Stress Eating? Here's why...and how to stop!

No one is going to argue when you claim that these are stressful times. Even if you’re somehow able to avoid the news these days, you likely have more people home and underfoot every hour of the day than you typically do. Add to that the fact that you may be helping kids with their home-based schooling, cooking, cleaning and trying to score a roll of toilet paper.

It’s no wonder the baking isles are stripped bare! Way too many people are stress baking and stress eating. But when it comes to protecting our immunity, this is exactly the opposite of what we should be doing.

So what exactly makes you stress eat and how can you control it?

First, let’s be clear about one thing - there’s a difference between stomach hunger (true hunger for nourishing food that’s necessary for survival) and head or mind hunger. That’s the kind of hunger that has you reaching for cookies, chocolate, potato chips or macaroni and cheese. Over time you actually become biased towards certain types of cravings…sweet, salty, etc. This is why cheetos might make you euphorically happy while ice cream does it for someone else in your house.

But why always with the junk foods? That’s because when you eat these fatty foods and sugary foods your body releases opioids (a chemical) into your bloodstream, which then bind to receptors in your brain and give you feelings of pleasure and even mild euphoria.

So you get a great big “thank you” for eating that tub of ice cream.

There’s more to it than that, but you get the gist. You crave, you eat, and your body tells you it’s happy.

Vicious, vicious cycle.

We instinctually know that we’re better off tending to our immunity by finding phytonutrients in fresh fruit and vegetables, rather than baking cookies and decorating cupcakes. But still….

So how can you bust through the cravings and eat for health rather than to mask your stress?

Create Routine - Map out your daily meals and post it on a cupboard if you need to. If your body knows that its next meal is coming in 2 hours it’s less likely to insist upon those brownies.

Quit the Can’t - Sure there are foods your body does better with and foods you should avoid, but saying, even just to yourself, that you can’t eat those creates more emotion than simply saying I don’t eat those. Make a short list of foods that don’t make you feel amazing and start declaring, “Oh, I don’t eat that anymore.”

Plan Ahead - You know that beautiful mind of yours and you know when you’ll start craving something you don’t eat (see how I did that with the don’t instead of the can’t ??). Plan ahead by having alternatives on hand. Frozen grapes or organic yogurt instead of ice cream. Crispy chickpeas or popcorn instead of potato chips.

Hydrate - You’ve heard it before but it never seems to stick, right? At least half your body weight in ounces a day is the amount of water you should be drinking each day. Fill a pitcher in the morning, toss in some cucumbers or lemons, and sip from that pitcher until it’s gone.

Sleep - It’s a magic elixir for a reason. When you don’t get enough sleep you can alter your body’s natural hormone balance causing you to overeat or binge on junk food. Shoot for 7-9 hours every night.

Calm your Nerves - It’s called stress eating for a reason. We can focus on the eating part all we want, but if we don’t do something about the stress, it’s going to be an uphill battle. The next time the stress comes on heavy, do some 5-5-7 breaths (inhale for 5, hold for 5, exhale for 7), take a walk, flow through a few downward dogs or call a friend. Do what it takes to step out of that stress and create calm in your mind again.