Did you know that at least 89% of Indian adult population suffer from problematic stress? Yes, I know. The number is huge and it is a fact to ponder about. Although, this stat is just a figure out o normal situations. When we live in our regular mundane lives.
Getting up in the morning, commuting to work and trying to meet the deadlines every day. Nobody is alien to the fact that the current times are not any normal times. These are gloomy and never-before situation. A novel virus has taken over the world and the governments have to seal movements across the country to contain the effect of it.
Most population in the whole world is working from home and not allowed to step out of their houses without any purpose. That is for everyone's safety, but there can be some side-effects of these controlled and limited movements and horrifying challenging situation and a growing point for stress.
How Do You Know You are in Stress
Being in stress does not have to be clinical. It can be as normal as living your daily routine, with some changes that you can notice only if paid attention. It can anything that you might be doing unconsciously to cut your stress down. Stress eating, watching too much T.V or staring at your laptop/phone screen for hours.
Some people sleep a lot or hardly sleep as an effect of the situations. If you are one of those people who try to cut their lockdown stress through these ways, then you might be interested in some quick and easy tips and ideas to manage it.
Because rack-less eating or binge-watching would only suppress the stress and what you need is actual management and vent for it.
How to Manage Stress Eating, Anxiety in Lockdown
Anything that is done in an abnormal amount than usual, it can be a symptom of stress. Sleeping for more than usual hours can be a clear sign of stress. Similarly, eating more than you require, or more than what you eat in your usual day can also be a symptom of stress-eating.
Hogging of chips and snack every second hour or gulping down coffees can be your mechanism to tackle the stress that has occurred due to these terrifying situations. Stress eating is a thing that can be harmful in longer terms. Weight gain and other health effects are quite possible.
Here we have some ideas that can help you avoid stress eating during the lockdown
Keep a Food Journal
The purpose of this food journal/diary would be to track your eating habits. Write down what you ate, when you ate it and compare it with your appetite or hunger. For example, if you ate one parantha in your breakfast, then note it down.
This will remind you that you have eaten enough to keep you going for next 2-3 hours at least. This will help you in cutting down the excess snacking in-between.
Swap the Food
If you have the habit of eating some small treat every few hours and all those chips and biscuits are taking a lot to your health, then what you can do is that you can swap your calorie-rich snack with some healthy home-made snacks.
Like keep some sprouts in your kitchen or make chana-dal bhel as an evening snack. Prepare lemonade for the home family that you all can appreciate in this hot weather.
Manage Your Sugar Cravings
Sugar is not bad, excess sugar is. While we are sitting inside our homes and the most distance we are walking is from our bedroom to our kitchen or living-room, then it is very necessary to cut down your sugar intake. I have been craving for the baked-goods a lot lately.
But we need to control those emotional cravings. Good fresh fruit is a very good option to swap your sugar-laden snack with. Eat an apple or watermelon or mango. They are fresh and in season.
Indulge in Workout
As we discussed, we are sitting inside or houses and eating a lot of food. Cakes are being baked, samosas, panipuri, and whatnot. Everything is cooking in our kitchen. We miss out-side food. But. All this food can be the reason for your sudden weight gain.
And waiting for this situation to calm down and then going to the gym, I quite uncertain right now. So, instead of day-dreaming and eating, spare 30-40 minutes for a good workout at home every day. It will help you in managing your weight.
Meditation is the Key Here
In the end, if we talk about the root cause of it, then we are eating out of stress. So, the most promising thing to do is to hit that spot. Manage your stress.
That doesn’t mean to distract yourself, the way is to meditate. To spend some minutes with your inner self in solitude. You definitely will feel better and less stressed. If your mind is racing and you can't meditate, you may benefit from reaching out to a mental health professional. For example, the licensed counselors at BetterHelp can assist you in clearing your mind.
You can use these tips to manage stress eating or anxiety in your daily life. We are going to be in this situation indefinitely. We need to keep following social-distancing, but our minds and emotions should always stay collected and connected.
Conclusion
Eating is connected to emotions. You eat as per your emotions and that can be your body's way to tell that you need something extra to tackle the situation. These are hard and never-before times. But, the least we can do is to stay strong and positive.
Try not to watch the news more than necessary. Eat natural and home-made. Drink loads of water and spend quality time with your family. Soon, everything will make sense.
Author bio:
I am Shraddha, graduate from Amity University and associated with OMKITCHEN. I am a passionate content creator who likes to produce informative and engaging content related to health and lifestyle. When not doing that, you can find me trying different kinds of organic food and herbal teas.