Stress and eating habits
 

This week I've been really stressed out with all the work I've had to do. It's coming up to the end of the semester here at Georgia Tech and all my projects came due on the same week. French project/presentation on Manon des Sources, Website design project, User Interface design paper/presentation, and an Analytical Report for Technical Writing. Now that I'm finally finished (thank god) I'm looking back on the week and realizing how little I've eaten. Take today for example: I had a cup of hot chocolate, an apple, a granola bar and a sandwich with a glass of milk and that's it... This happens a lot with me when I get stressed out. I just don't feel like eating.

Anyway I was wondering how everyone else reacts when it is crunch time for them. I know my sister tends to eat more when she is stressed out but I haven't really discussed it before. Am I just weird?

It actually makes sense that your appetite goes down under stress.

Stress reactions developed evolutionarily to cope with emergency situations. When you're being chased by a tiger, you don't need to digest food, or reproduce, or use your immune system, so these and other systems are shut down in order to devote all your resources to getting away alive.

Humans are unique in that we psychologically induce prolonged stress reactions. What this means is that your appetite could be suppressed for a long time if a stressful condition continues.

This is not healthy because the stress reaction is damaging in the long-term. With a lowered immune system you're more susceptible to disease. I believe the stress hormone cortisol can also cause some sort of neural damage -- I think there's some experiments out there about hippocampus shrinkage.

Of course, it also makes sense that some people eat more under stress. In this case, eating is typically a coping behavior that reduces one's stress reaction, and not due to an increase in appetite.

i'm of the eating less variety. though sometimes i think i'm a little of both? i don't eat very good meals but will pig out on ice cream or candy or something.

I tend to eat less, simply because I am too busy working and stressing out. If I do eat while I work though, I tend to overdo it, simply because I am distracted.

The same goes for me, I'm usually too consumed with all the stuff I have to do to even think about eating. Usually I have to have one of my friends remind me to eat before I pass out or fall over.

If it's busy stress, yes, I eat less -- too much stuff to do in too little time. So I go without eating until my blood sugar crashes.

But if it's just the stress of being in a bad situation -- like a personal problem with somebody or fear that you're going to be laid off at work or something -- I tend to load up on comfort food -- butter, chocolate, pizza, ice cream and so on. They really do make you feel better when you're worried -- at a price.

When I get stressed out, it's like a viscious cycle. I'm stressed, so I eat less, so my blood sugar crashes, so I feel weak, so I can't perform my tasks properly, so I get more stressed...

The best treatment for eating less when I'm stressed out is simply to take a break, close my eyes and count to ten while taking deep breaths, then grab something healthy and nibble on it and regain my energy. Sometimes I may take a walk around the neighborhood to help clear my mind. I try to use any method I can to keep an equilibrium of how I feel (homeostasis).

I haven't payed attention to how I eat when I'm stressed. I'm of the poor college student type, that if and when there's an opportunity for food I'll take it. But to relief stress, I'll often take a long midnight walk around the neighborhood with my dog, or go on a hike with him. Basically, getting away from people, (civilization altogether is even better), and simply clearing my mind, and the smile on my pup's face from the joy of going on such a long ass walk is always comforting too (usually when I'm stressed I tend to neglect him, and don't get to take him out as much as he likes).

I eat more when I'm stressed, to my chagrin. I think it's not so much a "I'm hungry" reflex as "I need to keep my hands busy or my brain will burst forth from my head like the Kool-Aid Man except less awesome." I suppose I'm kind of a fidgety person to begin with.

When totally stressed, I tend to eat worse, not more than ususal, but just worse.

I make sure I have plenty of fiber around, like fiber one, bananas, carrots, etc. Because, if I can't take a good shit, I really get stressed out!