[LifeStyle] Twelve tips to combat anxiety to eat at all hours

[#Steeven.™]

Establishing a meal schedule, choosing satisfying foods, avoiding ultra-processed foods, practicing mindful eating are some of the keys that help protect us against "emotional hunger"

Surely on more than one occasion it has happened to you that no matter how much you eat food it seems that a black hole inhabits your stomach and that there is no possible way to combat the anxiety to eat. This is also an aspect that may have intensified in the current situation that we are going through, due to the effect of the pandemic. Many changes in our lifestyle, more time locked up at home, uncertainty, more inactivity ... These aspects impair the control of anxiety about eating, even exacerbating that anxiety.

The way we eat is decisive and is linked to the emotional state. For this reason, it is so important to differentiate the type of "hunger" we experience, since the approach will be different for each case.

On the one hand we can experience an episode of physiological or physical hunger. It is equivalent to real hunger and it would be the sensation through which our body tells us that it needs nutrients and energy. We notice that it increases as time passes. It does not appear suddenly and calms down when we eat food and can be controlled.

On the other hand, there is emotional hunger, which usually appears suddenly and does not seem to be satisfied with food intake. It gives us immediate satisfaction, but then it makes us feel guilty. It comes to us suddenly and it becomes very difficult to control it because, although we eat, it seems to never stop. As a general rule, it has an emotional trigger (stress or experience that generates anxiety) that makes us take refuge in certain foods irremediably.

Although this last type of more emotional hunger should be approached in a multidisciplinary way, in parallel with some type of adequate psychological therapy, it is also possible to keep it under control by means of adequate nutrition through these twelve keys.

1. An eating plan
The first step should always be to have a diet plan that is appropriate to your needs, habits and lifestyle. This aspect is the key to keeping anxiety at bay. Although we are carrying out a fat loss plan, where there will be a greater caloric deficit than in another type of eating approach, it is possible to keep hunger in order. In these cases, you can always take infusions, foods with low caloric intake and satiating such as pickles (pickles, carrots, onions, aubergines ...) or take raw vegetables rich in fiber and make us chew, such as celery or carrots.

2. Set a schedule
Discipline and order when it comes to eating will have a direct impact on controlling anxiety about eating and, in addition, it is an aspect that is scientifically proven: the order in meals directly influences anxiety to eat and increases satiety. Eating properly is a habit that must be learned.

3. Don't skip meals
This aspect is directly related to the previous point. It is about strictly following all the meals that we have established. If we skip a feed, in all probability we will arrive at the next with a greater feeling of hunger and it will be more difficult for us to control what we eat. There will be no problem if you occasionally skip one of your meals, but you have to follow the next ones as you have them scheduled.

4. Choose satisfying foods
Generally, fresh, whole foods, rich in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, whole nuts, fresh meat and fish, make up a food matrix full of nutrients. Our body must do a job when it comes to extracting these nutrients from the food matrix, which involves a process directly related to satiety. It will never be the same to take a handful of natural nuts, with the corresponding chewing process, than to take a tablespoon of these in the form of cream, a product with which we hardly have to generate work to digest and that will most likely stimulate us even more. the appetite.

5. Avoid ultra-processed
These products have a high palatability (they are very tasty) and are expressly designed to stimulate our senses, our appetite. Let's say they're meant to make us want to eat more of them. Their texture and flavor have been painstakingly studied to "get hooked" on them. In addition, being highly refined and processed foods, their digestion will be very fast, an aspect that makes satiety very low and, therefore, they will stimulate our appetite to a great extent. Most of them are going to be very caloric and with little quantity, we are going to ingest an excess of energy almost without realizing it, without being satisfied and without nourishing ourselves. This fact negatively affects the anxiety to eat, increasing it. Try not to have this type of food at home, especially if you are not able to manage.

6. Keep your mind busy
Our day to day should be full of activities instead of having our mind focused on when it is time to eat. That kind of looping thinking is going to lead us to open the fridge at all times. It is very important to organize yourself in the different daily activities and carry them out with intention: our work, our leisure moments, our rest and, of course, our time to eat.

7. Be aware and be present
We must be aware and be present at the time of eating. When it is time to make a meal, we must be in the present moment, chew each bite consciously, slowly and savor the food. All these aspects have a very positive influence on satiety and will help us to manage anxiety successfully.

8. Take care of the preparation
Prepare the table with what you have to eat at that time. Although the lifestyle we have today leads us to chaos, speed and neglecting the preparation of beautiful and colorful meals, try to gift that moment for yourself. Even if it is at dinner, when you get home, she will prepare all the food that you are going to have at that moment on the table and, once you finish, do not return to the fridge.

9. Discipline and responsibility
Willpower is limited. Therefore, it is important to know that there will be moments when you can falter. It is in these moments where discipline and responsibility come into play, knowing that eating properly is a habit that is educated and, as such, must be practiced consciously.

10. Food is your allies
We have to learn that the way we nurture ourselves is a habit that is learned, educated, far from being a mere intuitive process. The foods that make up our diet must be adequate and sufficient for our needs, they are our allies and at no time should we have a bad relationship with them.

11. Adequate rest and stress management
Not getting enough sleep and a state of chronic stress as a way of life, in addition to feeding each other, will make your diet not adequate. When we are stressed, the body asks us for the wrong food, generally very caloric, quick to prepare and accessible. That is, ultra-processed. On the other hand, a bad rest, will cause that the hormonal environment is not the suitable one. Lack of sleep is correlated with poorer body composition and fat gain, which will directly affect the centers that regulate satiety and appetite.

12. Do things step by step
Re-educate your eating habits day by day, step by step. If one day you fail, nothing happens, the next day you will have a new opportunity to do things better.

About the author: Raquel Capel is a sports and clinical dietitian-nutritionist, responsible for Nutrition of the Vikika Team, as well as a personal trainer.