Staying Syn Free Under Stress

I’m well aware that stress is one of my main triggers when it comes to eating my feelings.  “I stress therefore I eat” is basically the way my brain is wired. Whilst everyone has their own reasons for over eating, it’s no secret that emotions play a huge part in many people’s struggle with weight gain and I’m no different.

For me the first week of any diet is always the hardest! You’re surrounded by constant temptations and you’re not yet used to saying no. Whether it’s office biscuits or the sweet isle at the supermarket during your weekly shop…everything is telling you to eat it! But for me, this is also the key time to train my brain into a new way of thinking; I need to become a bit obsessed with my new way of life for it to stick and so that’s what I’ve been doing this week. I need structure to make myself lose weight, which is why I’ve joined Slimming World.

The latter part of this week was stressful to say the least; without going into details it was the kind of Thursday/Friday which would have normally sent me into a biscuit eating frenzy, but I’m pleased to say that it didn’t.

I put this almost entirely down to knowing that someone else will be weighing me on Monday and I’m pretty keen to have actually lost weight this week! So here are just a couple of the things which worked for me when things got shitty and I was tempted to finish the biscuit tin…

1. Think about your goal! Whether it’s this week’s weight loss or your overall objective keeping it at the front of your mind will help you put your cravings in perspective and make you realise that whilst that bag of malteasers might make you feel good right now it’s going to be the first thing that you mind goes back to if you haven’t achieved what you wanted to this week.
2. Water, water everywhere! Drinking water has been the main factor in stopping me snacking this week. It’s a fact that often when your brain tells you that your hungry it’s because you’re actually dehydrated, so having a glass of water can physically make you less hungry. Not only this but it’s filling up your stomach, keeping your mouth and hands busy and by the time you’ve drunk it there might just be something else to distract you.
3. Fruit is the best! I am not a big fruit eater…just ask my mum! I’m sure if I had trained myself to like a lot of fruit years ago I wouldn’t have so many of the problems I’ve got right now. There are however a few fruits I do like and if you’re like me make sure you identify these and stock up. For me it’s strawberries and raspberries so I’ve kept my fridge full of these both at work and at home, they’re speed foods so you can’t go wrong.
4. Give yourself something to look forward to! For me it was my trip to TGI Fridays at the end of this week (hold tight for my review!). I kept this in the back of my mind and planned it into my meals so that I knew I was allowing myself this treat. I had worked out how I was going to go out for dinner and stay as on track as possible, but it’s still a treat and gave me a reason to stay away from the chocolate during the week.
5. Don’t beat yourself up if you stumble! There’s obviously a reason why the Slimming World programme is set up to allow you to have 5-15 Syns a day, so if you’re struggling make the most of them. Probably because it’s my first week and I’m completely fixated on having lost weight on Monday I haven’t given in to temptation but I wouldn’t beat myself up if I did. We’re all human and we all have emotions so knowing that you can fall off the wagon and get straight back on is important to making sure you reach your over all goal and begin to have a healthy relationship with food.

I am by no means an expert (I’ve been doing this for all of five days after all) but like many of the people reading this I have spent years trying to loose weight and I know what works for me and what doesn’t.

Either way if you’re struggling at any point then hopefully this might give you something to try! Let me know how you deal with stress when you’re trying to stay low on Syns and remember…Ryan Gosling says you’ve got this!