Stress Eating, Emotional Eating. Call It What You Want.

Ugh. I know it’s that time of year again. The time of year when school gets stressful, when projects worth a hefty portion of your grade in the class are due, when group members let you down by not doing their share of group work, and when eating on-the-go seems like the only viable option to suit your hectic lifestyle at the moment. I’ve been there. Actually, to be quite honest, I’m there right now.

Stress eating is a huge issue I face when I am busy. I do not have time to cook and I hardly spend any time at home during this time because home is too comfortable and I am usually almost always tired and those are two deadly combinations for someone with project deadlines. Lately, I have been going against everything I have been advising you all on this blog. I’ve eaten at Wendy’s, Rubios, Jamba Juice, Five Guys and WingStop. I’ve snacked on everything from M&Ms to Hot Cheetos and Pizza to Chicken Nuggets. In other words, I’ve been a bad, bad girl.

After about a week and a half of hardcore snacking and stuffing my face with mediocre tasting food, I’ve made up my mind that I no longer want to fall victim to my stress cravings. Emotional eating is something I struggle withand I have to be strong enough not to let it temporarily take over my life. The video above

has really great points. Her East Coast accent is kind of annoying, but you get used to it after she talks for a while.

The main thing I wanted to show for this post was this video. My only comments on it are that she has an excellent point when she asks her emotional eating viewers to think about why they are eating. “Are you hungry?” She asks. “Or are you eating to fill a void of some sort?” It makes you think and also understand why a little under half of Americans are obese–half of Americans are emotional eaters.

Image via Wikipedia

That doesn’t really make me feel better about this little “problem” I have. Again, it surfaces only when I am overworked, overstressed, and just plain busy. I think its important to also remember that you are consuming pointless calories when and if you decide to emotional eat. It’s a horrible habit and if you tend to eat or snack when you feel angry, sad, lonely or feeling any sort of negative emotion. That’s how it all starts, so do yourself a favor and don’t even go there!