Emotional Eating And Weight Gain

In a stressful situation, each body acts in a different way and lots of people notice a shift in eating habits. Some people when at a weak point emotionally turn to comfort food such as sweets and chips, which leads to overeating and weight gain, and others stop eating because they start finding food unappealing. Eating comfort food whether consciously or unconsciously is referred to as emotional eating. Most people are prone to gain weight during an emotional or stressful period, because the levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol rise which leads to a drop in blood sugar and the result is overeating poor food choices.

So here are tips to help you avoid emotional eating and stress-induced weight gain:

1-Ask yourself why you want to eat when you feel like eating, Is it because you are really hungry or because you are feeling stressed?
2-When you want to eat without being hungry, find a distraction to avoid overeating comfort food
3-Never skip meals during a stressful period, especially breakfast
4-Make a list of the food that comforts you and keep them out of your home
5-Write down what you eat and how you behave, that way you can keep track of your eating patterns related to your behavior, and then find a way to overcome them
6-Exercise – try yoga, stretching, walking, but do not opt for high intensity workouts because they tend to increase your hunger
7-Get enough sleep

Make sure you handle your stress in order to control your weight. Being at a low point emotionally can ruin your diet and mess with your eating pattern. So be careful not to turn to poor food choices during stress!

Christelle Bedrossian
Dietitian-Nutritionist
Beirut, Lebanon