Title: Stress and Emotional Eating
1Stress and Emotional Eating
2Diets dont work
- Diets are almost always a temporary solution to a
chronic problem. Research shows youll put back
on 80 of that weight within a year.
3Diets dont work
- And trying not to eat is like trying not to
breathe. You just cant do it. Its stressful. - Emotional eating
4Diets dont work.
- There will be no restrictions on what you can
eat, and no foods will be considered off
limits. As research shows, these approaches only
make you want the restricted food even more and
of course, ultimately fail.
5Websters definition of diet
- 1. a) what a person usually eats or drinks daily
fare. 2. a regimen of special or limited food
chosen or prescribed to gain or lose weight.
6Eating well and living well.
- It will thoroughly explore the relationship
between exercise, weight management and stress
management.
7Body image
- America wasnt always so obsessed with being
thin. A 1908 article in Harpers Magazine advised
readers How to get plump and suggested that
fashion models should be far from thin.
8Where appetite and stress start
9Acute stress vs. chronic stress
- In order to survive a famine or chronic stress
- the body goes into fat storage mode. - During acute stress, the bodys appetite shuts
down who needs to be thinking about lunch when
you are about to become lunch and stored energy
is mobilized for fighting or fleeing.
10Exercise fight or flight
- Exercise is like triggering your fight or flight
response. It revs up your metabolism and dulls
your appetite.
11Dont skip meals
- Any time the body goes more than 12 hours without
a meal (including hours spent asleep) it slips
into chronic stress mode, reducing metabolism by
as much as 40!
12Dont skip breakfast
- If you normally skip breakfast in the morning,
dont. But you dont have to stuff yourself,
either. Just have a handful of nuts or a
soft-boiled egg.
13Emotional eating
- When ever were stressed, we seek out comfort
foods that remind us of the foods our parents
gave us when we did something especially good or
when we skinned our knees or came home crying.
14Emotional eating
- Most of us dont realize how often we reward,
console and cajole ourselves with food. One way
to increase your awareness of this is by keeping
a mood/food journal.
15Keep a mood food journal
- Whenever you eat an un-planned snack or a meal
make a note of when you ate, what you ate, where
you ate, who you ate with, and how you were
feeling at the time you ate.
16Emotional eating quiz
- Do I eat when I come home from work?
- Do I eat when I get into an argument with a
specific person? - Do I eat at certain times of the day, or when I
feel rushed? - Do I eat standing up and/or right out of the
package? - I like to eat
- when Im anxious, upset, lonely, or
depressed.
17Emotional eating alternatives
- For example, if you know you like to eat after a
tough day, make a point of going out for a walk
before heading to the kitchen. - If there are specific people who drive you to eat
emotionally, Call someone on the phone - If you eat standing up or right out of the
package, stop.
18Self-medicating with food
- Research that indicates we reach for crunchy
foods when were angry, sugary food when were
depressed, soft, sweet foods when were anxious
and salty foods when were stressed.
19Self-medicating with carbs
- Sugary foods and simple carbs, like cakes, white
bread and pasta are the most common foods used
for self-medicating. These foods give us an
instant lift which is why we crave them when
were stressed
20Hypo-glycemia
- When the brain realizes that there is too much
glucose in the bloodstream, (commonly referred to
as a sugar-high) it releases insulin into the
bloodstream which neutralizes the excess glucose.
This reaction causes us to crave even more sugar
and more carbs thus setting us up for another
cycle of high and low.
21Insulin resistance
- Eventually the bodys ability to break down the
glucose becomes impaired. This is known as
insulin resistance. And its a precursor to
diabetes.
22Emotional eating
- So when you find yourself craving sugary foods,
or high carb foods like bagels and chips, its
usually just an attempt to nurture yourself and
to manage your stress.
23Other ways to nurture yourself
- Go for a short walk.
- Listen to your favorite song.
- Read for 15 minutes.
- Take a shower.
- Play a video game.
- Garden.
- Talk to a friend on the phone
24Healthy snacks
- Carrot Sticks, celery sticks, grapes, apple
slices, a handful of nuts, or a bowl of vegetable
soup. Or try drinking an eight ounce glass of
water before you eat anything.
25Rewards other than food
- Try taking yourself out to the movies, or buying
a good book, or subscribing to your favorite
magazine. Some people put money in a jar as a
reward for good behavior, and then buy themselves
something good when the jar is full.
26Stomach vs. mouth hunger
- Emotional eating is driven by mouth hunger. Spend
a non-working day where you eat as often as you
like, but only in response to stomach hunger.
Wait till you are sure you are experiencing
stomach hunger and then eat a light meal within
fifteen minutes.
27Part IIPermanent lifestyle change
- Choose from a variety of lifestyle changes that
include raising your metabolism, counting
calories, avoiding liquid calories, eating whole
foods, getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of
water, and of course practicing some form of
stress management on a daily basis
28Raising metabolism
- Every pound of muscle burns between 35 to 50
calories a day where as every pound of fat burns
only 2 calories a day.
29Counting calories
- The key to maintaining a healthy weight is to
balance the calories you consume with the
calories you burn. Multiply your current weight
times 10 if youre a woman and 11 if youre a man
to get an approximate idea of the number of
calories you burn in a day.
30Eat whole foods
- Whole foods are foods still in their original
state or close to it. The way they grow on the
farm. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains that
you can actually see in the breads, cereals and
baked goods you eat.
31Reducing liquid calories
- Studies show, that in the average American
diet, 22 of total calories come from the sodas,
juices, and alcoholic beverages you consume.
Since you can always opt to drink water, which
has 0 calories, this is a huge opportunity for
savings
32Drink plenty of water
- Drinking water is good for you and when you drink
eight glasses a day, you will be much less likely
to eat emotionally, because the water gives you a
sense of fullness.
33Sleep 7-8 hours per night
- Anything less than seven hours a night is going
to make you vulnerable to problems with anxiety,
depression, fatigue, stress and will raise the
likelihood of emotional eating.
345 methods for reducing stress
- Exercise
- Deep breathing
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Yoga
- Meditation
35Exercise
- Regular exercise helps lower stress, burn
calories, decrease the chances of heart attack,
diabetes, stroke and certain cancers. If all the
benefits of exercise were available in pill-form,
everyone would take it.
36Deep breathing
- Deep breathing slows the heart rate, increases
oxygen consumption and lowers stress.
37Progressive muscle relaxation
- Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing
muscles and then relaxing them, one muscle group
at a time. Start at the top of your body and move
down.
38Yoga
- Yoga means union of mind and body. Yoga combines
meditation, breathing and stretching all into one
practice. You can get a simple idea of how yoga
works right in your chair.
39Meditation
- Meditation requires attention, patience and
practice. The goal in mediation is to calm the
body by focusing the mind on a single word or
phrase you repeat silently to yourself. Usually
people meditate with their eyes closed and allow
15-20 minutes for doing so.
40Give yourself a break
- Behavioral change is a gradual process of two
steps forward and one step back. If you fall off
the wagon of behavioral change, brush yourself
off, FORGIVE YOURSELF, and get right back on that
wagon, no matter how badly you may have been
bruised by the fall.