Learn Seven Stress-Busting Strategies

to Combat Emotional Eating

Instead of munching your way through an entire bag of potato chips whenever you’re feeling stressed, you need to have other options. So, here are seven proven stress busters that work well for me, and they’ll work well for you, too.

1.  Make Time for Creative Nonsense: One of the best ways to combat stress is to create some time for something you truly enjoy for the sheer joy of doing it—something besides eating. If you love to dance, sign up for a salsa dancing class with your significant other and give yourself something to look forward to each week. (Plus, dancing is a great workout so you’ll be burning calories while you boogie!)

QUICK TIP: The next time you’re starting to get stressed, turn on some music and dance around your house. Practice those steps you learned in class, or simply jump around in time with the music for the simple joy of jumping.

2.  Get Your Zzzzzs: Many times we partake in emotional eating because we’re tired, and we think a sugary snack and soda will give us the “get up and go” burst of energy to finish the day. However, those sugary binges will cause your blood sugar to rise and fall rapidly, so you’ll crash and burn in no time flat. Plus, if you’re not getting enough sleep insignificant things can seem monumental and cause a great deal of stress, so turn in earlier each night. Recent studies have suggested that adding an extra hour of sleep each night would be even more beneficial to our health than adding another hour of exercise to our daily routines. We’re  a sleep-deprived society, and it’s stressing us out. Accept the fact that you probably won’t accomplish everything you planned to do today, and simply add those leftover “to-do’s” to tomorrow’s list. Whatever it is, it will wait.

QUICK TIP: If you start to feel overwhelmed and stressed out at work, find a quiet room and take a power nap instead of using your full hour for eating lunch. The world  always looks brighter when you’re refreshed. That’s why the expression, “Let me sleep on it,” is so popular. Clarity comes when you’re rested.

 Stress busters 3 and 4 will be in my next post.