Do you turn to food when you feel stress? Reduce anxiety and learn to manage stress without food to lose weight.
Anxious eating is a habit for overweight people who have an unhealthy relationship with food. Rather than using for nutrition and energy, overweight people use food as a friend when they feel stressed. It’s easy to see why overweight people find comfort in food since it won’t talk back, it will never turn you down and it makes you feel good, at least temporarily.
Food doesn’t cure anxiety, but it does offer temporary relief from feelings of stress. Eating carbs and overloading on sugary foods give you a boost of feel good hormones. The problem is that food isn’t a long-term cure for anxiety or stress and the food itself adds more problems as you increase your risk of health issues and you gain weight from binge eating.
The same food an overweight person uses for comfort are also the culprit for yoyo dieting because once the stress is lessened, they feel guilty for eating foods that aren’t on their diet plan and start a new diet. The process is repeated as they lose and gain weight, damaging their metabolism, becoming insulin resistant and setting themselves up for diet failure.
Are You an Anxious Eater?
- Do you crave carbs when you have a rough day?
- Do you hit the vending machine after a confrontation with a coworker?
- Do you eat even when you aren’t hungry?
- Do you feel a sense of immediate relief after eating carbs or sweets?
- Are you preoccupied with food at the first sign of stress?
- Do you feed a headache?
- Do you use food to cure mild depression?
Reduce Anxious Eating to Lose Weight
- Balance negative thoughts with positive ones. Try to think realistically about circumstances.
- Challenge unrealistic fears.
- Handle problems immediately to lessen stress over common situations.
- Play a video game or read a book when you feel stressed to occupy your mind.
- Talk through your feelings of stress and anxiety.
- Relieve anxiety with exercise.
- Take a break from a stressful situation. Get outside and breathe fresh air.
- Use a weight loss community for online support.
- Discover new hobbies and activities to enjoy instead of eating.
- Try yoga, meditation to hypnosis to reduce anxiety.
By learning to manage stress, you’ll be able to gain control over food and eat only when you are hungry. Anxious eating is only a temporary way to reduce feelings of stress. Long-term solutions to anxious eating and weight loss include changing your reaction to stress and finding a healthy balance.
