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[av_heading heading=’Stress Eating’ tag=’h2′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ padding=’36’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” custom_class=” admin_preview_bg=”][/av_heading]
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A client whom I worked with a few years ago recently had her second baby and was having trouble getting her eating back under control. Lara told me that during her pregnancy, she let herself eat whatever she wanted and ended up gaining more weight than was healthy. Now at six months postpartum, she’s still struggling to put the skills that we had worked on back in place. When Lara and I met this week, she told me that one of the hardest things has been dealing with stress and anxiety without turning to food. Her husband works long hours and she’s often solo parenting her three-year-old and six-month-old.

Lara told me that she’s often aware that she’s eating because she’s tired or because she’s stressed, but hasn’t been able to combat it. I first reminded Lara that it is no surprise that she’s tired and stressed!  It’s reasonable to feel that way given her situation. I then reminded her that the good news is that when she’s tired and stressed, her body isn’t telling her, “I need food,” because she’s not actually hungry.  It is telling her, “I need relief!” and food is not the only way to find that relief.

Lara and I also discussed the fact that while food helps temporarily, when she’s stressed it only momentarily distracts her from the stress. In fact, it later leaves her with more stress: the initial stress and now the additional stress of worrying about her weight. And when she’s tired, eating does momentarily spike her blood sugar, but then she often experiences a crash afterwards and feels even more tired. So, across the board, eating is just not helping. Lara made the following Response Cards to help her remember these ideas:

“Either way I’m tired. I can be overweight and tired or just tired. When I’m tired I crave sweets, which helps in the moment. But then I get a sugar crash and actually feel even more tired. So it makes the situation worse on all accounts.”

“When I’m stressed and I turn to food, I just wind up more stressed! I always, always am mad at myself for overeating and the stress just increases. It’s not helping!”

Lara and I then made a list of things she could try the next time she feels tired or stressed to help her get through without eating.

Getting Through StrategiesStress Eating

  • Go for a walk
  • Meditation (using an app)
  • Listen to music – create a relaxing playlist
  • Drink water
  • Drink tea
  • Write down one memory about my kids
  • Take a nap for whatever length of time I have
  • Look through pictures/delete pictures on phone that aren’t worth saving
  • Short yoga routine

Lara told me that while she thinks these things might help, sometimes she struggles with the idea that she needs to be productive all the time and can’t take time for herself, especially when she has so much to do. Lara and I discussed the fact that not taking time for herself leads her to emotionally eat because eating is the only outlet she’s giving herself. Continuing to eat in response to feeling tired and stressed is ultimately going to make her unhealthy, and she has too many people relying on her not to be healthy. Lara made one final Response Card:

“I have too much to do and too many people are relying on me to not take care of myself. This is only 10 minutes. It’s a necessity, not a luxury.”

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