How to Stop Overeating When Stressed

Most of the time when people get stressed out, they tend to eat as a response. This can happen when one encounters a stressful experience. This is referred to as stress eating. Usually, stress eating can happen when a person will disconnect from the moment. It is just like changing the channel in the brain to modify the feelings. Food serves as a salve for stress which should be able to stop the cycle.

The cravings for food often come when crises or deadlines strike. This is because stress will be able to activate the adrenal glands that should increase the appetite. More so, if anxiety will cut into your sleep, the lack of such will ramp up the appetite even more.

Here are ways to stop overeating when a person is stressed out.

1. Focus on the Real Issue

According to an expert, stress eating is only a symptom of some unmet needs. It is not the main problem as food is only a crutch when people get stressed. People tend to get satisfied by eating because the mind thinks that its needs are being met.

2. Think about the Future

It might help to recall things from the past like goals for losing weight or plans to look awesome for an upcoming vacation. So before getting into stress eating, try to take a minute to center on your future. This will eventually get you out of the moment in order to make food choices that are healthier instead of succumbing into a tasty treat.

3. Be Mindful

Those that have undergone mindful training were able to become less apt to get into a stress eating routine. Likewise, they tend to lose more belly fat in comparison to control groups. This has become possible as those who completed the training have been found out that they have learned some stress reduction techniques, recognized hunger, and paid attention to taste. If you get into it, you can also identify your feelings, accept the unpleasant ones, and focus more on proper breathing in order to fight an automatic urge to reach for some snacks.

4. Learn to be Kind to Yourself

If you practice self-compassion, you will be able to conquer stress eating. If you are a kind and understanding friend to your own self, it will be easier to resist the urge of trying to disconnect via stress eating. If ever you get into stress eating, you should promise yourself that you won’t beat up yourself and think that it does happen to every person sometimes.

Sometimes, it might be helpful to indulge yourself. You can eat ice cream if you want to but you should do so in a moderate manner. Just plan to savor a piece of brownie rather than eat the whole bunch. Take note that food is a comforting and lovely thing, but it doesn’t mean that you have to lose yourself in the process. Just make sure that you do everything right in order to make your life a lot better.