Stress Eating: Practical Tips to Curb Cravings
Managing Anxiety and Food Cravings
Here are some practical tips to help you manage stress-related food cravings:
- Practice Waiting: When you feel a sense of anxiety, postpone instant gratification. Tell yourself to wait 15 to 30 minutes before eating. If your cravings are stress-related, they may disappear if you stay distracted or busy.
- Carry Healthy Snacks: Keep calorie-free or low-calorie snacks or drinks handy for moments of anxiety. This can help prevent weight gain.
- Choose Healthy Options: Reach for calorie-free or low-sugar drinks, diet gelatin, or vegetables like carrot sticks, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, or lemon.
- Keep a Food Journal: Record everything you eat daily. Knowing you have to list all consumed food or snacks can make you think twice before eating.
- Evening Anxiety: If anxiety peaks at the end of the day, read a book, magazine, or watch a video to distract yourself from cravings.
- Eat Mindfully: Eat only when seated at a designated place, not when busy or distracted. This helps you focus on how much and how quickly you eat.
- Support System: Make a list of friends to call for support during temptation. They might be going through the same thing. Call someone and talk for a while when you feel anxious.
- Don’t Skip Meals: Eat at least three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Distribute your calories to avoid overeating. Skipping meals can lead to overeating later and increase the risk of unhealthy food choices.
- Use Reminders: Place text messages in strategic locations to remind you of your goals.
- Helpful Phrases: Use phrases like “Am I really hungry?” or “Why am I eating?” to understand your moments of weakness.
- Avoid Triggers: Stay away from the coffee break group, take a different route to avoid the bakery, or plan activities to distract you during anxious moments.
- Stay Strong: Refuse to let others break your effort and personal rules.
- Avoid Unhealthy Influences: Avoid coworkers who always have junk food during breaks.
- Vending Machine Experiment: If you use vending machines, save the money you would have spent in a piggy bank. When you’ve saved enough, treat yourself to a non-food reward.
- Remove Temptations: Get rid of tempting foods in your home or office.
- Grocery Shopping: Never go grocery shopping hungry. Only bring home foods you feel good about eating.
- Planned Indulgence: If you can’t stop obsessing about food, plan a meal or snack you enjoy for the near future. When you feel anxious, remember that you’ll soon enjoy that treat.