As you might have noticed, I haven’t been blogging much this month. I am so
busy and stressed with school. I’m rushing deadlines, juggling schedules and making plans which later won’t push through. It’s been hellish. I also discover that because of these events in my life, I’ve been stress eating. Lately I’ve been having problem with turning down food. I feel that I’m always hungry or I’m craving certain food. Even when I’m not hungry I will go look for something to eat. When I’m depressed I will indulge myself. Shopping is still out but food is not. So I’ll go to more expensive restaurants to eat and comfort myself with eating good food.
Despite this behavior, when I check myself on the weighing scale I’m actually losing weight than gaining. This result has only given me a reason not to stop eating whenever I feel like it. However I know that I won’t turn overweight because: one, I always check what I eat; two, I have self-control in terms of dieting; three, my idea of a big portion is still small compared to heavy eaters; four, I always check myself in the mirror – I don’t like myself fat; fifth, I don’t go into binge eating – I always turn away food before I get worse.
According to the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center web site, there’s a huge difference between physical hunger from emotional hunger:
1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical hunger occurs gradually.
2. When you are eating to fill a void that isn’t related to an empty stomach, you crave a specific food, such as pizza or ice cream, and only that food will meet your need. When you eat because you are actually hungry, you’re open to options.
3. Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you crave; physical hunger can wait.
4. Even when you are full, if you’re eating to satisfy an emotional need, you’re more likely to keep eating. When you’re eating because you’re hungry, you’re more likely to stop when you’re full.
5. Emotional eating can leave behind feelings of guilt; eating when you are physically hungry does not.
To find out if you’re a stress eater, take this simple quiz. I scored high and I really admit that I’m stress eating.
To solve stress eating, here are some ways I do it:
1. Recognize the problem. I become aware of this problem just recently after 2-3 weeks of stress eating. Admitting I have problem, I become more aware of what I eat. Even though I still indulge myself in comfort foods I will stop when I know that I’ve eaten too much or I’ll choose a healthier food to eat.
2. Get rid of stress. Well it’s hard to get rid of those things that stress me out. But to de-stress, I pamper myself. I feel super better after shopping! Some people will turn to spas, vacation, exercise, watch movies, sports to relieve stress.
3. Focus your mind on other things. Spend your time with other things besides eating. I do it by reading a book with good background music or surfing the net. It keeps me from munching on food.
4. If you can’t keep yourself away from grabbing that food snack, eat a healthier snack instead of junkfoods. Healthy snack food for me is lots of water and fruits. I usually go for banana-q – it’s a fried banana plantain with sprinkled brown sugar on a stick. It’s somewhat healthier than other junk foods.
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