Recently we wrote about what to do if your appetite completely disappears during stressful times. But what if the situation is reversed, and you want to eat and eat?
This is the so-called “neurotic appetite”. It appears when we do not have alternative strategies to reduce anxiety.
How to help yourself in this case?
1. Drink water.
Yes, often this simple action helps to calm the raging desire to eat something. Your stomach will receive a signal that it is full. During this pause, you can ask yourself if you are truly hungry right now. Or are you just uncomfortable and trying to quench this feeling using any available means?
2. Warm up and do a couple of physical exercises.
Movement relieves anxiety no worse than food. Squatting, running, doing push-ups, or doing simple stretching exercises when signs of anxiety appear will quickly make you feel calmer.
3. Do some breathing exercises.
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Breathing helps in any stressful situation. As soon as you start to worry, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system is activated, and the level of stress hormones rises. Restoring calm and even breathing sends a signal to the brain that everything is in order, and there is no need to run anywhere trying to save yourself. And your need to immediately “quench” the anxiety becomes irrelevant.
4. Agree with yourself to postpone eating for 15 minutes.
Tell yourself that if after 15 minutes the desire to eat this chocolate bar, chips, or the second serving of ice cream remains, you will do it. And during this 15-minute pause, try to relax.
5. Start taking notes on the connection between emotions and nutrition.
If you want to eat – write down how you feel. A variety of emotions can be detected: anxiety, fear, excitement, etc. And when emotions are identified and named, you can deal with them more constructively.
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