How to Identify and Eliminate Stress Eating

If you’re feeling stressed, you might find yourself reaching into the snack cupboard to find some comfort food. Stress eating, or emotional eating, can lead to unwanted weight gain, especially if you’re consuming higher calorie snacks.

Here is how you can identify and eliminate your stress eating.

Identify and Remove Your Triggers

Firstly, you need to identify your triggers to understand why it is happening. What aspects of your life are causing you to feel overwhelmed to the point where you want to eat more?

Before you reach for the snacks, pay attention to how you’re feeling and figure out why you are feeling this way. From here, you can work out how to avoid or remove these triggers.

Buy Fewer Snacks

When you’re struggling with stress eating, it can be helpful to buy fewer pre-packaged, highly processed items or choose healthier options to stock up your cupboards. This way, you are less likely to over-consume when you’re feeling anxious.

Exercise

Movement is a great way to get rid of stress. Staying active can help to eliminate your urge to stress eat as well as improving your physical fitness.

Practice Mindfulness

Having a meditative routine can help to lower your cortisol levels and may improve the way you react to stressful situations in your life.

Get Support

Reach out to those around you and ask for their support during stressful times.

By using the steps above, you can start to reduce your stress levels, which in turn, will help to eliminate emotional eating.