Question:
Stress Eatting : Need help with
I'm having a lot of health/emotion issues stemming from a recent auto accident and I find myself stress eatting. I cannot control the urges and since I'm being realistic with the fact that I cannot control myself - I at least want to control the kind of foods I pick up when I walk into the kitchen. Most of the time I don't even realize I'm eatting till it's too late and the food is in my mouth. I've been eatting cheese sticks, peanuts and pretzels and misc candy. I have made an appt with a neuro-psycologist to help with the stress and emotional issues. I'm hoping that it will then allow me to regain control the eatting. I have no more "junk" food left in the house (candy & pretzels) and will be going to the store to get more appropriate foods. Please help by giving me some good food choices that I can have around to snack. I kindly request constructive responses only. Thanks for your help in advance. — adeas (posted on June 8, 2004)
June 7, 2004
I'm sorry to hear of your auto accident. I hope you weren't injured such
that you can't perform some regular exercise. This will help with the
stress. It's great that you are getting the junk out of the house. You can
select some good food choices for snacking but that will only help to an
extent. You will need to fix the bigger problem - stress eating - to make
you a long term success. Remember that grazing is one of the sure fire ways
to gain the weight back. Do you see your surgeon? Can you go to a local
support group, even OA? I wish you the best. I read your profile and you've
come a long way.
— Yolanda J.
June 7, 2004
I'm so sorry about your accident and hope you are recovering well. You've
done absolutely the right thing by getting the junk out of the house and by
going to a counselor to help with the "head" issues. Here are
some things that might help with a snack attack but if any of them are
"triggers" for you, don't bring them in the house. Cheddar
cheese or colby cheese cubes (low fat if you can stand it), part skim milk
mozzarella cheese sticks, beef jerky, natural peanut butter (no sugar
added, sliced deli turkey and chicken, sugar free popsicles, fresh crunchy
veggies, boiled eggs, cottage cheese. Nuts would be good unless they are a
trigger for you because they can be pretty high in fat. Have a salad made
up and ready to eat. When you go shopping, and bring the food into the
house, you might just take an hour or so and go ahead and get it in a
"ready to eat" state like cutting the veggies really small,
cutting the beef jerky into small pieces, etc. I've found that if I have
something like that already prepared, it definitely helps keep me from
making poor choices. Drink LOTS and LOTS of fluids and I'd go with
something that has some flavor like decaf tea with Splenda, Crystal Light,
any of the flavored waters, etc. You might also try adding some extra
protein drinks. I've found that they really stave off the hunger and if
I'm not feeling hungry, I definitely am not as inclined to "stress
eat." The psychologist should be able to help you with other actions
you might take other than eating but maybe you could just try getting out
of the house or calling someone on the phone, or even logging on to the
computer and reading the Q&A here and the message board and looking at
all the before and after pictures. For me, reading doesn't work because I
can read and still think about food at the same time and TV is a bummer
because it's about 99% food commercials! Hope some of the suggestions help
and I hope things get better for you soon.
— scbabe
June 7, 2004
Sorry to hear of your accident, hope you are feeling better soon. It is a
great thing that you have removed all the junk food from your house. Now
when you find yourself, wanting to grab something to eat, if you must, grab
one and take it "on the go" even if you just walk outside around
the house, down the street, etc. When I find myself getting the urger for a
snakc...I clean a bathroom. I think all of us can agree, no one thinks of
food as you scrub a toilet! Just ask my family, I have 2 1/2 baths and they
are spotless! If you aren't physically able to clean the bathroom due to
yur accident, try a walk anything, as long as it's not around food. Heck,
come online and talk to someone...keeps those fingers otherwise
occupied...we can help!
Good Luck to you!
Sherry S
— sac287
June 8, 2004
Sorry about your accident. I'm proud of you for recognizing your self
destructive behavior and seeking professional help. That takes a strong
person. I do have one or tow suggestions (which help me) that I hope you
will feel are helpful. First- if at all possible, make a grocery list of
healthy food items (some ideas, cold cuts, pre-prepared chicken breast
slices, cottage cheese, SF yogurt, fruit, salad veggies, celery, carrots,
nuts, beef jearky) and GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE to do the shopping for you.
Don't shop yourself. It leads to you giving in to temptation of buying
those lovely junk foods. If someone can't shop for you, then BRING A
FRIEND and give them the list to keep you accountable. If you don't have
the food in the house- you can't eat it. My last suggestion is that you
try to incorporate a little behavior modification...put any tempting foods
(even if they're healthy and you're over eating them, way out of reach, so
that you can't unconsciously get them. If you have to work to get them,
you'll realize what your're doing Second, make a 'deal' with yourself that
before you eat, when you feel 'hungry' that you'll drink one big glass of
liuqid (your choice of any calorie free drink). This will curb any false
hunger pangs and make you feel more full which may keep you from munching
on as much food. Lastly, If you find yourself migrating towards the
kitchen, try to take a detour and do something physical (iron, lauundry,
dusting, walk on a treadmill) instead. Busy hands can't eat. Good luck to
you in this difficult time.
— LMCLILLY
June 8, 2004
I hope your feeling better and have a speedy recovery. I tend to
"stress" eat when I'm bored, and I also crave junk. What I do is
I keep soy chips at home, and when I crave junk I eat 3-4 of them. They are
very filling and satisfy my junk food urges. A couple of brands that are
very good are Genisoy (look like mini rice cakes)and Michael Seasons (look
like doritos). Good luck. Oh here are the links for these products, but I
usually buy mine at the grocery store.
http://www.genisoy.com/dot-net/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=12&tabid=14
http://www.seasonssnacks.com/seasons_sweet/template_ms_soy.cfm
— vllgmz4
June 8, 2004
I know what you mean. When my kids are driving me crazy, I find myself
standing in from of the pantry looking for something to eat and not even
remembering opening the door. One trick I learned over on the grad board
is if you're having an overwhelming craving for something you shouldn't
eat, drink a protein shake first. Tell yourself, I can have
"_____" after I drink the shake. Nine times out of ten, you
won't want it anymore.
— mom2jtx3
June 9, 2004
For snacks, I always have low-fat cheese, sunflower seeds (ONLY in the
shell), SF popsicles. I agree with Linda - always do a protein shake if you
think you want to eat something illegal. I even keep a tub of Nectar here
at work! <br><br>
Lastly, you never know when a stressful situation might come up, so you are
smart to work on the behavioral side of this issue.
— kultgirl
June 9, 2004
You have a lot of good responses so far, however, I wanted to applaud for
identifying and admitting to a "problem" related to eating as
most of us "hide" this. I keep celery, cauliflower, sweet
carrots and olives in the fridge for thos stressful or PMS days. Also,
lean strips of turkey ham or other cold cuts are not bad as they are low in
calories. You will be find because you know you have a small
"problem" and are seeking help for it.
— Anna M.
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