How to Prevent Emotional Eating

Do you find that you tend to eat more when you’re stressed? People who do are classified as an emotional eaters – that is, you eat in order to satisfy your mood, and not your hunger. Why is this so? Well, when you are stressed out, the hormone Cortisol is released, which is associated which our sympathetic system’s “Fight-or-Flight response.” This response is activated when we are faced with a stressor, such as that exam you have tomorrow that you feel nowhere near ready for; this activation is quite energy-depleting, which is why we feel much more hungry when we are under stress.

But there are ways to overcome our tendency for emotional or stress eating. Engaging in healthier activities that you enjoy – going for a walk, having a nice long bath, drinking a soothing cup of tea, watching an episode of your favourite TV show (the list goes on and on) – have shown to give you the same satisfaction that eating more food would. In other words, if you feel like you are beginning to crack while under a ton of pressure, do something that you usually love to do in your spare time. It is a much healthier alternative than scarfing down a whole bag of chips (or Krabby Patties!) for a quick-fix to an important problem that all university students face. Perhaps if we all followed this, the Freshman 15 wouldn’t be such a threat.

Sources:

http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newarchives/111609p38.shtml

http://www.helpguide.org/life/emotional_eating_stress_cravings.htm