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Want To Stop Eating For Comfort?
Monday 3rd April 2017
The Stress Hunger Issue...Why Do We Comfort Eat?
So it was meant to have been a Feel Good Week this week, but quite frustratingly it seemed to be a week full of Feeling Bad Stuff for me! Various issues with Broadband (the single most stressful thing in my life at this time), a car park "event" (involving a lunatic who ought not have a driving license!) and a shower breakdown causing a domino effect of chaos every morning has seemed to have curbed my creative streak and produced some pretty appalling decisions in my own food choices (not naming any names, you warm, buttery croissant!)
I know it is fairly easy to reach for the biscuit tin when life deals us these little "tests" and my clients have all described in some way, bad eating behaviors occurring when faced with a pile up of difficult situations. Something inside us tells us to put something in our mouth!
Instead of giving you another recipe today, I thought I would give you a little bit of "mindful considerations" and stories instead, to maybe arm you with the information that could help you predict your body's reaction to the unpredictable. Also, I just wanted to reassure you, that this sort of behavior happens to us all - Even Nutritional Chefs!
When we are stressed, our bodies produce a hormone called Cortisol. In response to this, our bodies create an increase in appetite. The stress breaks down our resilience and good attitude towards our hunger and suddenly we find ourselves on a rampage for foods that will satiate our needs as fast as humanly possible, to make us feel good again!
Unfortunately the foods that give us the quickest reaction to that stress hunger aren't usually carrot sticks and cucumber, which is a real shame. We embark on consuming some form of sugar usually, as it's the food that gives us that quickest high we crave.
A behavioural pattern can occur here, so please read on if you can relate to any of this
1) Stress occurs
2) You need to eat
3) You put something in your mouth, usually sugar
4) You have a high that instantly makes you feel better and comforted
5) You then suffer a low
6) You feel guilty
7) This makes you want to eat, to be comforted
8) Your willpower has packed up and left the building
9) You seek out some form of sugar to comfort eat
10) You have a high
11) You have a low
12) You feel guilty....I can go on?
So, how do we deal with this? How do we find ourselves a way to deal with the stress hunger and not begin to tread the path to the town of Diabetes Type 2 where health issues and symptoms reside and weight gain occurs?
As I had my mid morning snack of the warm, buttery croissant, I did try and walk through the events of that morning that had led me there. I knew I had to do it quickly as by the time that beautiful pastry had hit my blood stream I would be in the "oh what the hell" zone and there is no real sense made there!
I recalled the stressful morning - the new added task of organising an orderly shower queue, tapping away at the unfinished Blog whilst the Broadband was having a brief working moment. One hand was on the keys of the laptop, the other was writing a scrappy shopping list as I hadn't had the opportunity for the usual, organised internet food shop due to a battle for internet time with a stroppy 14 year old social gamer who apparently had to squeeze any ounce of broadband we had, to run through the PS4! This was whilst I was also cooking to feed my entire family a healthy and nutritious breakfast, knowing I would need to go to the shop for the usual supplies, at some point during what was already a rammed day and work out who to call about the damned shower!
Too right that croissant was coming!
I will give you two scenarios - Mrs A and Mrs B.
Mrs A has a stressful morning; she rushed about, rushed her breakfast and felt thoroughly battered by the time she started on her daily tasks. She stops by a café and thinks she could really enjoy a treat and a coffee. She goes in, grabs the guest magazine lying about, orders a soft and flakey croissant, with jam and sips her coffee. She feels relaxed, warmed and comforted by the purchases and idly reads the magazine whilst mentally preparing for the rest of the day. She drains her coffee, takes a deep breath and goes back to her day, recovered and ready. She thinks no more about her croissant and will resume her usual "good eating habits" that she sticks to on the average day and week. She's quite mindful of how she ended up in the café but is much more focused on the good meals and snacks she has eaten all week and that she will continue with.
Mrs B also has a stressful morning; she rushed about, rushed her breakfast and also felt thoroughly battered by the time she started her daily tasks. She stops by a café and thinks she desperately needs to have something to calm her down or make her feel better. She chooses a coffee and agonises over the choice of sugary treats, displayed in front of her. She thinks she shouldn't buy anything deemed unhealthy (especially after standing on the scales earlier) but she has lost all power of positive thinking and opts for the croissant. As she eats it, she enjoys it, but doesn't really relax with those satisfying mouthfuls. She feels naughty and guilty about the choice that she made. She finishes the croissant and then leaves the café feeling disappointed in herself, upset, feeling fat and out of control, knowing that the rest of the day is "ruined" now and she will just have to keep feeding her stress in a similar way. She gives the reasons behind her cafe stop, no thought at all, does not try to focus on anything else, other than what a failure she had been.
There are two types of behaviour here, one that is saturated with bad feeling and angst: the other that's more relaxed and "mindful" of good habits on the whole. Both Mrs A and Mrs B have indulged in that treat, but only one of them will continue with bad choices for the rest of the day and probably the rest of the week.
Do you think Mrs A sounds pretty sensible? She still allows herself little indulgences (it would be a shame not to!) but doesn't allow herself to dwell on the negative. How does she do it? Here are some tips to get you started -
1) Aim to eat "well" MOST of the time.
2) Concentrate on the good things you have done for your body and mind and congratulate yourself.
3) Believe the fact that the odd slip will not have a detrimental effect on your eating objective.
4) Feel in tune with yourself (like I did with my croissant, where I ran through the events that I felt led to my consumption of it) to really understand your behaviour.
5) Do NOT feel guilty or bad! This is negative self talk that actually does more harm than the croissant does in the long run.
6) STOP standing on the scales and cursing the bad stuff you ate! Get RID of the scales for good, they will never give you a consistent "feel good" and will only push you towards becoming Mrs B!
7) If you are feeling your slips are becoming too often, find an alternative to your "stress hunger". Grab a book, a herbal tea (call it your "hunger tea", the flavor you really like and the one you save only for times you nearly go to the biscuit tin), go for a walk, take a bath, meditate, phone a friend or write an email. This will help break down the association with only putting something in your mouth when you are feeling stressed or anxious.
8) Get yourself a treat jar - everytime you want to eat something when you AREN'T hungry, put a £1 in (or anything!). Feel yourself look forward to spending what ever builds up in there on YOU! You may get enough for a massage quite quickly if your comfort eating is already quite established!
Mrs A also works towards reducing her stress in the first place - follow these tips as it will also equip you with the same momentum to get back on the healthy eating habits after a slip.
1) Eat a good breakfast, high in protein.
2) Find an exercise you enjoy and take it up regularly. The feel good endorphins that are released will help keep stress under control
3) Walk a dog daily if you have one!
4) Fill your life with things you enjoy. They may be small and insignificant but lots of these little things can still make a BIG difference.
5) Get yourself a good eating plan and aim to stick to it, most of time.
6) Try to work towards finding alternative ways to deal with the issues that are causing the stress. Ask for help if you need to!
7) Love yourself a little more and limit the self-scolding.
The conclusion here? Well, I am a firm believer that if we are "feeling good" we tend to make better food choices, we feel healthier, leaner and fitter and this just keeps providing the fuel and momentum to carry on in the same way. Once we start in the cycle of poor food choices, sugar highs, sugar crashes and tiredness, it can be hard to break. Keep finding the "feel good" in your life and you'll find the comfort eating will occur less and you'll find other ways to deal with stress.
The important bit - KEEP YOUR THOUGHTS FOCUSED ON THE GOOD THINGS - that's the secret of Mrs A's willpower.