Stressed about stress eating?

For most of us, stress and food go hand in hand. It's been a crazy day. On impulse, you grab a chocolate bar, a box of cookies or a bag of chips. You only plan to take just a few bites. And before you know it, well.....you know what happens next. We have all been there.

Stress and food cravings
In the short term, stress can shut down appetite. For a lot of people, there’s a lack of appetite during stressful situations. Within the brain, the hypothalamus releases a hormone, which suppresses appetite. The brain also sends messages to the adrenal glands (sitting on top of the kidneys) to pump out the hormone epinephrine (you may know it as adrenaline). Epinephrine helps trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, a hyped-up physiological state that temporarily puts your appetite on do-not-disturb.

All of this is very normal. An example that comes to mind is race day morning. I’ve worked with many athletes who struggle to take even a small bite of a piece of toast in the hours before a race because of stress, nerves and anxiety. Can you relate? This is why mental skills are really important before a race to help calm the body and mind.

But if stress continues — this is where appetite changes. The adrenal glands release another hormone called cortisol (the "stress" hormone), and cortisol increases appetite. Cortisol also increases the drive to eat. Once a stressful episode is over, cortisol levels should fall. But if the stress doesn't go away, cortisol may stay elevated for a period of time.

Of course, overeating on comfort foods isn't our only stress-related behavior. When you are stressed, it’s harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. It can be hard to gather the motivation to exercise and alcohol is more likely to be used as a coping mechanism. Your mind may also race with thoughts, which makes it hard to think logically. Some research suggests a gender difference in stress-coping behavior, with women being more likely to turn to food and men to alcohol or smoking.

Food gives us feelings of power, control and pleasure – all things we crave in stressful situations. It’s no surprise that when our stress levels increase, so do our cravings for “comforting” foods. Numerous studies have shown that physical or emotional stress increases cravings for food high in fat, sugar, or both. This is why we  don’t crave nutritious foods like kale and broccoli when we are stressed. It has nothing to do with willpower. Once you ingest high fat- and sugar-filled foods, the brain receives messages to inhibit stress-related emotions. Our brain is smart – it knows that if it receives certain foods, it can temporarily counteract stress. It’s like “hey, eat that cookie and you’ll feel better.” But of course, this approach doesn’t last for long.

Don't stress about stress eating
If you’ve ever overindulged, binged or overate due to stress,  you are not alone. You are not a bad person if you have struggled with emotional eating. You have feelings. You are normal. I want to stress (literally) that stress eating has nothing to do with lack of willpower. It does not mean that you are weak or lazy. We have all been experiencing very unpredictable and unknown scenarios that none of us were prepared for. If you’ve gained a few pounds over the past few months or found yourself emotionally eating, beating up on yourself is not the answer. Nothing good ever comes out of the self-torture that is negative self-talk and shame.

Shame is perhaps one of the most painful and uncomfortable feelings to tolerate as it relates to food. When you feel shame, you don’t just think, “oops I ate a cookie when I should have had an apple. It’s more than “I have done something wrong;” Shame feels like “I am wrong” “I am a horrible person.” “I am not worthy.” or “I am unlovable” or even “I am broken.” To help combat these feelings and to reduce the chance of stress eating, here are a few tips:

STRESS EATING TIPS

• 1...2...Pause - Before you emotionally eat, pay special attention to how you’re feeling; are you stressed, bored, lonely, or anxious? Simply pausing and evaluating the situation can help you understand what compels you to indulge and can help with your food related decisions.
• Out of sight, out of mind - Having tempting foods within eyesight can lead to frequent snacking and overeating, even when you aren’t hungry. Visual exposure to high calorie foods stimulates a part of your brain which may lead to increased cravings and overeating. This can turn into a habit - every time you are stressed, you crave a specific food or drink. It’s best to keep particularly tempting foods, like sugary baked goods, candy, chips, dips and cookies, out of sight, and if they are too tempting, out of the house. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a tasty indulgence when you’re not necessarily hungry or when you are stressed. Sometimes chocolate does solve problems. However, overindulging too often and skimping on nutritious foods in order to indulge can harm both your physical and mental health.
• Check your self before you wreck yourself - One of the most helpful ways to prevent overeating is to take a minute and check in with yourself. Determine whether you’re eating because you’re hungry and need nourishment or fuel, or whether it’s because you are stressed or anxious. In general, you should be eating every 2-3 hours. This is normal appetite fluctuations. Though it’s easy to stray from your normal dietary pattern when your schedule gets disrupted, it’s important to maintain some semblance of "normal eating." Give yourself time to eat slowly and mindfully.

Stress and disordered eating

We are all experiencing challenges during which words just can't describe what we are feeling.

Politics, police brutality, a pandemic and an international human rights movement - alongside other ongoing issues like global warming, animal rights, LGBTQ discrimination, wage inequality, homelessness, human trafficking, disability discrimination, deforestation, weight bias, air pollution - may make it impossible to make sense of our emotions.

No matter how hard you try, you can't avoid stress. And sometimes it gets the best of us. Stress can become a problem when you are unable to cope. Without a productive and healthy outlet, stress levels can escalate.

Poor body image and an unhealthy relationship with food can cause stress but it also works the other way around. The relationship between stress and disordered eating is a vicious cycle.

When you feel overwhelmed or out of control, it's natural to find ways to cope with those unpleasant and uncomfortable feelings. Feeling stressed and overwhelmed can trigger disordered eating behaviors, which are used as a coping mechanism. In turn, compulsion, obsession, fear, stress and negative thinking raise stress levels. You can trick yourself into thinking you are alleviating stressful emotions, feelings and thoughts but in reality, those issues are exacerbated. Disordered eating can cause stress levels to spike. When you are so fixated on food, weight and your body, it can overtake everything in your life.

Because people who struggle with disordered eating habits are highly susceptible to stress (and the other way around), stress can contribute to the development of an eating disorder.

In case you missed it, I recently had the opportunity to have a healthy conversation with Registered Dietitian and elite runner Kelsey Beckman on body image, dieting and disordered eating. I hope you find it helpful. I provided a few options for your listening/viewing pleasure.

If you are struggling, please reach out for help. You don't have to suffer alone.

Facebook discussion 
YouTube discussion 
Audio only 

Healthy coping during stressful times

In today’s fast-paced, stressful and unpredictable world, it’s important to have a toolbox of healthy coping mechanisms. A coping mechanism is something that helps you deal with something that is difficult or uncomfortable. Truth be told, nearly every coping mechanism can provide a benefit. However, some coping mechanisms have negative consequences associated with them.

For example, do you often reach for a beer, glass of wine or hard liquor to help unwind after a long or stressful day of work? What does your alcohol consumption look like in social situations or during difficult times? Alcohol functions to slow down the central nervous system, helping you feel more relaxed. It also reduces inhibition, memory and judgement. For many people, having a drink is the easiest way to deal with something that is uncomfortable or to distance from a stressor or challenge. As a result, alcohol becomes a crutch and barrier to developing more effective and healthy coping strategies.

Another example is using food as a coping mechanism. Individuals vulnerable to an eating disorder often experience circumstances in life where they feel trapped, a loss of control or pressure to succeed. Food is used as a coping mechanism to help gain control and as a way to relieve stress. Whether it's overeating (ex. binging) or restricting (anorexia), controlling food and the body provides a false sense of safety. Sadly, once trapped within the eating disorder, people struggle with how to live without it. They don't know who they are without it or how to cope without it. There's often a "voice" that is problematic and disruptive, causing a great feeling of helplesness. This negative and controlling voice can distort logic, make threats, be overly critical and demanding and can make it incredibly difficult to trust your own decisions and abilities. 

With the unpredictability, stress and external pressures of life, you may be experiencing a wide range of difficult emotions. Some of which are familiar but others may be new to you and thus, extremely uncomfortable. If you've lived a life of pushing away uncomfortable feelings, it may be incredibly unnatural to come face to face with your emotions. Learning how to embrace these inner demons or dark emotions is the first step to coping with stress, anxiety, worry and fear more successfully.

Currently we are all experiencing great stress. Even though we've been given a temporary reset and an opportunity to be creative and to slow-down, nothing is easy about our new normal. If you have recently found yourself overwhelmed with life's stressors, it's time to do some soul-searching to determine if you have been self-medicating with drugs, alcohol, excessive exercise, overspending, avoidance, overeating or some other type of instant gratification or temporary emotional relief. Just because a strategy helps you endure emotional pain, it doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

Whether it's food, spending, exercise, drugs or alcohol, it's very easy to become addicted to something, especially when it's used as a means to cope or to escape complex emotions. To cope in a productive way, it's important to first understand the root of the problem - which situations, traumas or emotions are driving you toward your unhealthy coping mechanism. Learning how to handle stress, anxiety or any other uncomfortable emotion - without the use of drugs, alcohol, food, exercise or spending - is healthy and positive for the mind, body and soul.

I’m incredible grateful to my best friend and amazing Licensed Clinical & Sport Psychologist Dr. Gloria Petruzzelli for sharing her knowledge on this topic and why we need to face our emotions head-on while developing healthy coping skills.

Dealing with uncertain times

When faced with uncertainty, our minds have the tendency to trick us into thinking the worst of situations. When things feel out of your control, the best place to direct your energy is on YOU. The better you are with your mental, emotional and physical health, the healthier you will stay. And when you are in good health, you are able to show up to life - being there for your family, friends, coworkers, employees and community. 

Here are a few strategies to help you stay well during uncertain times:

• Take care of your body. Focus on nutritious meals and snacks, eat every 2-3 hours, schedule your workouts into your daily to-do list, get restful sleep and choose healthy coping mechanisms (not alcohol, drugs, pain killers, etc.)
• Breathe. If you find yourself stressed and overwhelmed, stop what you are doing and take deep breaths for a few minutes. When you breathe deeply, it sends a message to your brain to calm down ad relax, which then sends the same message to the rest of your body. 
• Manage your expectations. You don't have to be perfect, you don't have to do it all and you don't have to be more (or just as) productive than your old (normal) routine. Be kind to yourself and set realistic standards for yourself during this temporary time in your life. 
• Manage your thoughts. If your mind is running a mile a minute with thoughts, put those thoughts on paper. Distinguish between unproductive worry, things within your control and problem-solving.
• Take breaks. With more time at home or more stress at the office/work, give yourself breaks. Every hour or two, stop what you are doing and move, rest, breathe or do something different. Use this time to clear your mind, laugh, refocus or find gratitude in your current situation.
• Media/Social media distancing. Be mindful of how much time/energy you are spending on your phone, watching TV or reading articles. Limit yourself to only a few minutes a day to read the "news" and use reputable sources. 
• Connect, have fun and unwind. You are allowed to laugh. You can makes jokes. Smile. It's ok to enjoy yourself during this time. Life is still going on and we want you to continue to live it. Make time to unwind and do activities that you enjoy. Connect with people on the phone, Skype, Facetime or chat groups. 
• Keep a routine. Although some things may have changed, having a routine is important for your physical and mental health. Try to preserve some normalicy in your day as this will help your overall mood and well-being.

To offer some help during this time, my amazing friend Dr. Gloria Petruzzelli, Licensed Clinical & Sport Psychologist will be joining me LIVE on Facebook (at Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition) at 2:30pm EST/11:30am PST today, Wednesday 3/25 to discuss the following:

-Reducing the stigma towards mental illnesses.
-How to work through uncomfortable feelings and emotions (depression, anxiety, fear, worry, loss) without judgement.
-How to live/function in a time of uncertainty.
-Recognizing that "athlete self-identity" is separate from who you are as a human being.
-Identifying your unique qualities, strengths and traits to help you thrive.
-Redefining your purpose of life.
-Limiting social media but recognizing the need to keep authentic connections.
-Healthy coping mechanisms during stressful times.