Your Quarantine Stress Eating Survival Guide

Mar 17

The desire to mindlessly snack and emotionally eat has increased substantially since our COVID-19 quarantine began. I have found myself looking in the pantry and refrigerator on a pretty regular basis these last few days. I am not physically hungry but I am stressed, overwhelmed and incredibly antsy. And I am wanting a distraction.

As most of us know, food can definitely provide that distraction for us. However, the relief we experience is only temporary. Not to mention, it is usually followed by varying degrees of guilt, shame and/or overeating. How is it that one mindless pretzel can, oh so easily, turn into the entire bag?!

I’ve always believed that one of the very best things I can do is set myself up to be successful. To fill my toolbox with tools so that when the desire strikes to eat out of distraction or emotion, I am prepared. This way I don’t have to try to impose willpower (a very finite resource) and can instead choose a tool that will help divert my attention in the moment and also work to address the root cause of the desire to cope using food.

In the posts that follow, I will be developing a Quarantine Stress Eating Survival Guide to share some of the most useful strategies that I have learned over the years to combat stress eating. These are the very strategies that I am implementing on a regular basis right now. Check back often as I will be adding to this list every few days.

Now read on so you can use this quarantine as an opportunity to continue to Make Peace with the Pantry!