4 steps to reduce stress eating

Stress eating is a very real thing. It’s no surprise that we might find ourselves reaching into a big bag of crisps or spoon-deep in a tub of ice cream when we’re stressed. And while eating can be distracting and comforting, it’s a temporary sense of relief that can leave us frustrated, especially when it impacts our weight loss goals.

Here's the good news: by paying attention to stress eating tendencies, we’re more likely to recognise it when it happens, which means we can take action to respond to stress in a different and healthier way.

1. Roughly 40% of WW members say they are most likely to overeat when they feel stressed. It was the most common reason for overeating compared to feeling sad, tired, or bored.

2. If you always eat a hot dog at a football match or popcorn at the cinema, that’s a habit. Similarly, eating in response to stress or other feelings is also a habit for many of us.

3. When we recognise our urge to eat because of stress, we have the opportunity to interrupt that automatic habit and respond in a new way. The more we do this, the more likely we are to create a new habitual way of responding to stress.

Next time you feel an urge to stress eat, follow the steps below. (Hint: this technique can work for any emotions you’re feeling, like sadness or loneliness).

• Hit pause. Put space between the impulse and what happens next to help break your automatic response to reach for food. Set a five-minute timer before making a move. You could try a Headspace meditation in the WW app, scroll on Connect, or watch that crazy cat video your friend sent you!

• Be curious. Once the timer goes off, check in with yourself. Are you still having the urge to eat? If not, move on with your day. If so, think of other strategies that might relieve stress or change how you’re feeling. Maybe blasting your favourite song, calling a friend, or scribbling in your journal will help.

• Make a move. Try one of your ideas from above to respond to stress. If you can’t think of anything that will work right now and eating’s still top of your mind, that's okay. You've already made a powerful step towards changing the connection between food and stress, so you may find you naturally choose a snack that's lower in Points® than your usual go-to.

• Reflect. Did you eat, or did you do something different? Recognise how you felt and if your urge to eat changed as time passed. If you aren’t happy with how things went, show yourself some kindness and use this opportunity to learn, grow, and move forwards. View this as a process to learn from and build on!