stress + eating = temporary relief

Pizza. Pop. Chocolate. Those are the three things I absolutely crave when I'm stressed out or under a lot of pressure. With mid-terms passed and finals fast approaching, I thought I would investigate what causes me to order that pizza with the pop on the side, while frantically shoving any spare change into the vending machine to give me a few moments of relief. There has to be better stress management than reaching for food.

What is stress?

Stress can be defined as anything that poses a threat to your well-being. Although a little bit of stress or pressure can be a good thing, an overwhelming level of it begins to undermine our mental and physical health, leading to complications on multiple levels. Different situations may cause one person to become stressed over the other, but for the most part, there are several common situations that stress people out:

• family problems
• relationships
• financial issues
• illness
• job situation
• lack of time
• grief

Stress can have physical effects on your body as well. I tend to suffer from chest pain, cramps, headache, muscular aches, sleeping difficulties, nervous twitches, and the "pins and needles" feeling in my hands. Other common effects include a tendency to sweat, back pain, a slow in your sex drive, fainting spells, hypertension, lower immunity towards sickness, nail biting, and heart disease (for chronic stress). It can also make you feel angry, anxious, burnt out, depressed, insecurity, forgetfulness, irritability, sadness, problems concentrating, and restlessness.

Yikes!

So why/how does stress result in cravings?

When you're stressed, your body attempts to overcompensate and tries to "put the brake" on the stress. Experiencing stressful situations causes your body to make more of a hormone called cortisol. Usually, in a fight or flight situation, your body has an automatic shut-off. With chronic stress however, the body continues to put out cortisol. In an attempt to stop the cortisol, your body craves anything extremely pleasurable to get itself out of high-stress mode.

Enter stress eating. According to an article in Psychology Today, The escalating levels of cortisol released in chronic stress usher the excess calories straight to your abdomen, where they get deposited as fat. (ew). By reaching for high-energy foods like sugar, the body seems to be telling the brain 'It's OK, you can relax, you're refueled with high-energy food." However, constantly reaching for food can end up in significant weight gain since we experience some form of stress every day.

Other ways to fight stress (read: NO food)

There are several other ways to relieve stress that don't involve shoving your chubby little face with the whole pizza you just ordered for yourself, or the bucket of fried chicken or the carton full of chinese food. They include

1. exercising (probably one of the best ways!)
2. cut down on caffeine and alcohol consumption (they actually don't help)
3. focus on having a balanced diet
4. be assertive enough to say 'no' if your plate is full
5. delegate responsibilities if possible
6. set aside time for yourself each day (so important! i struggle with this one SO.much)
7. meditate/practice breathing techniques
8. talk it out with family and friends
9. get a massage
10. seek professional help if it starts effecting the way you function

Be sure to check out 2009: Living My Best Life's facebook fan page for pictures and recipes of healthy versions of some of our favorite comfort foods.

For more info, check out the following links:

Medical New Today--What is Stress?

Stress Management Tips from WebMD

Recipe on Oprah.com for 100-calorie EggNogg