn’t necessarily mean massages and pedicures (but those are nice too!), but I really try to focus on eating well - good nourishing, satiating food.  Make a real effort to get good sleep.  And if possible get outside for a little dose of vitamin D and some fresh air. It really works wonders!