How to eat your way through stress without gaining weight

People who turn to brownies, icecream, cookies, chocolate and chips when they are upset will learn how they can eat when upset and still lose weight.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Potatoes, pasta, rice, graham crackers, cheerios, Puffins cereal, rice crackers, marshmallows, oatmeal

1. 1. When you are feeling calm, buy some low or no fat carbohydrate snack and meal foods. These will be the snacks you will eat when you are stressed.

2. 2. These foods can include low fat sweetened breakfast cereals , graham crackers, granola bars, rice crackers or rice cakes, instant oatmeal, microwavable rice, potatoes,sweet and white, marshmallows, gum drops

3. 3. Pick out two or three snack or meals foods that you enjoy eating and represent comfort like oatmeal with some brown sugar, sweetened breakfast cereal, graham crackers.

4. 4. Measure out a quantity that corresponds to about 120-140 calories. Check food label to see how much this will be.

5. 5. Package two or three different snack options in sandwich bags so you can take them with you to work or in the car.

6. 6. When something upsets you and you feel like eating something immediately, take out your stress relieving snack and it eat. You can drink some water or other non-caloric beverage along with it.

7. 7. Wait 15-20' Do not eat anything else.

8. 8. Distract yourself while you are waiting for the snack to take away your stress

Tips & Warnings

• Carbohydrates allow the brain to make new serotonin.
• Serotonin is your brain' s comfort chemical
• Serotonin is made about 20' after you eat a carbohydrate food that contains very little fat and protein
• Protein does not take away stress.
• Nature gave us carbs to use to comfort us. If Brussels Sprouts or Tofu worked as well, we would crave those foods instead when we are upset
• You must wait for the comfort food to be digested before you will feel less upset.
• Do not eat continuously while you are waiting for the serotonin to be made. It is like taking aspirin continuously while waiting for the headache to go away
• Carbohydrates are digested very quickly if they have very little fat.
• Fat slows digestion.
• Carbohydrates do not take away the cause of stress; they just allow you to cope with it.

[nunpuns]

on 8/2/2009 Great article. I love my good carbs. 5*