Stress Eating - Are You A Member Of The Club? by Christine Steendahl

When you get stressed out, do you eat?  Some of us do.... others of us don't.  I happen to fall into the category of those of us who do.  There have been times when after 5 bites I all of the sudden realize I am munching on something, and I think - why am I eating this?  I'm not even hungry!  And of course when I eat due to stress it is generally unhealthy food.

This week I had a fairly stressful week.  However, I made a conscious effort to not "stress eat".  I take that back.. I did munch periodically, but on much healthier choices!  I am in the process of trying to cut out most processed foods from my diet, (which is a whole other topic in itself) but making this conscious effort has been a big plus!  Here are a few items I grabbed to munch on during the week:
Raw Almonds (the crunch satisfies)
Brown Rice Crackers (again, crunch and a bit of salt)
String Cheese
Apples (sweet & crunchy)
Mini Carrots (sweet & crunchy as well)
And because I tend to lean towards ice-cream.... Rice Dream (an all natural frozen treat with no refined sugars or dairy.  YUMMY!)

So much better choices than chips, candy & ice-cream!  So how about you?  Are you a stress eater?  What types of foods do you lean towards, and/or what are your favorite healthy munchies?

Comments

[Tara]

oh I am definitely a stress eater!

[9milemom]

yup! count me in to this club. The more stressed I am, the more baking I do! I love cookies, but even more so is bread!!

[Sarah Alton]

I also like to eat when I am borred - bad habit! When I found out I was having a baby I decided to change my "eatting ways". I cut out / cut down on processed foods... and to tell you the truth, I never really missed them. It is always easier to do something for someone else than for yourself and I felt I was "feeding" my baby better.

But I still needed to eat/snack (habit) I started to carry around a little bag of dried apricots. To me they are like candy, always ready to go, chewy, lots of fiber and iron.

For a crunch I also enjoy apples.

Cold treats. Frozen individual washed grapes - yum. Yogurt with frozen blueberries, it freezes the yogurt a bit and it is kind of like icecream.

I am also nursing my baby so after the birth I continued to eat healthy and drink plenty of water.

The outcome??? I was a size 16 before I found out I was having a baby, and I am a size 7-9 now. I DID NOT DIET. I eat as soon as I wake up, I graze throught the day. I eat all the time, just I eat better foods.

I have never felt better. I never realized that I wasn't feeling as great as I could be.

I go for walks with my baby, we dance together in the living room daily. Some ppl think that not eatting chips and stuff is depriving yourself of something... no... not feeling 100% is.

Just my two cents - ;)
Sarah

[Heather from Mom 4 Life]

Sarah, good for you girl! Wow, that is wonderful, I am so happy for you!