It’s you third consecutive late night in the office and the lack of quality sleep is starting to catch up on you. Dark circles are forming round your eyes, your concentration is ever so slightly off and, all of a sudden, you find yourself becoming increasingly irritated by your colleague sat opposite, speaking loudly on the phone.
To make matters worse, you’ve started to feel hungry. You ate not too long ago but you’re getting that jittery feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you that it’s time to eat. You decide to nip down to the canteen for a quick bite to eat. You’ve been eating healthy all week so you head off downstairs with good intentions.
When you arrive however, it’s a different story. Of all of the different food items on offer, you’re not quite sure what ones are healthy. You deliberate on a few different choices but you’re not particularly keen on any of them. The toasted ham and cheese sandwich at the front of the counter however, is starting to look really really tasty.
Overwhelmed by choice, you find yourself struggling to make a decision about what to eat. And, in a moment of weakness, you make a snap decision…
…and buy the toasted ham and cheese sandwich.
Whether at work, at home or out with friends, we’ve all found ourselves in a situation such as this, where stress has gotten the better of us and we’ve ended up making food choices against our better judgement. We all know that there are far healthier ways to regulate our emotions than with foods, yet many people find it hard to say no to high-fat, sugary foods when feeling stressed.
So, when we’re stressed, why do we eat in an attempt to regulate our feelings and regain control over our emotions?….
Well, the underlying neural networks that govern the interactions between stressors, body, brain and food intake are extremely complex. Fortunately, a recent study titled The Effects of Stress Induced Obesity and the Emotional Nervous System have helped deepen our understanding of this particular problem.
In the paper, the authors present three important findings from their research which help explain why we use food to return the body to a state of equilibrium when we become stressed. First of all, the researchers highlighted that the mechanism that governs the way we respond to stress, known as the autonomic nervous system, is largely outside of our conscious control. This makes it very difficult for us to recognise habits or behaviours that are problematic and respond to situations differently.
Second, the researchers also identified that stress induces the secretion of cortisol, which increases motivation for food, and insulin, which promotes food intake and obesity. When these two hormones are present in the blood stream, appetite increases and we actively begin to seek out food. Finally, when food was consumed, the researchers noted that the pleasurable sensations associated with eating decreased activity in the part of the brain responsible for the stress response. This created a feedback loop which reinforced the feeding habit and perpetuated the cycle of emotional eating and unwanted weight gain.
So how do we break the cycle of
The researchers concluded that the best way to overcome this particular problem was through the use of a strategy known as cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive reappraisal is an emotional regulation strategy that involves reinterpreting the meaning of a stressor in order to change your emotional response to it. The idea is that by re-appraising your initial judgement of a situation, you can reframe it in a more neutral or positive direction and adjust your behaviour before you respond to it. In the context of stress induced eating, cognitive re-appraisal is best used to help reduce feelings of appetite or cravings for specific foods. This can be done using any one of the following four examples of cognitive re-appraisal strategies;
- Imagine that you are currently very full.
- Focus on the negative consequences of eating that food (e.g., stomachache, weight gain).
- Remind yourself that you can save that food for later.
- Imagine that something bad had happened to the pictured food (e.g., sneezed on).
For best results, it is recommended that you choose one strategy that you believe will work best for you. Then, whenever confronted with feelings of hunger or cravings in response to stress, employ that particular strategy until the feelings of hunger subside. When practised consistently over time, the feelings previously associated with stress (i.e hunger and cravings) should diminish and the the process of cognitive re-appraisal will become a habit, enabling you to deal with futures stressors much more effectively.
“It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”
– Hans Selye
With pressing deadlines, constant billing pressures and unreasonable clients making a career in law increasingly demanding, suffering some degree of work related stress is inevitable for any lawyer on top of their game. It’s simply part and parcel of the job. How you choose to deal with that stress however, is entirely optional and within your own volition. The direct link between obesity and chronic illnesses such as osteoarthritis, diabetes coronary heart disease and stroke means that coping with stress effectively and making healthy lifestyle decisions is of paramount importance. If not, you could literally be digging your own grave with a knife and fork. Using the strategies outlined above can help you break the cycle of stress induced eating, regain control over you unconscious habits and lose weight in the process. It will require some effort on your part, and you may require the support of a health professional throughout the process, but the rewards – a longer, healthier and happier life, are unquestionably worth it.
