How to Stop Stress Eating: Effective Tips for Mindful Eating

It’s not easy to simply stop stress eating. Have you ever found yourself mindlessly opening the fridge door after a disagreement with your partner? Or maybe you crave your favorite comfort food, something heavy in carbs and extra cheesy, after a rough day at work? 

What about stress drives us to reach for the most calorie-dense option and often overeat it? 

While depriving ourselves of food can also cause stress to our minds and bodies, overeating or binge eating to manage stress is also detrimental to your health. 

In this post, we’ll discuss the following: 

• What stress eating is and why it happens
• Some common triggers that can lead to stress eating
• How mindful eating can help you manage stress-related eating 
• Healthier ways to cope with stress 

What is Stress Eating? 

Stress eating can also be referred to as “emotional eating.” It happens when someone eats in response to a strong feeling rather than listening to their body’s hunger cues. 

This can often result in eating foods that are highly processed or overeating unhealthy fats or simple carbs. 

If you’ve ever stress-eaten, you know the heavy, sluggish feeling that ensues. Rarely does an overindulgence and ignoring your body end in positive results. In fact, stress eating can be harmful to you both physically and emotionally. 

Why is Stress Eating Dangerous?

Most will recognize the physical implications of emotional eating. 

Eating without listening to your body’s hunger cues or cues for specific needs and nutrients not surprisingly leads to: 

• Gaining excessive weight: Comfort food is usually calorie-dense, contains simple carbs and lots of fat, and makes you feel sluggish, making physical activities the last thing you want to do. 

• Malnutrition: Those foods that are high in sugar and fat fill you up without giving you the essential nutrients you need for your body to function properly.

 It’s not just about calories and carbs. A ginger snap cookie and a sweet potato have a nearly identical amount of carbs and calories but when you eat a sweet potato you’re also satisfying your hunger so you won’t over eat it. More importantly you’re getting nutrients like Vitamin C, Iron, Vitamin B6, magnesium, and potassium not to mention fiber. 

So you can be depriving your body of nutrients you need for healthy skin and hair, good sleep, and balanced hormones. 

• Digestive Issues: You know that feeling after eating a giant bowl of pasta without taking a breath. In the moment, it feels like it’s healing your soul. But when you’ve finished, your entire torso feels uncomfortable. You’re bloated, have heartburn or indigestion, and would give anything to be able to poop. 

Stress eating usually means overeating foods that are low in fiber and eating too fast for your body to respond to the signals it needs to digest food effectively.

What about emotional damage? 

While we can’t deny the physical implications of emotional eating, the emotional damage is often overlooked. When you regularly stress eat, you might experience things like: 

• Low self-image: Weight gain can impact your self-esteem and result in a negative body image, which leads many to develop additional eating disorders 

• Shame and guilt: Have you ever finished a large serving or maybe several servings of something and then, when it’s over, stepped back and thought,, “Where did it all go? Did I actually eat all of that myself?” the realization can lead to feeling ashamed which can cause you to repeat the cycle or go to other extremes of eating. 

• Additional stress: The results of stress eating (weight gain, malnutrition, low body image, etc) ultimately lead to more stress and if you don’t look to other stress management techniques, it can result in more stress eating. A vicious cycle that continues to harm  your body and mind. 

So if stress eating is so bad for us, why do we all have a tendency to turn to food when we’re overwhelmed or upset? 

We’re Wired to Eat When We’re Stressed 

Stress plays an important role if our bodies. It keeps us safe by motivating us to take action. Things in our environment have changed rapidly in the last 100 years, but our bodies essential functions have not. 

To illustrate, there is the classic “a bear is chasing you” analogy. Stress moves you to run from that bear. You’ve exerted a lot of energy to get away. Now, you need to replenish your body with food. 

In our modern world, our “threats” are very different, but our stress hormones are released in the same way as if we had just run several miles to get away from that bear, and we feel the need now to replenish our fuel stores. 

Wanting to eat after a stressful encounter is completely normal. It’s part of being human, and it’s how your body is designed to work. 

But what your body doesn’t always understand is that you didn’t just run away from a bear. You spent a weekend with a demanding relative that caused you emotional stress. To your body, stress is stress, and you need to refuel. 

Understanding your triggers and why you’re suddenly craving food is key to eating more mindfully and stopping stress eating. 

Common Triggers that Lead to Stress Eating in Female Athletes 

Athletes often face unique stressors that can contribute to stress eating. Here are some common triggers:

• Performance Anxiety: The pressure to perform at a high level can be overwhelming. Fear of failure, disappointment, or criticism can lead to emotional eating as a coping mechanism.

• Injuries: Injuries can disrupt training routines and lead to feelings of frustration, sadness, or anger. Stress eating may be used to cope with these emotions.

• Social Pressures: Athletes often face social pressures to maintain a certain body image or meet expectations. This can contribute to feelings of stress and anxiety, leading to unhealthy eating habits.

• Body Image Concerns: Athletes may have unrealistic body image expectations, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction and low self-esteem. Stress eating can be a way to cope with these negative emotions.

• Lack of Sleep: Inadequate sleep can disrupt hormones that regulate hunger and appetite, making it more difficult to control cravings.

• Nutrition Mistakes: Poor nutrition choices, such as skipping meals or consuming excessive amounts of processed foods, can contribute to mood swings and cravings.

Understanding these triggers can help athletes identify and address the underlying causes of stress eating and develop healthier coping strategies.

How to Stop Stress Eating: Mindfulness 

The next time you feel a strong urge to eat, or you find yourself staring in the pantry frantically searching for something to eat, take a deep breath and do the following. 

Check-in with Your Body

• Listen to Your Hunger Cues: Pay attention to your physical hunger signals. Are you feeling a rumbling in your stomach? Do you have a sense of emptiness? Did you skip a meal or go without eating for several hours? Then a meal or healthy snack probably WILL help you feel better. Otherwise, try to identify why you’re looking for food. It may just be a habit that unconsciously started and weren’t aware of before 
• Differentiate Hunger from Cravings: Emotional cravings are often triggered by stress, boredom, or other emotions. 

• Avoid Mindless Eating: As you eat, focus only on eating. Think about the flavors and textures of the food. Chew slowly. Avoid eating while watching TV, working on a computer, or driving.

Create a Mindful Eating Space

• Choose a Calm Environment: Find a quiet, peaceful place to eat, away from distractions like screens or loud noises. 

• Set the Table: Use your favorite dishes and utensils. Light some candles or place a bouquet on the table. This can help create a more enjoyable and mindful eating experience.

• Take Your Time: Eat slowly and savor each bite. Avoid rushing through meals. If you can, block out more time than you think you’ll need for meals. 

Practice Gratitude

• Express Gratitude: Express gratitude before or during your meals. This can help shift their focus to the positive aspects of their lives and reduce stress. Some do this by saying a prayer of thanks. If that’s not your style, you can simply express out loud how grateful you are for the food to yourself or the people around you. 

• Focus on the Food: Thinking about the origin of your food will help you appreciate it more. Think of the hardworking farmers, the local bakery, or the family members who played an important role in getting that food to your table. 

• Be Mindful of the Ingredients: Think about the nutrients in your food and how they are supporting your body. Acknowledge how they make you feel both physically and emotionally. 

Healthier Ways to Cope with Stress 

For most people, stress eating isn’t a matter of whether or not they have self-control. It goes deeper than that. Many of us were taught to use food as a reward when we have accomplishments or to enjoy a treat if we’ve had a bad day. 

These are stress coping mechanisms that, for many of us, got out of hand. 

If you are under a lot of stress, then learning how to cope in other, healthier ways is essential. 

Try the following suggestions to get started. 

Identify Stressors

• Stress Journaling: Keep a stress journal to identify patterns and triggers.

• Mindfulness Check-Ins: Take time each day to assess your stress levels and identify potential stressors. You may want to set a timer for this to make it a priority. 

• Prioritize Self-Care: Remind athletes that self-care is essential for managing stress. Encourage them to make time for activities they enjoy and find relaxing.

Physical Activity

• Regular Exercise: Regular physical activities can help to improve your mood, reduce anxiety, and sleep better. 

• Find Activities You  Enjoy: This can be a physical activity like running, swimming, dancing, or yoga, or it can be a creative outlet. 

• Set Realistic Goals: Working with a dietitian like myself can help you set goals that are realistic so you can avoid feeling overwhelmed or discouraged.

Mindfulness Techniques

• Guided Meditation: There are a variety of guided meditations you can find on Youtube that are free and can help you get into a habit of meditation. 

• Deep Breathing Exercises: Deep breathing techniques can calm your nervous system and reduce stress. There are several breathing techniques here you can try. 

• Progressive Muscle Relaxation:  Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Focus on your breath. Then tense your toes for 5 seconds and release. Move to your calves, thighs, and so on until you’ve worked every muscle group.

Seek Support

• Talk to Someone: Talking to a trusted friend or family member is a good place to start. It can also be helpful to seek the help of a therapist or dietitian who has experience with athletes and stress eating. 

• Join a Support Group:  A support group can help you connect with others who understand your experiences.

Working with a Dietitian to Help You Stop Stress Eating 

I work with active women who are ready to create a healthy relationship with food. That means no longer using food as a coping mechanism or fearing food. I want you to live your life freely without the physical and mental consequences of stress eating. If you’re ready to stop stress eating and heal your relationship with food and exercise, you’re in the right place. Book a free virtual consultation today.