Stress Eating During the Pandemic? Here’s How to Curb Your Appetite

Stress eating is bad enough on an ordinary day.  However, when you layer it with the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine, social distancing, and a daily mounting death toll, it is hard not to make the refrigerator your best friend.  And, don’t forget to put the cherry on top. Yes, the sour cherry on top called societal reckoning with systematic racism.    

Well, we know everyone copes differently.  Some are doing one or more of these:

• Drinking
• Eating everything in sight
• Cooking, baking, and eating
• Watching TV for hours
• Scrolling numbly through social media
• Sleeping too much
• Smoking too much weed
• Reading with dry eyes
• Praying
• [Add your own]

And, of course, there are those who have never missed a day of exercising, have tighter abs than before, and can now hold a plank for 30 minutes.  Good for you.  I’m not hating, but we can’t be best friends right now.

In previous posts, I outlined the importance of journaling through the pandemic and provided journal prompts for deeper knowledge and insights during the pandemic.  However, several women contacted me about their voracious appetite, inability to turn off the eating switch, and of course, pandemic weight gain. 

So, let’s talk about it! 

Pandemic Weight Gain

If you’ve gained weight during the pandemic, you are not alone.  I can testify that I’ve gained 3 (maybe 5) pounds over the past 90 days.  Yes, me the registered dietitian nutritionist has gained weight during the pandemic.

And, the internet even has a name for it: “The Quarantine 15.”  Hopefully, none of you have gained 15 pounds.  However, if you have, there is no judgement here.  Hey, the gyms have been closed.  Not only that,  you’re sitting most of the day as you work from home, binging watching TV, not getting enough sleep, and stressing about everything.  And, of course,  the refrigerator is there 24/7.  Before the pandemic, we struggled with passing by the refrigerator and not eating for a few hours. But now, it’s definitely a frenemy and a major reason for stress eating.

Now for the wake-up call.  You’re stress eating and weight gain matters.  Gaining a few pounds over the last few months may not make a difference in the short-term, but it will be a problem if you don’t stop it now. 

It all boils down to this, stress eating leads to weight gain, which increases your risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and a host of other issues.  And sadly, these health issues impact how well you recover if infected by COVID-19.

So, for now, what I can offer are some tips to help you control stress eating. These tips will work with whatever eating plan you’re on—Keto, Paleo, intermittent fasting, Weight Watchers, etc.  If something doesn’t work or appeal to you, then ignore it and use what you can.

Learn to Eat Slowly

Hey, slow down your eating.  The food isn’t going to run off your plate.  As discussed in a previous blog post, learning to eat slowly is a key strategy for managing stress eating and curbing your appetite.  And although it is a difficult thing to do, it is a major game changer to eating healthy and losing weight.

So, are you willing to admit that you eat too fast most of the time?  Then, answer these questions:

• Have you ever looked up from your plate or stuck your hand in an empty bag of chips and wondered where all the food went?
• Do you feel like your shoveling your food into your mouth rather than eating it?
• Is eating a pint of ice cream in 15 minutes or less a usual thing for you?
• Do you ever finish a glass of juice, milk, or an adult beverage in two or three big gulps?

Oh my!  Well, you’re not alone.  So, go ahead and read that blog post on how to slow eat. But, here are the highlights:

• Practice eating a meal in 15-20 minutes.  It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that your full, so wait it out.
• Avoid distraction when you eat.  And, this means eating at the table rather than in front of the TV or scrolling through your social media.  Honor the time that you nourish your body as a sacred time.
• Put your fork and other utensils down in between bites.
• Drink water before, during, and after the meal.
• Chew slowly and take sips of water between bites.

Avoid Skipping Meals

Now, this may sound a bit confusing, so let me break it down.  Sometimes when we snack all day, we don’t eat real meals. And, we fool ourselves into thinking we’re saving calories.  However, in reality, skipping meals lead to eating more later in the day.  So, try:

• Eating a healthy breakfast (whatever time that works for you).
• Sitting down at the table to eat.
• Plan your meals for the week, or at least two day ahead.

Eat Enough Protein

Many women don’t get enough protein.  In trying to eat healthy, they eat more salads and increase fruit and vegetable intake.  However, inadequate protein intake often leads to hunger.  I am a vegetarian, and I personally struggle to get enough protein.  This is not true for many vegetarians, but it is for me because I don’t like certain foods.  So, I have to be intentional about getting enough protein.  Here a few tips for increasing your protein intake:

• Top salads off with chopped meat, poultry, eggs, fish, beans, or tofu.
• Add an egg (fried or boiled) to a sandwich.
• Keep a few hard boiled eggs in the refrigerator to add to meals.
• Add protein powder to smoothies.
• Drink a protein shake daily.

Eat Enough Healthy Fats

Yes, this is not a typo.  Getting enough healthy fats in your diet will curb your appetite. While you often hear that you should limit your fat intake, the other side of that is to eat healthy fats.  So, the fats that you should limit are those in fried foods,  high fat dairy products, and animal products. 

Do you need me to spell them out for you?  OK, I will.  They include the usual suspects: ice cream, cheese, chips, cookies, pies, French fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, etc. 

On the other hand, the healthy fats are found in foods like:

• Nuts
• Fatty fish (sardines, salmon, etc.)
• Fish oils (capsules or liquid)
• Olive oil
• Avocado

Fill Up on Fiber

Fiber, especially soluble fiber, is a powerful appetite suppressant.  There are two types of fiber—insoluble and soluble.  Insoluble fiber adds bulk to the diet and helps to prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, and colon cancer. 

On the other hand, soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a sticky gel in the intestines.  Thus, soluble fiber decreases your appetite and keeps you fuller longer.  It also reduces blood sugar and protects against heart disease and diabetes.  Excellent sources of soluble fiber are:

• Beans and peas
• Fruits (eat the skin as much as possible)
• Vegetables (eat the skin as much as possible)
• Fiber powder (add to water, drinks, yogurt, etc.)
• Chia seed (add to water, drinks, yogurt, etc.)
• Flax seed (add to water, drinks, yogurt, etc.)

Soluble fiber is a powerful appetite suppressant.

Drink Enough Water

When you don’t drink enough water, your body may mistakenly think that you’re hungry.  In fact, mild dehydration is often a mask for hunger.  So, don’t rely on your sense of thirst.  Instead, be intentional about drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. 

And, the next time you feel hungry or just get bored and want to snack, drink a glass of water and wait about 10 minutes.  Chances are that the hunger will go away.

Get More Exercise

In addition to its other benefits, exercising regularly during the pandemic can help you:

• Have more energy
• Build stronger muscles, joints, and bones
• Lower blood pressure
• Feel good about yourself
• Sleep better at night
• Manage stress better

However, did you know that getting enough exercise may also help curb your stress eating?  Yes, it does.  And, this happens because exercise may temporarily lower the levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite.  The bottom line is that when you have a food craving and feel like stress eating, doing some type of physical activity like walking, doing jumping jacks, a few sit-ups, etc. may turn off that stress eating switch for a short while.  And, that may give you enough time to get back in control.

Now, It’s Your Turn

Well, I hope you now feel a bit more confident in managing your stress eating.  Depending on how stressed you are, some of these will work better than others.  Self-care is very important during the pandemic and I think you will also enjoy the blog posts on the different dimensions of self-care and box breathing to calm and energize you.   Additionally, at some point, it may be necessary for you to acknowledge that you have a binge eating disorder. 

1. Which of these tips to control stress eating can you apply this week?
2. Think of two ways to manage stress instead of food.

Well, we look forward to hearing about your experience in the comment section of this blog.  And, you can join the conversation on the Keep It Tight Sisters Page.

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