We’ve all been there. Completely smashing it with our diet plan, but all of a sudden a stressful event or situation means that we end up falling off the wagon and reaching for the comfort food. During stressful periods, or times when we’re stuck at home, it can be incredibly tempting to start comfort eating. It’s only natural that a lot of us may be turning to our favourite snacks for a little pick me up at the moment!
However, while stress eating or even emotional eating can make us feel comforted for a short period of time, it can move us further away from our weight loss goals. Plus, there’s the added risk that you’ll feel incredibly guilty afterwards, which isn’t the best thing for your mental health, particularly if you were feeling a little fragile to begin with. There’s no definitive answer when we look at how to stop stress eating, however, there’s a few things you can do that might help you beat the cravings and stay on track.
We’ve put together our five top tips to help prevent emotional eating when times are a little tough. We hope you find them helpful!
Keep a Food & Mood Diary
If you’re finding yourself stress or emotional eat on a regular basis, it can be a good idea to keep a food and mood diary. By writing down what you’re eating, it will help you identify any patterns between your mood and the food you eat. Write down what you eat, when you eat it, and how you were feeling when you ate it. From there, you’ll be able to work out any triggers that cause you to stress eat. Perhaps it’s always after spending time with a particular friend, or perhaps there’s a major event going on in your life. Either way, by identifying what causes you to comfort eat, it will give you a chance to look at how you can manage them better.
Take 5 Minutes
Before you head to the food cupboard, try and delay it by a few minutes and just check in with yourself. Ask yourself whether or not you’re physically hungry (Have you eaten recently? Is your stomach rumbling?) and how you’re feeling at the moment. While it may not necessarily stop you from giving in to the craving, it may help you identify why it’s there and help you become more aware of what you can do as an alternative, and that’s a step in the right direction! We’d also recommend having a glass of water to ensure you are not feeling dehydrated, why not add a Burst Vimto Sachet to make them ever tastier?
