Hi, P-assengers! Welcome back to an article with PIDAS81. How has your week been? We sure do hope it’s been good. Yet, we do know that this Distance Learning has been very hard on all of us. All those overdue homework and tests on subjects you haven’t even understood yet must stress you out. Do you know what usually happens when we stress out, P-assengers? Yep, it’s stress eating!
In this article, PIDAS81 is going to help you prevent just that. But first, what exactly is stress eating? Why do we even do that?
Stress eating, also known as emotional eating, is a pattern of eating where people use food to deal with their stress. When you are stress eating, you’re mostly trying to soothe all those bad emotions welling up inside of you like anger, sadness, stress, fear, and more.
Of course, we like to comfort ourselves with foods that we like when we’re upset, like a nice scoop of ice cream when you’re crying. But when you’re eating a tub full of chocolate chip flavored ice cream by yourself when you’re not even hungry? That’s not exactly healthy, P-assengers. Because, if stress eating becomes a habit, it could easily lead to being overweight.
Stress eating has been a coping mechanism for almost everyone at some point. Like we’ve said before, indulging yourself in comfort foods is perfectly normal. What we need to worry about is how to stop it from becoming a full-on habit. How do you ask?
- Know your stressors.
What causes you to stress most? Is it online school, the homework, your home life, or something else? Maybe you’re stressed over your favorite pop group—that’s completely fine! Make a list of all the things that keep you stressed out most to keep yourself in check. Like this, you’ll be able to handle your stress even better.
- Exercise.
We know. Ugh, exercising! Right? Yes, well, while not much of us like doing it, we all know that it’s good for our bodies. Give that workout video you saw on your Youtube homepage or your IG explore a try, for once, or even search up your own on google. Think of it this way: if you need to scream because of your stress but don’t want to worry your family, let your muscles do it. You can always play your favorite song to make it seem less of a chore.
- Meditate.
When you’re keeping yourself mindful and at peace, stress is very unlikely to come and disturb your brain. When you feel yourself stressing out, you can close your eyes for a few minutes and control your breathing, like do 4 seconds of inhaling, 4 seconds hold, then 4 seconds of exhaling. This is the basic 4-4-4 breathing technique. Try it out!
- Opt for healthier foods.
If those things didn’t work you can always indulge yourself in eating. Just change ‘em up to slightly healthier food. Instead of those potato chips or fried chicken, try some nuts or fruits instead. There are so many healthy substitutes for junk food. An apple a day keeps the doctor away—or, in this case, stress.
That’s all, P-assangers. Did this article help you? We sure hope it did. Remember, indulging yourself with food is alright, but you can’t eat too much of all those junk foods. It might taste good in our mouth, but the results don’t always feel good, especially in our bodies. But, don’t stop yourself from eating completely, either, P-assangers. That’s also not healthy. Moderation is the key to everything. Have a good day and see you in our next article, P-assangers! Bye-bye!
Reference:
- 5 Ways to Stop Stress Eating Forom Taking Over Your Brain by Jessica Migala on Daily Burn:
dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-stop-stress-eating/
- 5 Ways to Stop Stress Eating and Why You Should by Suusan McQuillan on Psychom:
psychom.net/mental-health-wellbeing/5-ways-to-stop-stress-eating-and-why-you-should
- Emotional Eating: How to Overcome Stress Eating by Nicole Galan on Medical News Today:
medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320935