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1. Stress & Overeating –
Understanding the Connection

2. “Recipe” for Overeating
Example from Michele May, M.D.

3. “Recipe” for Instinctive Eating
Example from Michele May, M.D.

4. Focus on Stress – Don’t Ignore it!
*****To change our stress and how we respond to it, we must
acknowledge and understand it
- Take a min to consider how (or if) you manage stress now. Do
you…
• Power through
• Stick your head in the sand
• Procrastinate (move on to something less stressful and
avoid the actual current problem?)
• Overwork, smoke, OVER EAT, drink alcohol to excess,
isolate yourself, or take out frustration on others?
- The above behaviors tend to make the stress worse.
- Do you pause and take a few deep breaths? If not, we’ll
practice this today.

5. Explore Your Stresses
Many kinds of stresses…some stresses are universal such as the
loss of a loved one or a birth of child.
• Physical Stress
- Fatigue and sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, lack of
physical activity, illness, pain, and others.
- Can leave you more susceptible to stress from other
sources.
• Emotional Stress and Depression
- Boredom, loneliness, anger, frustration, happiness,
depression, etc.
- Emotions provide information so practice noticing what
you’re feeling without judging it.

6. Explore Your Stresses
• Stressful Thinking
- How you think about stress and how you react to it can
actually increase the stress.
- Stress can be a result from your perception and interpretation
of life’s events.
Examples: Speaking in public - for one person, could cause a
pounding heart, dry throat, and inability to utter a word. To a
different person, it is an exciting opportunity to get one’s views
across.
- Thoughts that can increase stress include:
• “I feel like everything is out of control!”
• “I have to get this perfect.”
• “I can do it all, have it all, and be it all!”

7. Accept Stress…So you can manage it!
• When you accept the stress you can’t control you can choose how
you react to the stresses you CAN control
• The demands in life for our energy and time can lead to unrealistic
expectations and a sense of urgency
- Leads to more stress
- Setting boundaries for ourselves and with others can help and
takes practice
• Everyone has stresses, strengths and limitations
- At times, we may need to be reminded to use self-compassion
about what we do well.
• A more realistic response to stress: “I’m feeling overwhelmed and
tense. I can’t do everything on my to do list; no one could, but I’m
doing my best-and that will have to be good enough for now.”

8. What is Your Stress
Response
Does Stress Causes Changes in Your Routine?
• Food Choices: Eat stress foods for comfort
• Schedule: Change your meal schedule (skip meals, mindless
snacking, eat on the run?)
• Sleep: Have trouble sleeping
• Physical Activity: Exercise less

9. Short term impact of stress:
• Releases a hormone called
corticotropin-releasing
hormone, which suppresses
appetite
• Brain –sends messages to
the adrenal glands to pump
out the hormone epinephrine
also called “adrenaline”.
• When you are in this “fight-
or-flight” stage your brain is
revered up and it temporarily
puts eating on hold.
If stress persists: adrenal gland releases a hormone called cortisone which
actually increases the appetite
Once stressful episode is over cortisol will drop unless stress persists it can leave
the cortisol levels stuck on “on” and stay elevated

10. Stress and Overeating
• Stress, the hormones it unleashes, and the
effects of high-fat, sugary “comfort foods”
push people toward overeating.
• Researchers have linked weight gain to
stress, and according to an American
Psychological Association survey, about
one-fourth of Americans rate their stress
level as 8 or more on a 10-point scale.

11. Stress in the long term
http://fitness.makeupandbeauty.com/stress-hormone-cortisol-and-weight-gain/
o Physical or emotional distress
increases the intake of food
high in fat, sugar, or both
o High cortisol levels, in
combination with high insulin
levels, may be responsible vs
ghrelin, a “hunger hormone,”
may have a role
o High fat and sugar-filled foods
reduce the stress affect in
parts of the brain that produce
and process stress and related
emotions – you are treating the
stress and it is working! THIS
MAY INCREASE OUR STRESS
INDUCED CRAVINGS TO
FOOD!

12. • Some research suggests a gender difference in stress-coping
behavior, with women being more likely to turn to food and men to
alcohol or smoking
• Harvard researchers have found that stress is correlated with
weight gain, but only in those who were overweight at the
beginning of the study period
- One theory is that overweight people have elevated insulin
levels, and stress-related weight gain is more likely to occur in
the presence of high insulin
• How much cortisol people produce in response to stress may also
factor into the stress–weight gain equation
- In 2007, British researchers designed an ingenious study that
showed that people who responded to stress with high
cortisol levels in an experimental setting were more likely to
snack in response to daily hassles in their regular lives than
low-cortisol responders
Gender differences

13. Stress Response:
• Stressed people also lose sleep, exercise less, and
drink more alcohol, all of which can contribute to
excess weight.

14. Food Behaviors and Stress
• Do you know which foods to tend to eat due to stress?
• Do you know how much you eat? (Is it a portioned amount or until
the bag or container is empty)
- Try replacing these foods with alternatives :
• Nuts
• small amount of fruit
• Crunchy veggies and dip
• Soup broth
• If you crave carbs, try complex carbs like air-popped
popcorn or whole grain English muffin
- Portion out the food instead of eating from containers – OR
purchase pre-portioned foods (ex. 100 calorie snack packs of
nuts)
- Keep tempting comfort foods out of the house
- Even better, work towards finding a non-food related activity
instead

15. Non-Food Ways to Manage
Stress
• Meditation
- Studies show that meditation reduces stress
• Most of the research has focused on high blood
pressure and heart disease.
- Meditation may also help people become more mindful of
food choices.
- There’s an app for that! Cleveland Clinic Stress Free
(iPhone)
• Exercise
- Intense exercise increases cortisol levels temporarily, but
low-intensity exercise seems to reduce them.
- Some activities, such as yoga and tai chi, have elements of
both exercise and meditation.

16. Non-Food Ways to Manage
Stress
• Social support.
- Friends, family, and other sources of social support
seem to have a buffering effect on the stress that people
experience.
• For example, research suggests that people working in stressful
situations, like hospital emergency departments, have better
mental health if they have adequate social support.
• Therapy or Counseling
- Can be very helpful for reshaping our thoughts about
daily stresses and managing depression/emotions

17. Stress Busters
4 Ways to Manage Stress
- Positive Self Talk
• I will do the best I can
- Emergency Stress Stopper
• Take 5 Deep Breaths
• Take a walk
- Make Time for Something You Enjoy
• Reading a book
- Learn How To Relax and Practice Often
• Let’s Practice Today

18. Sources
• Adams CE, et al. “Lifestyle Factors and Ghrelin: Critical
Review and Implications for Weight Loss Maintenance,”
Obesity Review (May 2011): Vol. 12, No. 5, electronic
publication.
• Manzoni GM, et al. “Can Relaxation Training Reduce Emotional
Eating in Women with Obesity?” Journal of the American
Dietetic Association (Aug. 2009): Vol. 109, No. 8, pp. 1427–32.
• Mathes WF, et al. “The Biology of Binge Eating,” Appetite
(June 2009): Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 545–53.
• Spencer SJ, et al. “The Glucocorticoid Contribution to
Obesity,” Stress (Feb. 6, 2011): Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 233–46.
• Vicennati V, et al. “Stress-Related Development of Obesity and
Cortisol in Women,” Obesity (Sept. 2009): Vol. 17, No. 9, pp.
1678–83.