Dr. Walaa Hafez
Amidst countries ’attempts to adapt life to suit their efforts to combat the Corona epidemic, people have found themselves forced to face a new routine lifestyle, especially with having to work from their homes and stay for long periods in kitchens, a situation in which it is difficult to control health and develop good food systems They eat snacks more than ever, throughout the day, which is what their weight gain is expected, which is cause for concern about the high indicators of obesity in the next stage.
According to two nutrition experts, in the UK, this constant need to eat constantly is caused by feelings of boredom and panic, the anxiety caused by the concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, and life-changing government measures to stop the spread.
Why do we eat more snacks?
A nutritionist explains: stress, confusion, work from home, and low social interaction are all factors that lead to a desire to eat, which is called emotional eating, which many will begin to suffer from in the coming weeks.
Emotional eating occurs when food is used to calm or suppress negative emotions, such as isolation, anger, boredom, or stress. Rest or emotional eating often ignores feelings of physical hunger, which come from an empty stomach.
The foods you most like to eat are usually very processed, such as biscuits, chips, chocolate, and ice cream. These foods are scientifically designed to quickly target the fun receptors in our brains. Most of us experience emotional eating at one point or another.
However, when emotional eating occurs frequently, and food becomes the primary coping mechanism of a stressful situation, it can affect our health and mental well-being.
This emotional eating can be more likely when we isolate ourselves. “During this period of home stone, many of us will suffer from cravings for the food we don’t need,” said nutritionist Jenny.
For many, hunger for food is actually a need to fill the boredom gap or the need for some form of distraction. Moreover, the lack of daylight means in all likelihood a lack of vitamin D and the associated pressure at this time means that we tend to desire sweet foods as a quick solution to low moods and low blood sugar.
How do you end frequent meals?
And nutritionist Tamara has identified, according to the newspaper, the British Daily Mail, a three-step plan that anyone can take to end their emotional eating during the shutdown.
1. Record what you eat.
Keeping food notes of what we eat, the amount, and what we feel when we eat can help us determine what stimulates comfortable eating. Some will discover that it may be boredom, while for others it is stress, anxiety or sadness.
2. Find a new activity.
Once we know what motivates our emotional eating, we can find other simple activities at home to manage this desire without food. The best tasks to take out of our minds from food are cognitive challenges. This means that walking, meditation or bathing may not be an effective way to distract ourselves.
However, something that occupies your mind can be a better distraction, such as:
- Sudoku puzzles.
- crossword puzzles.
- Brain Training Applications.
- Chess.
- Peace and Snake.
- Call a friend.
- play a game.
- Listen to an audio clip.
3. Practice new habits
Follow some quick habits the moment you feel emotional eating. Here are 6 habits to reduce your craving for frequent snacks throughout the day.
7 Tips:
- Keep snacks in the kitchen, not on your desk, get out as often as you need.
- Chew, then chew. Chewing improves digestion, increases feeling and reduces the likelihood of a snack.
- Adding herbal tea to snack times is useful to help reduce snacking.
- If you feel bored and want to eat unhealthy snacks, solve a puzzle or crossword for 10 minutes.
- If you feel lonely and feel the urge to eat potatoes or chocolate, call a friend for a quick chat to distract yourself from this feeling.
- If you feel anxious and tired, read anything for 10 minutes.
- Avoid buying large quantities of fast foods (such as potatoes, biscuits, ice cream, and chocolate).
- Instead, buying whole healthy foods for snacks means that we are less likely to overeat, and we will feel more comfortable.
Author: alqabas.com
