Stressing out overeating while you diet?

I've been going through a lot of stress lately, and it has caused me to fall off the diet wagon!
I overindulge then feel terrible but can't seem to stop.


Stressful events are "triggers" for some people to lose control. In people who are overweight, overeating is a common reaction to stress even though we know logically that it leads to disaster and bad feelings. But it is not a typical reaction in people who are are not overweight - they have found other ways to deal with stress. Some of those reactions are equally or more damaging like smoking, abusing alcohol or drugs, hurting others, or just getting depressed. But there are just as many positive reactions to stress that people practice.

The point is there are many ways you can choose to react to stress while you diet - overeating is just one of them. That behavior probably won't change until you can find a new reaction to stressful triggers - are there other reactions that you can see yourself doing? Escaping the situation by taking a walk, "timing out" yourself so that you can think about the situation, writing down your feelings if you can't comfortably express them, or calling or e-mailing a friend can help. While you are not experiencing a stressful event, take the time to write down a plan for positive, unharmful ways to deal with these issues the next time they surface. Realize that you have an unlimited range of healthy options to reacting to stress, and that bingeing is just one choice and from your own experience, has not been the best option. Plan ahead and be ready to have a new reaction to stress and practice these behaviors on the smaller stresses in your life to see if they help.