What’s your downside of losing weight?
Hmmm . . . it could be any number of things . . . most commonly the fear of having to maintain it . . . or having to give up the foods you love . . . or the fear of unwanted attention from others.
It can certainly go deeper than that as well. Once you start digging in this area, you are likely to find something.
Having a downside isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you want to be successful, you’d better figure out what it is and deal with it.
Because if you don’t, you won’t lose weight. [Read the full stress eating article…]
Is Stress Eating An Addiction?
All addictive processes represent an effort to control feelings.
Even more than that, they represent an effort to keep life itself under control.
Addicts are hooked on things being one certain way (the way they “should” be), and are unable to just let things “be” to take their natural course.
Addiction is a response to resisting life’s natural course, and consistently wanting things to be better, or at least different than they are now. In that way, addiction represents a spiritual and emotional hunger, cutting us off from others who might be able to help. [Read the full stress eating article…]
One night many years ago, my boyfriend called and wanted me to meet him at a bar down the street from where I lived.
It was around 10 p.m., 20 degrees outside, and I was in my pajamas and curlers (yes, curlers!)
The last thing I wanted to do was go out to a bar, so of course, I said “sure.”
Heaven forbid, I didn’t want to make him mad or hurt his feelings. I was too invested in being “nice” and agreeable in avoiding conflict. After all, I wanted him to propose to me, and so half my life was spent saying “yes” to things I didn’t want.
Thank God I got over that!
And double thanks that he never proposed to me. I might have thought that my warped strategy worked. [Read the full stress eating article…]
Most people who engage in stress eating are highly concerned about their appearance and weight. For some people, their world is dominated by thoughts of food and weight issues. Most stress eaters want to lose weight and are anxious about gaining weight.
Obsessive concerns about food and weight are not uncommon. One client that I worked with weighed herself at least 10 times per day. Others don’t weigh themselves at all, always fearing the worst.
Shame about your appearance can interfere with day-to-day life. Some people will avoid social situations, and many avoid letting others (or even themselves) see what they look like. Avoiding others tends to increase the stress and consequently, the stress eating even more. [Read the full stress eating article…]
I’m quite sure that there are carbohydrates in heaven!
But then, there won’t be any stress, so there won’t be any need for stress eating!
I once read a book by Suzanne Somers, and was quite shocked to see the line-up of supplements that she takes to control cravings for carbohydrates.
While it can seem like trying to stop a moving train, there are quite a few strategies to control cravings and stop stress eating during the holidays. [Read the full stress eating article…]
Someone asked for the transcript of the video on stress eating, money and weight. Here you go -
Stress eating, money and weight issues have a lot in common – 1st – they run on scarcity – the stress, fear and anxiety of not having enough.
Many people are walking around with this sort of poverty mentality, even if they DO have “enough” – it never feels like enough, so you keep striving for more and it keeps you in anxiety stress mode most of the time. [Read the full stress eating article…]
We all know intuitively that chocolate can uplift mood and help you feel good temporarily.
A new study at Nestlé Research Center (where else?) Lausanne, Switzerland, found that eating just over an ounce of dark chocolate daily for two weeks lowered stress hormone levels in highly stressed people (that would be us) and also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances.
These are the same folks that published a photo of a Hersheys bar with the word “happiness” on it. [Read the full stress eating article…]
It’s that time of year where stress baking (stress eating’s evil cousin) can rear it’s ugly head.
Stress baking may be even more insidious than stress eating itself, in that you tend to eat even more sweets and generously “share” (read “push”) them on others.
The sharing part can be (of course) an innocent loving act, in which you share your homemade goodies that you know others will not be able to resist, and will sing your praises.
But for the most part, you aren’t doing them any favors, and you may be sharing your goodies so that you can have your cake and eat it too (just not ALL of it.)
It’s a strategy to control your own compulsive eating. [Read the full stress eating article…]
They say that men drink to socialize and celebrate.
Women drink to cope with stress, anxiety and depression.
It’s the same with food, really . . .
Food has become an easy and reliable friend, a cheap source of comfort and support. [Read the full stress eating article…]
