During the current global crisis most of us have significant levels of stress in our lives. We’re worried about catching the disease, our loved ones who may be vulnerable and our financial security. In times of extreme pressure and stress, people react in many different ways. Some reactions can be helpful while others can be detrimental to our families, communities and also ourselves.
The lack of human contact, as we move to digital communication only can also make us feel less than human. It’s okay not to be okay. Stay as positive as possible and be encouraging to others where you can. It’s also important to look after your own mental and physical health in these times of extreme stress. You may begin to feel run-down and become more susceptible to illness of many kinds without adequate self-care. Without a strong immune system, COVID-19 has the potential to cause you more harm than it would if you were able to take care of your health at this time.
One of the common reactions many of us experience in stressful times is emotional eating. Even those that generally maintain a healthy diet binge eat when experiencing strong negative emotions. It can create an unhealthy cycle that’s hard to break. You binge eat in an attempt to escape the negative emotions, then you feel guilty for what you’ve consumed becoming depressed and due to the spike in insulin come to a time where you feel hungry again and are tempted to binge again. It can be a challenging cycle to break.
To help break the harmful cycle, it’s important to identify it and understand the cause. By doing so you can make conscious choices about your personal diet and help inspire those around you in your household who may also be experiencing the same challenges. If you understand your eating triggers and put in safeguards to reduce the risks you’ll be on your journey to success and begin to develop a positive outlook even during these challenging times.
While social distancing and staying at home, why not take this as an opportunity to enjoy your time in the kitchen and preparing healthy meals. Most of us have become so busy in our daily lives that taking time to enjoy the simple things in life, like cooking a delicious home meal, has been neglected.
Some emotional eating will be in the form of binge eating where large amounts of food are consumed in a short space of time with the feeling that you can’t stop. Other emotional eaters will be constantly grazing and therefore consuming much more than is healthy over the course of the day and into the night. There are also those that take the opposite extreme and starve themselves in an attempt to feel a sense of control in uncertain times. At this current time, we’re also seeing people fear, the availability and accessibility of food, which disrupts people’s normal decision-making processes. People are stockpiling food they wouldn’t usually purchase and if it’s in your pantry you’re likely to eat it when stressed.
Emotional eating isn’t just psychological either; there are biological factors at play too. Eating changes your physical state and therefore it can help break a negative thought pattern giving the emotional eater a sense of relief for the short-term. Of course, there are far more healthy strategies that can help bring sustained emotional relief. Stress also creates a change in your cortisol levels, which help regulate your energy. Under stress, your biology requires more energy and therefore you are likely to crave energy-dense foods such as highly processed, sugar-filled food that your body can convert into energy fast.
Emotional eating may fulfill your biological drive to consume unhealthy food however it doesn’t deal with the root cause of the issue, the stressors in your life that caused the problem. This is why it’s so important to identify the cause of the issue so you can break the cycle.
Below are five keys to avoiding emotional eating in this time of crisis.
Keep a Journal
By writing a journal you give yourself space to observe your feelings and reflect on what’s causing them. You’ll take the time away from the temptation of food and are able to track your progress. Hopefully, you’ll begin to identify patterns in your stress levels and prepare a plan to overcome them.
Watch for Triggers
Emotional eating is usually set in motion by triggers. Once you know what they are you may be able to put in place strategies to avoid them. For example, you might be finding homeschooling challenging and get to the end of a learning session depleted and wanting to binge eat. Maybe you could pre-schedule a phone call with loved ones or friends at that time to avoid going straight to the pantry. Maybe the news is causing too much stress and a light-hearted movie on Netflix could help put you in a more positive frame of mind.
Plan Your Meals
Plan ahead of time all your meals and snacks for the week so you are making conscious choices. Be realistic in your planning and include some little treats along the way. It’s good to have little treats to look forward too and it’s also good to set for yourself a plan that you can achieve and feel a sense of satisfaction when you are successful and meet your goals.
Do it as a Team
Include your household in your plans if they are willing to be involved. Your partner or your children can be an encouragement to each other and so can your network of friends through social media and phone calls. If you tell your friends and family your goals you’re far more likely to achieve them. You’ll keep yourself accountable to your goals when you know others are watching your progress. We are social beings and that aspect of our lives is compromised due to COVID-19. By staying connected in whatever way you can, may help to reduce stress too.
Be Kind to Yourself
Start every day fresh and find time for yourself so you can truly stress-bust. You’ve got to take relaxing seriously. Beating yourself up about past mistakes isn’t going to help anyone. If you had a bad day yesterday and got involved in emotional eating, today can be different. Today’s a brand new day and you can succeed. Don’t be too critical of yourself. It is a challenging time that we are all facing and we’re all coping in the best ways that we know-how. Encourage yourself and celebrate any little successes in your journey.
Take-away?
The World Health Organization (WHO) is fully aware of the risks we face globally right now and have identify the issues that fear, anxiety, and uncertainty can create in peoples lives. During this pandemic, it’s important for us all to stay safe and healthy physically but also mentally and emotionally. If you’re feeling depleted emotionally and mentally, please reach out to those that can support you in your journey. Don’t walk this path alone. We’re in it together so please be kind to yourself and stay connected with the people who love you and the professional services that can support you in this crisis.
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