How To Stop Overeating Due To Semester Stress [Tips To Unwind Without Giving In]
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Stress eating or rather emotional eating can alter your weight goals – the secret is to search for new ways to relieve semester stress without overeating.
So much truth lies behind the common phrase "stress eating." Daily or occasional stress, the unwanted hormones it releases, and the harmful effects of high-fat, sugary "comfort foods" drive people toward overeating.
Why do academics stress eat during the semester?
Women in academia make no exception from stress-coping actions. Stress during the semester also seems to affect food preferences. While during summer, the usual diet consists of fruits and vegetables, from September until the spring, the preference is towards carbohydrates. Also, according to studies, physical or emotional distress (something academics generally need to deal with at a high level), increases the intake of high-fat foods as well as foods high in sugar, and sometimes both.
However, we are aware that overeating at the office isn't the only stress-related action that can add unwanted pounds. Stress causes academics to lose sleep, exercise less, and over drink, all of which can lead to excess weight.
Why Is It So Important To Understand Emotional Eating?
Before starting to fight against your overeating habits and learning how to unwind without giving in, you need to comprehend what lies behind your comfort food coping mechanisms.
Many women experience emotional eating at one time or another during a stressful week. It could appear as eating a harmless bag of chips when bored or indulging in a chocolate bar after a difficult day at work.
Be aware of the stress eating factors
Some of the stress eating factors are intricate and can involve some of the following situations:👇
Childhood development
In some cases, emotional eating is a learned behavior from the early years of life. What happens is that in many cases during childhood, parents provide their children with sweet treats to help them cope with a difficult day or situation, or as a reward for something they did well.
And then, as this type of behavior turns into a habit, it is no wonder that a child who gets a cookie (to help them better cope with the difficult situation) after getting a bad grade on a test, for instance, can turn into an adult who reaches for a whole box of cookies after a rough day at work.
What this example shows is that the origin of emotional eating goes way back sometimes, in which case breaking the habit can feel extremely challenging.
The struggle of coping with emotions
It is pretty common for women to struggle with uncomfortable feelings and emotions. This triggers an instinctual behavior or a need to fix or even annihilate these negative feelings as fast as possible - which can, in turn, contribute to unhealthy attitudes.
And keep in mind that emotional eating is not only connected to negative feelings. One can eat a handful of candy at a fun Christmas party, or eat excessively at a fancy New Year’s Eve dinner. So, it's important to be aware of overeating due to thoughts about the location of the food - such as dinner parties, the holiday season, etc.
The physical effect of stress
According to studies there are also physical reasons why stress and powerful emotions can influence a person to overeat. Here are some of the most important ones you need to pay close attention to:
High cortisol levels: In the initial phase, stress causes the appetite to decrease in order for your body to deal with the difficult situation. If the stress level does not decrease, another hormone, cortisol, is released. Cortisol is also responsible for increased appetite and can lead you to overeat.
Cravings: A second phase is initiated as high cortisol levels from stress that can increase specific cravings for foods rich in sugar or fat. Stress is linked with high levels of hunger hormones as well, which may also add up to cravings for unhealthy foods.
Photo by Fabian Møller on Unsplash
How to relieve stress without overeating
The first action you need to take to free yourself from emotional eating is to know first hand the triggers and circumstances that apply in your life.
Try keeping a food diary or weekly journal to help to identify situations when you are more inclined to eat because of emotional instead of physical hunger.
Tracking your behavior is another way you can catch some insight into your eating habits.
The behavior you could keep track of may include the following: 👇
Patterns of hunger levels, measuring them on a 1–10 scale
What you are going through and if it is something difficult and unpleasant
What you are feeling, whether bored, angry or happy
Another option could be to choose professional help in order to get the guidance you need in your journey. It can also be helpful to talk to a life coach to discuss other ways to break the cycle of emotional eating and improve your way of living your life.
A weight coach may also be able to help you with discovering additional information on creating positive eating habits and a better relationship with food.
Next, you may want to consider brainstorming ideas for means to counterbalance the triggers you will identify during your self-inquiry.
Other suggestions that can help counter stress 👇
Meditation
Many studies demonstrate that meditation diminishes stress, even though a big part of the research was focused on high blood pressure and heart disease related to stress. Meditation can influence you to become more aware of you food choices. With constant practice, you will be able to hold back the impulse to instantly grab comfort food and start to inhibit this impulse.
If you are overeating because of your daily stress, you could try mindful yoga at home, meditating in your office, or taking a walk along campus to help yourself deal with your emotions.
Exercise
While your cortisol levels may change depending on the intensity and length of your exercise, in general, physical exercise can counteract some of the adverse effects of stress. Some activities, like yoga and tai chi, blend components of both exercise and meditation.
If you tend to eat when bored, you may want to choose a new book that seems stimulating to start reading, or pick a new hobby, maybe one that includes the outdoors, that could provide a challenge.
Social support
Surrounding yourself with friends, family, and other sources of social support may have a buffering effect on the levels of stress that you experience on a daily basis.
Studies suggest that people working in a stressful environment, like hospital emergency departments, seem to have better mental health if they are provided with adequate social support. But even if you do not live or work in circumstances where the stakes are as high you still need support from time to time from your friends, close family, and/or professionals.
If you start to eat excessively when you are sad, you may want to call a good friend, take your dog for a run, or plan a quick getaway to cope with your negative feelings.
However, when stress eating occurs on a daily basis at your job or it becomes the predominant course of action to handle your emotions when you face a stressful situation, then your life, physical health, overall happiness, and weight can be negatively influenced.
Let me help you work through stress with the right approach in order for you to feel great today and every day.
