Comfort Food for Stress Relief? You Bet!
Whether we face a long-term problem, or experience a bad day, stress is a part of living. Naturally, eating is a part of living, as without food we don’t survive. The act of eating releases the hormone dopamine, which causes humans to want to eat again (think survival). For thousands of years, the stress of food revolved around producing and securing enough. In our society, the stress of food revolves around eating either too much or the ‘wrong thing.’ Why increase stress if we don’t have to? Food should and can be both nourishing and pleasurable.
Can foods elevate our mood? They sure can! I’m speaking of comfort foods. All around the world, each culture has its own version. Ramen noodles hit the spot in Japan, while matzo ball soup is the dish in Israel. In Great Britain folks choose fish and chips. Here in America, we love macaroni and cheese. Any way you slice it, comfort foods are a part of the human condition. 1
Comfort foods ought to be…well…comforting! They are supposed to inspire feelings of nostalgia and remind us of being loved and nurtured. In our weight-centric culture, snappy headlines link comfort foods to weight gain and the ‘obesity epidemic.’2 Stress-inducing language such as ‘indulge,’ ‘sinful,’ ‘cheat meal’ ‘guilt free,’ give comfort foods a bad rap.3 As a dietitian, I hear clients describe their feelings of guilt when they have comfort foods.
Well now… If the thought of comfort food fills us with guilt and shame it is no longer comfort food! Food exists to bring us nourishment as well as pleasure. Satisfying a craving for a favorite comfort food can be a simple act of self-care, so it ought to be stress free.
The daily practice of mindful eating can reduce the stress associated with comfort food. Mindful eating habits include regular meals, honoring hunger, eating slowly while avoiding distractions and respecting fullness. These habits of self-care assist by keeping us healthy and reducing stress.
Let’s dig a little deeper here. Aside from nourishment and pleasure, people may eat from compulsion or pressure. The difference lies in context and consequence.
An example of eating from pressure is being persuaded to eat something we really don’t want. For instance, parents may require their children to clean their plate in order to get dessert.
Emotional eating is a compulsive response to a stimulus, whether negative or positive.
For example: Suzie has just ended an annoying phone call with her mother. While brooding about her disappointing conversation, she pulls ice cream from the freezer and starts eating while standing over the kitchen sink. She didn’t really enjoy the ice cream because she was too focused on how upset she was. Afterwards, she felt guilty about ‘cheating on her diet.’
Let’s change the context: Cherrie’s work week was rainy and cold, and there was serious drama amongst her coworkers. As she drives home on Friday, she notices a strong craving for homemade cream of tomato soup and a gooey grilled cheese sandwich. Saturday morning, she heads to the market to get the ingredients. Cherrie enjoys her meal and begins to feel recharged. She satisfies her craving as an intentional act of self-care.
So, we can see the two contexts resulted in different consequences. Cherrie’s mindful act of planning brought her pleasure and reduced her stress. Suzi’s act of compulsion may have tasted good, but it increased her stress.
Like any other habit, eating mindfully takes practice. Some habits die hard, so be good to yourself. Focus on one new mindful habit for a few weeks before incorporating a new habit. To learn more about mindful eating habits talk with a registered dietitian or check out the following resources:
Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: A Mindful Eating Program to Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle by Michelle May, MD Megrette Fletcher, MS, CDE, RD. Available on Amazon.com or at Am I Hungry.com https://amihungry.com/
Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Available for purchase from Amazon.com or at Intuitive Eating.org https://www.intuitiveeating.org/
3. https://more-love.org/2017/12/13/food-is-not-a-moral-issue/
Written by: Wendy S. Chatham, RDN, LD
Wendy became a Registered Dietitian after serving in the Navy. Currently she serves both as clinical health educator and hospital dietitian. She lives in St Mary's County with her husband and three cats.
Heading off to college? Some tips to help with the transition
Leaving for college can be a very exciting time! There are many checklists out there with all the fun details about how best to be prepared financially, best products for your dorm room, and school supplies galore. But with any change of routine or change in environment it can sometimes lead to challenges. The purpose of this blog is a reminder to plan for success and most importantly normalize the fact the EVERYONE needs help sometimes. Here are a few ideas to help plan for success with an upcoming move to college.
Familiarize yourself with the wellness and mental health services at the school. Many schools have gyms and wellness programs that students can take advantage of. Additionally, most schools offer students access to a counseling program. These services can range from general assistance in adjusting emotionally to college life in the form of individual or group counseling, to more intensive needs for crisis situations. These services are usually free and geared towards the unique needs of college students and campus life.
Be aware of safety services at your school. There are many important numbers to add to your phone when you move to a new environment. Suggestions include adding numbers for campus police, crisis services, and safe ride/sober driver programs. It can also be helpful to have national services such as the suicide prevention lifeline 800-273-8255 and the crisis text line 741741 for text assistance from a crisis counselor. Having these numbers programed into a phone ahead of time will make it easier for someone to access services if needed, either for yourself or for a friend.
Create a calming environment. Decorating a new living space can be a lot of fun, but don’t forget to bring some comfort items in addition to your basic needs. Having items that bring positive memories is a wonderful start, but also having some items that can function as calming supports can be a great tool. Being present and utilizing grounding techniques are great ways to combat anxiety when it creeps up. Simple examples of this include a texture pillow or a snow globe. Focusing on the feel of the pillow or watching the snow slowly fall while utilizing breathing techniques can boost your anxiety fighting efforts.
Secure your support system. Is there family in the area where the college is? When is the first visit planned? Who can you call if you just want to check in? Some of these things might seem like they have obvious answer, but if this is your first time living away from home or in a new environment, it might not be so simple. Identify who you can call and where to go if they need support of any kind.
These are a few ideas to help support your (or your teenagers) transition to college. These suggestions are aimed to be universal, but there may be services specific to the college you are attending. If you are currently receiving services that you would like to continue while away at school (i.e., Individual therapy or psychiatry services), make sure to speak with your clinician before you go. Some clinicians will be able to continue to provide services, but issues of distance and state licensure can interfere. The best plan is to speak with your current clinician directly to identify next steps and tools for locating new providers if needed. Remember, college can be an amazing and sometimes challenging experience, and stress happens to everyone! Don’t forget to reach out for help if you need it!
Written by:
Kristen Wilson, LCSW-C
Therapist
Triggers? Signs of mental health and why it is ok!
We are coming up quickly on one year anniversary of everything shutting down, COVID-19 quarantine, lockdown, whatever you want to call it. The internet has been full of funny memes and gifs devoted to March approaching while we’re all still processing what happened last March! And while the memes might be funny, there is a real ring of truth to the situation.
Truth be told, what a lot of us are dealing with are triggers. Triggers are events, people, places, situations, conversations, etc. that set off a series of memories for people related to a certain event (or series of events) in their lives. Triggers bring back these memories to your mind and can make you feel as though you are living through that event again. They can often be accompanied by feelings of anxiety, sadness, muscle tension, shortness of breath, etc. If you find yourself transported back to memories of an event and aren’t quite sure why, there could be a trigger lurking. For example, my own social media memories popped up this week with a trip to the National Zoo this time last year. That led to thoughts of how different life was this time last year, how carefree things were in comparison, and naturally wistful feelings of wishing life was “normal” again. Sound familiar?
So what do we do when faced with these triggers? In general, the idea is to acknowledge them and try to move forward. Acknowledge them by talking about it with someone: friend, family, therapist, co-worker, etc. You don’t want to get bogged down in feeling helpless and hopeless, but you don’t want to ignore the feelings and thoughts that are there either. A healthy balance between the two is the goal. Then focus your thoughts on what is different from last March.
Having trouble coming up with anything that’s different? Try some of these:
-The world at large has tons more information about COVID-19 than they did a year ago
-Most area schools are working towards opening in person
-Vaccines are being distributed
-What were you able to focus on this past year that you wouldn’t have been able to otherwise?
-How have you/your family been able to adapt over the last year to the required changes in your lifestyle?
-What fears did you have last year that aren’t as pressing today?
Working to reroute your thoughts to things that show the difference between last year and now can help you feel hope. Hope for that light at the end of the tunnel, that breath of fresh air, that normalcy. If you find yourself struggling with triggers that are getting in the way of going about your daily activities, contact us to see if therapy can help.
It can be hard right now to know what symptoms are just dealing with daily life and what are growing towards mental illness. Some common red flags for mental illness are trouble sleeping, dramatic change in appetite, isolating oneself from others, decreased interest in things that used to stimulating, trouble with grades in school for kids, trouble maintaining a normal workload for adults, crying spells, and trouble concentrating. A good general rule of thumb is to look for big changes in how one is functioning. At Hope and Healing we can review your symptoms and help you navigate if therapy will be helpful for you.
Written by:
Meredith Drumm, LCPC, CCTP
Therapist