It's no secret that social distancing during the COVID-19 outbreak can cause stress. A global epidemic and being locked up at home can negatively impact a person's mental health. As anxiety increases and the ability to leave the house is limited, one can easily eat more for comfort.
Emotional eating can negatively affect your health – both physically and mentally. With a 24-hour news cycle, it can be extremely difficult to limit your snacking habits and overeating. This is especially true when you work from home and near your pantry. While it may be difficult to avoid snacking or eat junk food to cope with the COVID-19 fears, it can be done. Here are six tips to avoid emotional eating during social distancing.
Tip 1:Structure your day
One of the main reasons people overeat at home is the lack of structure in one day. Social distancing will more than likely mess up your daily routine. Having a set schedule and sticking to it can prevent you from wandering aimlessly into the kitchen for an unnecessary snack or meal.
Take some time for work, relaxation/exercise, food and communication with others. Having a schedule planned makes you less likely to feel like the day is one big empty space, which can leave you feeling motionless and leading to overeating.
Tip 2:Keep it healthy and prepare your meals
Preparing meals is a good way to limit unwanted snacking. Plan your meals and snacks at the start of the day. If you wait until you're hungry to decide what to eat, you may be eating more or choosing something with more calories than if you planned your meal and snacks in advance.
You can even add snacks to your meal plan. Knowing you have a healthy snack in the lineup can help you avoid overeating between meals.
In addition to preparing your meals, it's also important to make sure you're still eating healthy. While it can be helpful to buy processed foods, these products make it easier for a person to overeat. Do your best to buy healthy options when you have the chance.
If you have access to processed foods they can cause you to lose control over what and how much you eat, consider taking them out of your home. At the very least make them more difficult to access.
Tip 3:Avoid the desire for boredom
When someone is bored, it's easiest to fill that time with food. Being stuck in the house with no intention of going away for a while can really increase the boredom. When this boredom increases, your desire to eat continuously may also increase.
The best way to stay away from the desire for boredom? Keep yourself busy! If you feel stuck, bored, lost, or frustrated, try to understand and label the feeling, then decide what to do about it. That could be a smaller task to work on, completely changing tasks, taking a break, or contacting a colleague.
Try to keep yourself busy. Don't just watch Netflix for 12 hours, rather watch TV for a while, work on a puzzle or read a book, and maybe test your knowledge with a few mind games. If you work from home, take a break!
Tip 4:Keep everything separate
In other words, your bedroom should not serve as a dining room. Having a separate area for eating and drawing the line that food shouldn't be in your bedroom is a good way to limit late snacking and overeating. Designate one place in your house as the place where you will eat and try to keep your work and relaxation areas in your home separate from where you eat.
The ideal living situation restricts all food to your kitchen. This can be difficult for people who now work from home and may be using their kitchen table as a desk. If you're working at the kitchen table, consider moving to another chair when it's time to eat.
Other techniques to introduce include avoiding eating and working at the same time. When it comes to TV on the couch and you want to eat something:get up, eat in the kitchen and then go back to the couch when you're done.
Tip 5:Look for other ways to manage your stress
Watching the news or checking your phone regularly for updates or social media posts can add to your stress. Change the channel, turn off the TV or put your phone down. You can always check for updates later.
If you're stressed or anxious, look for other ways to handle your emotions. Call a friend or family member, clear out a closet or drawer, stream a free workout at home, or any other healthy strategy you may have used to reduce stress in the past.
Tip 6:Stay in touch
This last tip is one that is absolutely necessary for both stressful eating and improving your mental health in general. Stay connected! It can be easy to isolate yourself from others when you are social distancing. While you may not be able to visit your friends and family in person, you can use the technology available to keep in touch with loved ones. Host a virtual Netflix viewing party, make a FaceTime call, and don't be afraid to pick up the phone and call them.
Don't be afraid to reach out and lean on loved ones around you. Stay positive and stay safe. Just because you distance yourself from physical contact, it doesn't mean you have to completely isolate yourself.
