I'd Kill for a Cookie: the Stress-Food Connection

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It’s November and the kickoff of the holiday season. Are you already so stressed that you’re frequently visiting the drive thru of your favorite fast food? The prices tend to be inexpensive and the portions are supersized. A small order of French fries today has more calories than a large order of fries 10 years ago. Cookies look like a small pizza. Do you know what I say about supersized portions? Biggie size = biggie butt and biggie thighs.

What do you eat when you’re stressed, lonely or sad, bored, anxious or depressed? I’ll be not broccoli or carrots. Oh no, more like cookies, candy, and ice cream. Right? Did you know that the word ‘stressed’ is ‘desserts’ spelled backwards? Stress influences your diet and it’s not unusual when you’re stressed to eat more sweets, fats, and salty foods or drink more coffee and alcohol.

I don’t have to tell you that stress is a familiar part of daily life. Stress can increase your heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose level. It’s part of the fight or flight response. You’re primed for action and the short term effects are positive. But when stress becomes an ongoing issue, it can have negative effects on your body, particularly the immune system. The stress hormone cortisol causes fat to be stored centrally around the belly like an apple or as one of my friends says, “you look like the Michelin Man”.

If you find yourself stress-eating during the holidays, try these realistic tips to help conquer it.

6. Follow the 90-10 Rule: eat healthy food 90% of the time. Go out of your way to make healthy selections. When you make healthy choices, your body performs at its best, you feel better and your stress level is lowered. Less stress means less stress or emotional eating.

7. Mini-Size Your Portions: when you’re stressed, it’s easy to eat large quantities of food and never give calories a thought. It’s not about hunger or taste, food is your friend, your outlet. Begin to pay attention to how much you eat. You may shock yourself. Then decrease your portions by ¼ or 25%. You won’t feel deprived but you make a major dent in the amount of calories you consume.

8. Think Color / Intensity: when you choose your food think about color. An easy way to punch up your diet is to choose foods that are brightly colored. These intense colors are your clue that the food is usually a nutrition powerhouse complete with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help fight the effects of stress on your body.

9. Graze: during the holidays your days will probably be longer than ever. If you’re skipping breakfast and/or lunch, your energy level will plummet and your stress level skyrocket. Your brain needs food to focus and stay on task, particularly protein and your body needs fuel for energy, particularly high fiber carbs. If stress-eating is an issue for you, the key is to eat a snack every three to four hours and never skip meals. Stress-eating or eating for comfort becomes more of an issue when you’re hungry, drained and stressed. You’ll eat most anything to calm down and then you feel awful later. Sometimes this leads to more stress-eating.

10. Tell that Bird to Hush: give yourself permission to enjoy your treats. When you follow the 90-10 rule and choose a treat for that 10% of your calories, no beating yourself up is allowed. You know what I’m talking about…it’s the bird that sits on your shoulder and says, ‘you’re not really going to eat that are you?’ Stuff a sock in the bird’s mouth and give yourself permission to enjoy your treat. You’re eating well the rest of the time. That’s the difference between healthy eating and a diet.