Hey Food Finders!

Stress Eating...

We've all been there. Your boss reprimanded at you at work, the kids are sick, your parents are in crisis, your pet got injured, your spouse received a scary health diagnosis, you’re living with a chronic illness, you’re having financial troubles, or ANY combination of these stressful situations hit your life at once!

Sometimes willpower just doesn't cut it.

I could sit here and tell you not to stress eat, to go for a walk, to watch a movie, or to call a friend for support (all great ideas to try first).  But when you’re all alone, the sh** is hitting the fan, and you are an emotional eater, that gallon of Haagen Daaz and the heavenly chocolate 7-layer cake in the freezer that you are “saving for company” starts calling your name!

At first you think, “Noooo I’ll be strong” and you break out the baby carrots.  You sit there mindlessly munching on them, hoping it will be enough to scare off the stress-eating monster, but after eating half a bag of carrots you KNOW it is not working. The desserts in your freezer or pantry are now yelling louder and louder until you throw your carrots down in despair and dive head first into the ice cream, cake, or whatever your vice is. After about 10 minutes of bliss, escaping whatever is stressing you out, a feeling of dread comes over you...

“Oh no!  What have I done?!”

A Real Life Approach to Stress Eating.

We have ALL been there, and anyone who tells you they haven’t is lying. I am not going to tell you that you won’t ever be there again. Stress happens. LIFE HAPPENS, and we deal with it the best way we can to cope with the really tough times. When you have exhausted all the great tips on how not to stress-eat, instead of cashing it all in for the stickiest sweetest, creamiest, saltiest things you can find, there IS a middle ground.  One that will satisfy your emotional needs without making you feel terrible about yourself when you’re done.

There ARE foods, I call them “healthy junk food” that WILL satisfy your need to stress eat when nothing else will.  Of course it’s not as healthy as having an apple or taking a walk, but it is far healthier than the gallon of Haagen Daaz and 7 layer cake that you might polish off if you don’t have the right healthy junk food foods available for these stressful emergencies.

Last night I was stressing, BIG TIME.  

It had been a tough week and I was feeling overwhelmed and worried.  I felt a strong pull to stress eat but I didn’t want to undo all the good that I try to do for myself. I let myself eat a sweet snack and a salty snack. I didn’t even need to eat a huge amount of them, just enough to satisfy that need to calm my anxiety. Sometimes resisting the desire to eat when you’re stressed just gives you more stress, and fuels the desire even more, creating a vicious cycle.  

I try to create strategies to live healthier with food.

I want to share with you my go-to stress eating “healthy junk foods”.  Yes they will be a few extra points and calories, but far less than typical junk food, and many of them have extra nutrients to boot!

Whether you crave salty, crunchy, sweet, chocolatey, and/or chewy, these foods will satisfy your need to stress eat and you won’t feel like you ruined your health when you are done. My criteria for these foods is that they take longer to eat than typical junk food, with a lot of pieces per per serving to satisfy that constant hand-to-mouth motion we seem to need during these moments. They make you feel like you are eating a lot when you really aren’t eating a lot. The nutritional facts are on the healthier side, with something in them that will actually add nutrition to your day, or at least won’t counteract the good you did the rest of your day. Lastly, they are fun foods and don’t taste like “diet food.”

(To purchase any of the foods below, click on their name or pic)

Alyssa’s Healthy Oatmeal Bite Cookies

These are full sized, sweet, chewy, delicious oatmeal cranberry cookies!  They are full of all natural ingredients. They are thick & chewy so you really don’t want to eat more than a few.  There is nothing “diet-y” about this cookie. If you love oatmeal cookies you will love these. 1 Cookie = 1 SP & 45 calories

Veggie Straws by Good Earth

My favorite flavor is Jalapeno.  This snack is perfect for that salty crunchy desire for potato chips but they have 40% less fat than potato chips. Each serving has added nutrients from tomatoes, spinach, beets, broccoli, and carrots! Research has shown that spicy foods satisfy you with a smaller amount, so the jalapeno flavor is perfect. One serving = 40 straws, 4 SP & 130 calories.

Breyers Delights/Halo Top/Enlightened Ice Cream

The 1 pint versions of these are the perfect solution if your normal go to stress eating food is ice cream.  The entire pint is between generally between 240-370 calories & 8-10 SP. Bonus with Halo Top is that each serving has 24g of protein!  If you needed to, you could eat the whole pint and not beat yourself up the next day like you would if you succumb to your old friends Ben & Jerry. I’m not suggesting you do this every day, but it can save you hundreds of calories when you do.

Thinables by Fiber Gourmet

I starting eating Thinables a few years ago.  They taste just like Cheez-Its but they have 50% LESS calories and have tons of fiber! Need I say more?  So if you are craving cheesy, salty, & crunchy, put some of these in your pantry! They also come in cheddar jalapeno, pizza, and other flavors. You can purchase from the FiberGourmet.com website or Amazon.  1 Serving = 30 crackers, 2 SP, and only 60 calories! Not to mention (but I will) the whopping 11g of fiber and 4g of protein in every serving!

Jolly Time Healthy Pop Butter 94% fat free Popcorn

Popcorn is one of the easiest go-to, first line of defense, when the stress eating monster pops up! With popcorn you get volume and quantity for few calories and lots of fiber! This brand uses Non-GMO corn which is a bonus.  Chances are half way through the bag you will be satisfied, and if not and you eat the whole bag, you still won’t break the bank. They are also available in 100 calorie pack bags.

Lily’s Stevia Sweetened Dark Chocolate Chips

These yummy little gems are my go-to for a chocolate fix.  They taste rich and chocolatey, but are sweetened with stevia instead of sugar.  1 serving = 66 chips, only 2sp and 50 calories!

Tootsie Pops

I know you are thinking “Tootsie Pops?! Whhaatt??” Ok so this doesn’t add anything healthy to your day, but the bonus of the tootsie pop is that (as long as you don’t bite it) it takes a LONG time to eat and really satisfies the stress eating monster with it’s sweetness. 1 tootsie pop = 3 SP and 60 calories.

So when the stress eating monster takes over your body, and you really need a “fix”, try these guilty-free healthier junk food alternatives.  They won’t solve your problems, but they will not create new ones!

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Do you have a “healthy-ish junk food” go-to for stress eating?  

Share it with everyone in the Comments below.