A Funny Follow-Up On Stress: Stress Eating
Stress eating or emotional eating is eating a high fat and sugar diet when experiencing current or prolonged periods of stress.
According to Harvard Health, the body releases epinephrine when experiencing initial stressors, this shuts down appetite and kicks up the fight-or-flight response. However, with extended stressors, the body (adrenal glands) will release cortisol. Cortisol increases appetite and overall motivation to eat (in addition to decreasing sleep, decreasing motivation to exercise, and increasing desire to consume alcohol)!
For me, stress eating has always been dangerous. It’s one of those, “I’ll definitely stop stress-eating tomorrow” situations that can last quite a while. An added danger is the fact that I also experience a lack of motivation when it comes to working out and a bit of lethargy.
Lately, stress eating has been my go-to!
This means that I’m consuming larger amounts of high fat, high sugar and loaded carbs like its my sport! I even do this in times where I know it would make me sick, but it truly feels like you just can’t stop. Or worse! You think, “I just know that I’ll feel better after I eat this”. The sad truth: you rarely feel better afterwards.
My last post on stress and stress management was supposed to be my mindful alert to start better managing my own stressors so that I could avoid the prolonged periods of eating-til-sickness.
Let’s Be Real!
Honestly, stress kills, but what can we do about it when it’s such a natural part of our existence?
There are two conflicting statements that we hear all of the time:
Pressure bursts pipes.
Pressure makes diamonds.
These are two statements about pressure and/or stressors that lead to two very different results! On the one end, you end up exploding(?). That doesn’t sound very exciting.
But on the other end, you end up a beautiful and flourishing diamond. How could this be when it’s all bred from stress?
Well I can only imagine that it comes from the healthy balance in understanding the amount of stress that one can bear, one being yourself. Each person's responses to stress are very similar physiologically but mentally, physically, emotionally stress ways on us in different ways. Each person, therefore, has the ability and the power to learn the levels of stress that are helpful for progression, and the levels of stress that end up being debilitated.
Armed with this information all of us can be the master of our stressors.
Now, this is easier said than done because, again, I have been emotional eating and I don't know when that's going to end but having this information is quite empowering because I do have options other than stress eating. It's just up to me to employ them.
Best efforts,
Bree 🩵