Stress and overeating: how to cope with emotional gluttony - Psychology of effective living

What does stress want from us?

First, let's clarify what stress is and what we really want when it happens to us.

Stress is a state of the body when all resources are mobilized to act as efficiently as possible. This is a high functionality mode.

Stress (if experienced from time to time) is beneficial. It makes the brain work more efficiently, makes us physically more resilient and helps us develop more actively. If there were no stress, there would not be the level of development at which you are now.

Stress becomes a problem when we experience it constantly - chronically. Then the body begins to frantically search for resources for further functioning in this mode and decides that it is time to create reserves (of course, fat) in case the situation gets even worse. Plus, all systems begin to wear out, since in the mode of increased functionality there is more wear and tear.

We subconsciously understand: this cannot continue for long. And then it makes sense that what we want when we are constantly stressed is to relax. What we really want is not to eat another 1 kg of candy, but to get relaxation. And at the same time, protection from future stress - at least for a couple of hours.

How to get rid of gluttony. Girls, help me cope with this terrible glutton!!!

I'll start from a little distance. Height 168, natural weight (that is, without special dieting) ranges from 56 kg (in the summer, when I don’t really want to eat anything and am constantly on the move) to 60 kg (in the winter, when I’m lazy and eat treats). In October I moved to another country (when I moved I weighed 58) and apparently from stress (although I ate as usual) I lost weight to 54. Throughout October-November I walked thin and enjoyed life. Then she began to get better, as she was constantly chewing something, going to cafes, trying a new cuisine. Then during the Christmas holidays I went completely off-limits, and for the New Year too. In general, I ate all December. A lot and often, as if the chain had broken loose. As a result, I gained weight to 62 kg. For a month with pennies. In January, I got over my head and decided that it was time to quit gluttony. I switched to proper nutrition and lost weight to 60. But!! Last week I really started having problems. I started overeating again. And it’s not just that I allow myself an extra cookie or something, but I actually sweep away everything in my path. I recently gobbled up a third of a can of cocoa. With a spoon. At a time. And this goes on all week. I eat normally during the day, but in the evening it blows my mind. Moreover, I’m not even hungry, I don’t want to eat exactly this, but I eat anyway. Like an obsession. Today too. I had breakfast and lunch normally, came home in the evening and devoured it in just half an hour: a banana, two apples, a 200-gram pack of cookies, a chocolate bar, yogurt, two sausage sandwiches and topped it all off with a pack of chewing gummies. I just did the math, today I ate almost 3 thousand calories worth of food!!! And this goes on all week. During the day I eat healthy and in moderation, I don't go hungry or anything like that. And in the evening this is such a disgrace. I get drunk and cry. I weigh 62 again. Girls, help, this is the first time in my life that this has happened, what should I do? How to get rid of this?? I’ve always had a healthy attitude towards food, I don’t go on any diets, usually proper nutrition and exercise are enough.

Why do you want to eat stress?

Why do we have a desire to eat something, and not go for a massage, for example? Everything is explained by childhood experience.

In infancy, we did not experience much stress and anxiety. The most powerful of them was the feeling of hunger. When it was satisfied and my mother took us in her arms, she calmed us down, consoled us, fed us, and after that she checked our diapers and put us to bed.

Thus, all our needs were satisfied, and a neural connection (anchor) arose in the brain: food = relaxation, comfort, protection.

It is worth noting that the issue with parents is one of the key issues that we resolve during consultations. And very often, when clients dot all the i's for themselves, soon after that they begin to lose weight.

Throughout life, our relatives (especially grandmothers) tend to maintain in us the anchor “food = relaxation and protection,” so it is not surprising that we tend to eat away any stress.

But there is another, safer way to relieve stress.

The most interesting thing is that the so-called. gluttony is overcome not only by beginners, but also by people who have successful experience in proper nutrition and training. For some, the holidays never end, for others, they cannot pull themselves together after illness, and for others, there is an endless break in their diet. And it seems that there is motivation and there is something to work on, but to get out of the breakdown and restore the previous regime.

Stop dividing foods into bad and good. Many people mistakenly think that by calling some food “bad” and forbidding themselves from eating it, it will be easier to survive the diet - nothing will provoke a breakdown. In fact, this is a direct provocation of him. What's happening? You begin to become overly fixated on forbidden foods, and fall out of the regime, first for one meal, then for a day, two, a week, a month, etc. All this time you are frustrated and biting yourself because you know which foods are “bad” and which are “healthy”, but do nothing. All your organic actions turn into complete failure.

There is no such thing as good or bad food, but there are foods that should form the basis of your healthy diet if you are eating for a specific goal, such as losing weight. The basis is 80-90% of your daily caloric intake. For my clients, I leave 10 to 20% of calories for their favorite junk foods. Those who adhere to this plan lose weight, tolerate the diet more easily, and maintain or restore a normal relationship with food.

Include awareness Every decision leads to certain consequences. And if one piece of the pie can be “not noticed” or neatly included in that 10-20%, then everyone is already thinking about the second piece. And many people eat and continue to overindulge when it’s time to stop. The key here is to evaluate your decision.

I have written more than once how important it is to remain mindful and stop in time to take a breath, then exhale and ask yourself: “Do I need this? Is the second piece of pie more important than my desire to become slim? Is it really worth it for me to feel like a weak-willed piece of shit later on?” Turn on awareness, take back control. I also wrote about this.

Rebuild Confidence I find two-week breaks from dieting to not only be a great tool for maintaining results, restoring hormonal balance and physical strength, but also for rebuilding confidence in yourself. Not everyone uses this tool for fear that they will not be able to let go of the reins slightly and eat within the support level. author Ekaterina Golovina And some cannot stand the break and go on a real multi-week binge, experiencing either euphoria or a feeling of guilt from the fact that they began to eat foods that they had previously forbidden themselves. Many people feel that they cannot cope, which indicates a lack of trust. Although a break does not imply permissiveness. This is just an increase in calories and the same healthy food with a few concessions.

How to restore trust? Listen to your body’s signals, don’t “I want to, I can’t kill myself,” but learn to distinguish a real feeling of hunger from a craving for food, train, focusing not on the result, but on the pleasure of movement, learn to turn on awareness and convince yourself that food is not going anywhere and you don’t have to eat it at all all at once.

Form a new ideal There is no ideal figure, ideal experience, ideal training program, nutrition system, ideal life, conditions, food. Each person has his own genetic parameters (bone length, proportions, muscle shape, etc.), within which one can build a good figure. The experience may be very successful, but it is in the past, and no program can take you back in time. Everyone has problems, and ideal conditions for solving them may not wait. And food... “proper” food is too overrated. The more you limit yourself to the “ideal” framework, the more likely it is that you will get a strong kickback.

When getting out of a breakdown and restoring your routine, strive to improve what you have now, and not repeat someone else’s or your own experience in the past. Work to make your current diet healthier, your body more perfect, your workouts better, your current life brighter.

Exercise 1

You can do it sitting or lying down - whichever is more convenient for you.

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself as a three year old child. Your mom and dad are next to you (it doesn’t matter whether they were with you at that age, whether they are alive now or not). Imagine them giving you what you really want: love. They stroke you, hold your hand, kiss you, you are happy and laugh.

Feel the warmth, care and love that fills you through your parents. Curl up in one of their laps while the other one strokes you, and feel all the tenderness they feel for you.

Stay in this state. Try to “add” to yourself through this image everything that you once lacked and are now trying to compensate for.

Thank your parents for everything bright and beautiful that happened in your life thanks to them. Wish them good luck and happiness (even if they are not with you now).

You'll make yourself feel warm and cared for without relying on food as an anchor. There is a high probability that after this exercise you will want to eat much less.

How to get out of a glutton - advice from a psychologist. What to do with overeating: the morning after a glutton

I’m talking about what to do the morning after overeating: effective methods for preventing the cycle of relapse-diet-relapse.

It seems that the topic of gluttons has become one of my favorite topics. Dozens of people are looking for information on this topic and come across my blog. I have already shared my personal experience of gluttony and given tactics on how to avoid overeating. The logical continuation is to talk about how to get out of a glutton.

I will not write about what they write about on search sites for “overeating what to do.” Either I was unlucky with good articles, or everyone has the same copywriter, but advice like “eat chicken breast with salad for lunch” makes me laugh nervously.

I won’t talk about scales either; I told all my thoughts on this topic here. Therefore, I’ll tell you right away what you really need to do after overeating (the advice is based on personal experience).

Eat NORMALLY

It was always obvious to me: during the gluttony, I ate an excessive amount of food, so the next day should be as easy as possible. But this tactic does not help to get out of the glutton, on the contrary: malnutrition during the day leads to an evening breakdown. And so on in a circle.

Therefore, if on normal days you have a scrambled egg and a piece of cake for breakfast, eat the same amount in the morning after overeating. Of course, if food doesn’t fit at all, there’s no need to force yourself. But usually there is a place for breakfast. The same goes for lunch, dinner, and snacks.

Drink plenty of water.

Another stupid piece of advice from copywriters on women’s websites: try to get rid of the water. This is really necessary - 1 gram of carbohydrates retains 4 grams of water*, which is why in the morning after overeating you feel swollen and unhappy. But it is necessary to expel water not by the lack of salt in the diet or diuretic teas, but by LITERS of this very water. For example, I never drank when I was hungry, so the next morning I had to pour water into myself so that the carbohydrates I had eaten the day before would be absorbed.

* unverified fact about carbohydrates and water. There are a lot of articles on this topic on the Internet, but not a single verified, scientific one.

Dress comfortably

What could be better than putting on your tightest T-shirt and jeans after overeating? Like, it will be scary, you definitely won’t lose your temper *sarcasm, but that’s what I did*. You should be comfortable in your clothes, so it makes sense to wear a looser sweater and wider pants. Yes, the day after overeating will not be the most joyful day of your life, but this too will pass ©

Let me summarize. If you overate the day before and want to get out of the binge, you need to:

Eat as usual to avoid another breakdown
Drink plenty of water the morning after overeating
Dress comfortably

If I hadn’t gone through gluttons myself, I would have written something like “but it’s better not to look for ways to cope with the consequences of gluttons, and not to overeat - eat enough during the day and not go on a strict diet.” In theory, this is true, but in practice, gluttons are the same eating disorder that is not so easy to get rid of. I succeeded, but that's a completely different story.

In the meantime, tell me: were my tips helpful? They're pretty simple, but you wouldn't believe how much heresy I've read on third-party sites on this topic.

How many calories are there in one green apple?

Considering that green varieties often taste more sour, the sugar content in them is, of course, minimal. Therefore, they are considered lower in calories. One hundred grams of these apples usually contain approximately thirty-five to forty-five energy units (the number of carbohydrates does not exceed seven to eight percent). In order to calculate how many calories are in one apple, let’s calculate the energy value of one such green fruit with a minimum kilocalorie content:

One hundred grams will give you thirty-five calories.
One apple with a diameter of five centimeters and a weight of ninety grams will yield thirty-one.
With a diameter of seven centimeters and a weight of two hundred grams there will be seventy calories.

It is worth noting that these green fruits must be eaten with the peel. The juice from them perfectly quenches thirst, especially in hot weather. They are an ideal filling for any pies, because their sweet and sour taste can go well with any sweet dough.

The feeling of guilt that a person experiences when dieting fails

People are forbidden to do something, and they want it even more; as a result, a so-called breakdown occurs, and the immediate feeling of guilt drives some people crazy. A small deviation from the existing diet can even turn into gluttony. But under no circumstances should you be led by such emotions and feel guilty. It’s just worth allowing yourself a little weakness from time to time (preferably no more than once a week) in the form of, for example, a small piece of cake.

Don't lose touch with colleagues and friends

Illustration: Polina Pirogova / Lifehacker
It’s difficult to truly love work if there is no feedback from colleagues, no support, and communication is only in the format “Hello, how are you? There is an urgent task here.” In the office, at least you can chat during lunch, but remotely you find yourself isolated - such a lack of communication can Job burnout: How to spot it and take action lead to burnout. Suggest a rule: during calls you not only talk about work, but also briefly share personal news. Just don’t forget to turn on the camera - video will convey your mood better than dry messages in chats.

Don't put off communicating with friends until later. While working remotely, the desire to leave the house may completely disappear, but if you still force yourself to get out and spend time in the company of a friend, you definitely won’t regret it. In addition, this is a great opportunity to change the picture. It’s better to hold off on bar trips for now, but no one has canceled home gatherings.

Easy and comfortable

Weight loss should be easy and comfortable, without stress and deprivation, so to return to the weight loss process, show your body your love and care, choose nutrition systems that include your favorite foods. Diets are not suitable in this case; pay attention to the nutrition for switching to PP or Mediterranean.

Take on as much as you can realistically handle

Illustration: Polina Pirogova / Lifehacker
Perfectionism does not lead to good things. Sooner or later, a diligent employee may find himself in a situation where all plans are built around work. Take a day off to fix a lost filling? Pf-f, nonsense, when it hurts, then I’ll go. Going to the dacha with your mom this weekend? What a dacha, not up to it!

If there is no way to control your life, fatigue from work is a matter of time. Job burnout: How to spot it and take action. Evaluate your strengths wisely and do not sacrifice rest (especially since you included it in your schedule). Work is important, but your first priority is taking care of your own health, mental and physical. In the end, this is also beneficial for the manager - a burnt-out employee will have to look for a replacement, so it is better not to push his subordinates to the limit.

And don't be afraid to refuse. Don’t enter into conflict; it’s better to talk to your manager about your workload and discuss how to redistribute it. It’s good if you not only talk about the problem, but also offer options for solving it. For example, choose priority tasks that you handle better than others, and offer to delegate the rest. Even if your manager can't help right now, he will know that you have too much on your plate. Just don’t go to the other extreme: constantly neglecting work because there are more important things to do is also not a very healthy attitude.

How many calories are in yellow apples?

It is clear that the color of the fruit has little effect on calorie content. And the difference between red and green fruits in this parameter is very uncertain. Such assumptions are based only on the fact that the green variety is often more sour than the red one.

Among the yellow fruits, there are both sweet and more sour ones. To estimate approximately their calorie content, you need to bite off a piece and listen to your feelings. If the sour taste is more pronounced, it means that one hundred grams of this fruit contains about forty calories. If it is sweeter, then there will be from forty to fifty units of energy value.

The slight difference in calorie content between sour, sweet red and green varieties makes it possible to use them with the same success in different vitamin and fruit diets.

Gradually on PP

Everything new becomes a habit after 21 days, but each rule or habit must be introduced one at a time, so if you want to teach your body to live without sugar, drink 2 liters of water, run and wake up at 6 am, you won’t succeed. Introduce new rules for a healthy life, if not every 21 days, then at least 14.

Otherwise, you fall back into a state of stress. The process seems long, but weight loss is guaranteed without return, breakdowns and gluttony.

Admit it to yourself - you are a glutton

Overeating is an addiction, just like drugs or alcohol. It’s just that one is addicted to heroin, and the other worships hamburgers. Not surprisingly, the first step to recovery in both cases is recognizing the problem.

Are you still sure that it is better to swim through the waves than to hit the rocks? Check yourself on these points:

While eating, you are constantly glued to gadgets and do not notice the number of calories you absorb.
You are constantly chewing something. The plate next to your table is bursting with new portions.
You can't imagine your work process without snacks.
As soon as the moon rises, the night watch comes to your house.

Well, have I figured it out for you? The root of evil has been found. Go ahead.

Make a list of what gives you strength

It is not necessary to come up with a complex hobby for yourself - when you have absolutely no strength, there will not be enough resources for this either. Start with small steps - just remember what activities make you feel alive. This is something different for everyone: walking around the city with music in their headphones, crunching the first ice in the puddles, scratching a warm cat’s belly, trying new recipes, getting under a hot shower when it’s cold, even putting things in order, and then rejoicing at how clean it has become Houses.

Write all this down on your personal list of reasons to be happy. If it becomes completely unbearable, such activities will help you get at least a little distracted and recharge your batteries. It’s okay if the list is far from the so-called productive rest with jogging, yoga in the morning and listening to podcasts. You’ll think about productivity later when you’ve recovered, but for now, crawl under the covers and watch TV series or reactions to strange TV shows. You can, you deserve a rest.

How many calories are in red apples?

One hundred grams of red fruit, provided that it is very sweet, contains from eleven to fifteen percent carbohydrates, it contains from forty-five to fifty kilocalories. Let's calculate the energy value of one such red fruit:

One hundred grams will have fifty calories.
One apple with a diameter of five centimeters and a weight of ninety grams is 45.
With a diameter of seven centimeters and a weight of two hundred grams, we are talking about one hundred calories.

Red varieties tend to be softer, doughier and sweeter. You can use them to make all kinds of jams, fruit salads and sweet desserts. Children who do not suffer from an allergic reaction to red fruits are initially given soft and sweet fruits to try. For those who suffer from high acidity in the stomach, sweet varieties are usually prescribed.

What to do if you overeat too much?

So, the very first thing to do: calm down . You haven't done anything terrible or criminal: the holidays are a time for relaxation, happiness and relaxation. Of course, it’s better not to overeat everything and you shouldn’t stuff everything that can fit into your mouth. But if this happens, then just relax!

Second: no fasting days and strict diets in the style of 2 apples and 2 glasses of kefir at dawn. Yes, you may come across a ton of advice about this nonsense, but you don’t need to rush to follow them. Because with strict diets and fasting days, you are guaranteed to lose water or muscle, no matter how much they lie to you in various public pages.

Losing a kilogram per week, especially if the weight has been recently gained, can be easily achieved with proper nutrition.

Important : in fact, fasting days have a right to exist, but they are usually used for obese people with insulin resistance, according to an individual regimen prescribed by a doctor after examination and study of test results.

In any case, a fasting day can be arranged only after you have eaten a full and balanced diet for 1-2 weeks.