What Are You Eating and What's Eating You?

Written by Lady T

Stress and anxiety can rob people of their joy and can destroy their lives. Oftentimes the culprit behind stress and anxiety is worry. Worrying is a state of mind, literally, and we all have different tolerances for how much burden we can handle before becoming overwhelmed. Some people, when faced with problems that they don't want to deal with turn to comfort foods, which are high in sodium, fat, sugar and starch. Consistently eating a poor diet can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and some cancers, according to some health and dietary experts.

Regardless of a person's age, gender, race or religion, everyone has certain triggers that could set them off under certain conditions. For example, imagine if you were the victim of a home invasion in which you awoke in the morning to find a trio of masked men stealing your valuable possessions. Fortunately in this scenario you were not hurt, and the offenders ran out the front door as soon as you walked into the room; still from then on you would probably never have a sound night's sleep. You would spend sleepless nights fearful of every loud or suspicious noise

Or imagine if you went to the doctor for your annual checkup and were referred to a specialist to investigate a suspicious growth. You go to the appointment, get a biopsy and are told you will be presented with the results in about 10 days. Undoubtedly those will be some of the worst days of your life. Fear of the unknown is one of the most stressful situations a person can experience.

For some people, stress often leads to overeating. You may not have control over the situation you're facing, but you have control over what you eat. You can eat as much chocolate ice cream and vanilla wafers as you want. You may not even be hungry, but the act of eating temporarily gives you gratification and temporarily takes away your worries. The problem is, once the gratification of your last meal wears off, you need more and more food to quench the beast. What is the beast? It's your stress and anxiety.

Overeating in itself is a trigger for people who haven't mastered the art of healthy eating and weight control. The more a person over-indulges in unhealthy foods, the more likely he is to feel guilty, ashamed and possibly become depressed. To soothe those awkward and burdensome feelings, he may eat too much of the wrong foods. This cycle can easily become a no-win dilemma with no foreseeable way out.

It can be like the eternal question of which came first: the chicken or the egg. You may never figure out if you're overeating because of stress or if you feel stress because you're overeating. This doesn't only apply to food. It can apply to any vice or addiction including gambling, promiscuity, drugs or alcohol. The only way to even begin to overcome an addiction is to get to the underlying root of the problem and then commit to following a robust healing and recovery plan. You'll probably do best with the help of licensed professionals.

There are several ways people manage stress. A common practice is performing yoga and other breathing exercises. Another common practice is listening to meditation music with the sounds of ocean waves, nature, fire crackling or other sounds that are pleasant to the ear. Think about things that bring you joy, calms you down and soothes your soul. Whatever those things are, do more of them every day.