By: Tayler Glenn
We’ve all been there. It starts with a handful of trail mix, moves to a few chips, and the next thing you know, you’re staring at the bottom of a carton of ice cream sick, out of control, and feeling like you’ve just sabotaged yourself. It’s not just you! If you feel like this is what’s standing between you and your healthy lifestyle, here’s how to handle stress eating.
我們都試過。由一小量的 ‘口粒濕’開始，到幾塊薯片，接下來你知道，你正盯著一盒快食完的雪糕盒，飲食失控，感覺就像你剛剛傷害了自己。你並不是獨單一人！如果你覺得這就是影響著你和健康生活方式之間的關係，現在教你如何處理壓力飲食。
What Is Stress Eating? 什麼是壓力飲食？
Sometimes it happens after you get an angry email from your boss, or maybe your to-do list is longer than your arm. Whatever the cause, cookie dough and chips are right there when you need an escape, even for just a moment. You know what it is: stress eating.
Stress eating—sometimes called emotional eating—is what happens we reach for food not out of physical hunger, but to escape, suppress, or distract ourselves from the stresses we can’t get away from in our everyday lives. It’s 100% normal to seek relief when we’re overwhelmed and want to disconnect from the moment, but this habit isn’t helpful.
Stress eating can be brought on by big changes and events in your life, but it’s most often a coping mechanism for handling everyday stressors. Like anything, indulging every once in a while isn’t going to derail a month’s worth of healthy habits but it can become a problem when you find yourself heading to the kitchen every time things get a little crazy.
有時它發生在你收到老闆發出令你憤怒的電子郵件之後，或者在你有無限事項等你完成的時候。無論是什麼原因，當你需要抽身放鬆時，餅乾和薯條就在那裡解決方法，即使以進食了一小段時間。你知道我正在講的是什麼：壓力飲食。
壓力飲食 – 有時也稱為情緒化飲食 – 是我們為了食物而達到的，不是出於身體上的飢餓，而是為了逃避，壓抑或分散我們在日常生活中無法擺脫的壓力。當我們感到不知所措並希望從當下停一停時，尋求幫助是完全正常，但這種習慣並沒有幫助。
壓力飲食可以是由生活中的重大變化和事件而引致，但它通常是處理日常壓力的應對機制。像任何東西一樣，每隔一段時間沉迷一次並不會破壞一個月的健康習慣，但每當有事情發生，你也會去廚房的時候，這或許會成為一個問題。
Effects of Stress Eating 壓力飲食的影響
Emotionally感情上
Whatever the emotion is that drives you to the cupboard, reaching for food to solve the problem often leads to the same result: temporary relief, the quick return of the emotions you wanted to escape in the first place, and guilt over ditching the healthy habits you worked so hard to create. This may also set you up for an unhealthy cycle — your emotions trigger unhealthy eating, you feel guilty for setting yourself back, and another cycle begins.
無論是什麼情緒驅使你走到到廚櫃，找到以食物解決問題的往往會導致同樣的結果：短暫的舒緩，你想要逃避的情緒迅速恢復，以及放棄健康習慣的內疚感。這可能使你建立一個不健康的循環 – 你的情緒引發不健康的飲食，你為自己感到內疚，這個循環又會開始。
Mentally精神上
Stress eating is such a common issue because it works – at least in the moment. You get the hit of dopamine your brain was searching for which feels good now, but the food isn’t doing anything to address the deeper causes of our stress. Because you’re distracting ourselves from the cause, you’re leaving those emotions unresolved which can take a drastic toll on your mental state. Not to mention, you’re creating an unhealthy and unsustainable relationship with food!
壓力飲食是一個普遍的問題，因為對我們有作用 – 至少在當下的時刻。你得到了大腦正在尋找的多巴胺，現在感覺很好，但食物沒有做任何事情來解決我們壓力的根本原因。因為你正在分散自己的注意力，你會讓那些情緒得不到解決，這可能會對你的精神狀態造成嚴重影響。更不用說，你正在與食物建立一種不健康和不可持續的關係！
Physically 生理上
Stress eating doesn’t stop at your emotions and mental health. It can have negative effects physically, too! Often, the foods we choose to soothe ourselves with aren’t the most nutritious picks. Ice cream after a bad day once or twice a month isn’t awful, but when it becomes a pint every other night? Over time, leaning on unhealthy comfort foods can lead to:
Low energy
Feeling sick or run down
Physical discomfort
Poor skin health
Reduced quality of sleep
Weight Gain
or a halt in weight loss
壓力飲食並不單止會影響你的情緒和心理健康。它也會在生理上產生負面影響！通常，我們選擇用來撫慰自己的食物並不是最有營養的選擇。遇到不開心的時候，間中每一兩個月選擇食雪糕，都不是一個不合理的做法，但如果每隔一晚食一盒雪糕呢？隨著時間過去，靠進食不健康的食物以舒緩壓力可導致：
低能量水平
感覺不舒服或沮喪
身體上的不適
皮膚健康狀況不佳
降低睡眠質量
體重增加
或阻礙減重成效
How You Can Stop the Stress Eating Cycle 如何阻止壓力飲食週期
When emotions threaten to trigger another round of emotional eating, you want to have an arsenal of tips, tricks, and tools to help you stick with healthier coping habits. It may not be as easy as it sounds, but when you’re craving food as a distraction, you have better options!
Self-Check In: When you feel the cravings hit, take a moment to pause. Take a few deep breaths, and ask yourself ‘How do I feel?’ or ‘What do I need?’ so you can address what’s really causing the cravings.
Remember, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: Emotional eating provides a release when you’re feeling something you don’t want to feel, especially emotions that we don’t think are “okay” to display. When emotions go awry, yourself that it’s perfectly normal to feel sad, mad, scared, tired — whatever it is! Let the emotion come and go, and carry on with your healthy habits.
當情緒有可能觸發另一輪情緒化飲食時，你需要一套技巧，竅門和工具來幫助你堅持以更健康的習慣應對。它可能不像聽起來那麼容易，但當你渴望食物以分散注意力時，你有更好的選擇！
自我檢查：當你感到渴望進食時，請花一點時間停下來。深吸一口氣，問自己’我感覺如何？’或’我需要什麼？’所以你可以知道及解決真正引起渴望的原因。
記住，自我感到不好是完全沒有關係的：當你感覺到一些你不想要的東西時，情緒化的飲食會令你感到釋放，特別是當我們認為不能表現出來的情緒的時候。當情緒出錯時，你自己感到悲傷，生氣，害怕，疲憊是完全正常的 ！讓情緒過去後，繼續你的健康習慣。
Be Mindful. 正念
In a study in the Journal of Obesity, mindfulness training helped to reduce the tendency to stress eat. Next time you’re feeling taxed, try incorporating a few mindfulness exercises! These can help you to remain in the moment and be more in-tune with what you truly need to cope with emotions or stress.
在“Journal of Obesity”的一項研究中，正念訓練有助於減少壓力飲食的傾向。下次你感到有點負擔時，試著加入一些正念練習！這些可以幫助你保持現狀，更加適應你真正需要應對的情緒或壓力。
Keep Healthy Snacks Nearby 保持附近的健康零食
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we still find ourselves reaching for food when life gets to be a little too much to handle. That’s completely fine! Instead of beating yourself up and triggering another cycle, make a point to eat mindfully and reach for healthier options, like:
carrots and hummus
cucumbers and tzatziki
apple and peanut butter
grapes and cheese
a TLS® Shake
有時，儘管我們付出了最大的努力，但是當生活變得不在我們操控範圍時，我們仍然會發現自己找食物解決問題。那是完全沒有問題的！不要懲罰自己又使自己引發了另一個壓力週期，而是要謹慎地進食並找出更健康的食物選擇，例如：
紅蘿蔔和鷹嘴豆泥
黃瓜和青瓜酸乳酪醬汁
蘋果和花生醬
葡萄和芝士
TLS高纖蛋白營養飲品
If you or a loved one feels that they cannot control their emotional eating, please don’t hesitate to reach out for professional help. Here are where you can find additional resources.
如果你或你所愛的人覺得無法控制自己的情緒飲食，請不要猶豫，尋求專業幫助。你可以在這裡找到更多資源。
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