Emotional and Stress-Eating

“Let’s get everything done before Christmas! Throw in some of the tastiest food you’ll have all year, and more of it than usual. And all the rellies can come round too.”

 Arrggghhh, December! It stacks up the stress like no other month.

Work deadlines, socialising, end-of-school functions, travel, Christmas food and gifts, family responsibilities, finishing renovations. All of that and more, and everything wants a piece of you.

Or loneliness – at a time when everyone else seems to be together.

Or sadness, when someone is missing from your Christmas or Christmas isn’t what you were hoping.

All these things can be stressful. Stress makes your body want high-fat and high-sugar foods at the best of times. The holidays can amplify that.

Take the time to understand just this for now. When you eat for emotional reasons, you’re not lacking willpower; you’re responding to your brain trying to keep you safe. It thinks you’re in survival mode because all of the adrenaline in your system. It wants you to fuel up to get out of there fast.

But you don’t get out of there, especially at Christmas time. You ‘cope’. You eat.

Understanding this is a good first step to dealing with it.

This December, see if you can pause before automatically reaching for food. Try a coping strategy that actually helps: a short walk, a breathing exercise, writing down your thoughts.

Small shifts matter. Even a 5-minute pause before grabbing a snack can start to break that automatic cycle. Over time, your small choices build confidence to change your pattern.

Photo by Elena Leya on Unsplash