Healthy Ways to Process Stress & Emotions Without Alcohol

Are you ready to beat emotional eating, once and for all?

If you’re someone who struggles with emotional eating, know that you’re not alone! Eating because you feel upset, or worried, or stressed, or bored, is something that affects MANY of us!

Check out 9 ways to process and feel emotions and stress without resorting to food or alcohol:

1. Take 5 slow, deep breathes. Slowing down and focusing on your breathe helps you to be more present, and allows your pre-frontal cortex (the part of your brain that chooses actions based on GOALS) to make decisions.
2. Call a loved one. Talking to someone about my emotions and stressors always helps me feel better.
3. Listen to your favorite music. Whether it’s calming classical music or heavy rap, listen to one or two of your favorite songs when you’re feeling stressed or emotional.
4. Unless you’re feeling true physical hunger, food/alcohol WON’T “fix” the root cause of your stress or emotions. In fact, chances are you’ll end up feeling worse about yourself after you stress eat because you may regret your choices.
5. Scream, cry, and simply FEEL your feelings. Nobody enjoys feeling upset or stressed, so we try to find quick fixes to make us happy. Instead of looking for that instant gratification that food provides, allow yourself to FEEL and PROCESS whatever is bothering you so you can move on.
6. Take 5 minutes to journal. Writing about your feelings is a great way to process them.
7. Complete a task that you find enjoyable. Whether it’s painting, or reading, or playing a game on your phone, spend a few minutes doing a task that makes you happy.
8. List 5 things you’re grateful for. No matter how rough life gets or how upset we may feel, focusing on gratitude helps you find the positive in your situation and puts life in perspective.
9. Take a quick walk (outdoors if possible). Research suggests that walking outside helps clear your mind AND helps process those not-so-pleasant emotions.

Have you found other ways to process stress or emotions without eating?