Complete Guide To Stopping Stress Eating

 

 Topic 1: Understanding Learned Behavior

It usually starts at a very young age, our emotional attachment to food. As kids we’re often given treats, both to console us when we’re upset, and to reward us for good behavior.

This teaches us to use food (usually snacks) to both console us and to reward us. There’s an important distinction between deciding to eat some junk food on purpose, and eating it because “you deserve it” or because you’re trying to make yourself feel better after a hard day:

 

A Proactive Eater will choose junk food and treats sparingly, and work them into the day’s sensible, healthy eating plan. Which, as the name states, has been PLANNED!

A Stress Eater will grab whatever’s handy with the hope that the junk food will change how he or she feels at the time. Often this is a subconscious move.

 

Most celebrations like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s Day are food-focused, and birthdays have to have birthday cake. Even the mere smell of certain foods, like cookies from grandma’s oven, can create powerful emotional connections and desires that stick with us for a lifetime. Stress Eaters often eat junk food in an attempt to recreate pleasant memories.