MUNCH MANAGEMENT

KICKING AN EMOTIONAL EATING HABIT

If you often munch when you’re stressed-out, anxious, sad or even excited, you have plenty of company: Thirty-eight percent of adults in the U.S. admit they have overeaten or eaten unhealthy foods in the previous month because of stress, according to a 2013 survey. The trouble is, doing this can lead to a serious case of nosher’s remorse. “My favorite line about that is, ‘If you eat for the wrong reasons, you’ll wear the wrong sizes,’” says Bonnie TaubDix, author of Read It Before You Eat It. To combat a habit of eating for emotional reasons, Taub-dix recommends using the following strategies: • CREATE A LIST OF ALTERNATIVES. If you tend to nibble when you’re feeling blue or anxious, jot down activities that boost your mood or have a calming effect on you that don’t involve food (listening to happy or soothing music, taking a walk in nature and the like); then turn to these when you feel emotionally out of sorts.

• WRITE YOUR HEART OUT. Keep a journal, and write about your feelings instead of heading to the kitchen or vending machine to manage them. Research has found that engaging in expressive writing is particularly helpful for easing depressive symptoms and brooding.

• MAKE A LIST OF EFFECTIVE NIBBLES. “If you know you are a stress eater, it’s smart to come up with three different snacks that make you feel good that you won’t feel bad about eating,” Taub-dix says. Some options: a small Babybel cheese with six whole-grain crackers; a cup of yogurt with a tablespoon of granola; a piece of whole-grain toast with a tablespoon of almond butter. Consider this your plan B if other strategies don’t help you come to your emotional rescue.