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How to Overcome Emotional & Stress Eating

Emotional & Stress Eating: Causes & Solutions

The modern world as we know it can be quite tolling on our mental health. And this can lead to all sorts of mental health issues like stress and anxiety. However, the issues don\’t stop there since mental health issues can lead to further health issues because of things like stress eating. If you are hearing about stress eating or emotional eating for the first time, then you are definitely at the right place! We will be going through all the important details regarding emotional eating and learning everything about it. More importantly, you can learn about the symptoms of stress eating and how you can overcome emotional eating with simple lifestyle changes. What is Stress Eating or Emotional Eating? When people turn to food to pacify themselves in a state of emotional imbalance, we call it emotional eating. Emotional eating is associated with mindless eating without being actually hungry. Although, if you’re an emotional eater, you might think you’re hungry when you’re stressed out. But, there is a difference between feeling hungry because of stress and being physically hungry. Actual Hunger vs Emotional Hunger To better understand emotional eating, let\’s learn about the differences between actual hunger and emotional hunger which leads to emotional or stress eating: Emotional hunger feels more like a sudden craving, whereas physical hunger comes gradually. If you are emotional eating, you will end up binge eating without minding the food quantities. For example, you may eat a whole bag of chips or a whole tub of ice cream without realizing how much you are eating. Emotional hunger comes after an emotional trigger and physical hunger generally takes place around your usual meal timings. While emotional hunger will be satisfied after eating a lot of food or feeling mentally better, physical hunger will be satisfied by eating just as per your usual appetite. Emotional hunger makes you turn to your favorite comfort food only and you will be eating particular food items. On the other hand, you will be open to more options if you are feeling physical hunger. Even if you end up eating a lot of food due to physical hunger, you won\’t feel guilty afterward. On the other hand, emotional hunger will definitely make you feel bad about binge eating. Whenever you are physically hungry, you will feel the effects of it in your stomach due to a growling sensation or something similar. However, emotional hunger is all in your mind and it is more of a thought than a feeling in your stomach. Symptoms of Stress Eating While there are various scenarios that can lead up to stress eating, the overall symptoms or reasons leading to emotional eating will be usually similar. Even if you recently had lunch or dinner, you may end up getting stressed due to work, studies, personal issues, or any other thing going on in your life. And if any of these factors make you crave eating snacks, then it is definitely a symptom of stress eating. While it is fairly normal to face such an experience once in a while, depending on food to overcome mental stress and agitation on a regular basis is definitely a matter of concern. Stress Eating is More Dangerous than you Think Now that you know more about emotional & stress eating, let\’s learn more about the dangers and effects of emotional eating: Weight Gain Relying on food to temporarily improve your mental health will make you eat much more food than required. Hence, it can result in serious weight gain issues over time. Lifestyle Diseases Since stress eating generally makes you eat comfort food including junk food and processed food items, it can lead to various lifestyle diseases like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, heart problems, and much more. Economical Effects Apart from its effects on your physical health, eating a lot of food due to stress and anxiety can also have economical effects since you may end up spending a lot on food that you generally wouldn\’t eat. Mental Toll Even though you are opting for stress eating to overcome mental stress, emotional eating itself will also lead to a mental toll. If you are stress-eating on a regular basis, you will eventually start feeling guilty for the same which can make you further stressed about your health. Why do People Turn to Stress Eating? There can be multiple possible reasons leading to emotional eating including financial stress, relationship stress, work-related stress, and so on. Stressing out creates a sense of emotional vacuum in the mind. Because of this, people turn to stress eating as a way to overcome the stress in their daily lives. Eating food will make you feel psychologically full, thereby creating an illusion of filling any emotional void. These cravings are mostly for comfort food and fast food items that act as a dopamine hit and make you feel better. This is obviously a temporary relief because the hunger is for emotional fullness, not physical. And as discussed earlier, this dopamine hit comes at the cost of all kinds of health effects. Identifying Emotional Triggers Leading to Stress Eating: If you are struggling with emotional eating, then there are definitely some emotional triggers that make you do so. And if you want to overcome stress eating or emotional eating, identifying these triggers is highly important. Some common emotional triggers leading to stress eating include: Daily Life Stress As mentioned earlier, stress from various events in your daily life is one of the biggest emotional triggers of stress eating. Behavioral Habits For some, eating habits can be carried from their childhood to their adulthood. This simply means that if your parents rewarded you with food while feeling low, then you may build up a habit of the same. Social Gatherings While hanging out with friends is definitely great to reduce stress, people tend to hang out at restaurants and cafes. Hence, you may end up binge eating or stress eating in the name of a

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Importance of Physical Activity

Benefits of Physical Activity

Being active is a great way to keep all sorts of health problems at bay. There are various benefits of physical activity for everyone irrespective of your age. Regular physical activity is highly crucial for improving your health and vitals. Regular exercise can assist in preventing or delaying various health issues. Moreover, being active can make you feel and look better today and in the future. In fact, lack of physical activity can result in frequent hospital visits due to various lifestyle diseases. Thus, we are here with a complete guide on the benefits of physical activity for beginners: Benefits of Physical Activity To start, let’s take a look at the benefits of physical activity. Explore these seven ways in which exercising can make you healthier and happier: Helps with Weight Control Regular exercise can help in losing weight and avoiding weight gain by burning calories . The more intense your workout, the higher amount of calories you\’ll be burning. Regular visits to the gym are always beneficial even if you aren\’t able to work out each day. Any amount of exercise is better than nothing. Enhances Mood Do you need an emotional lift? Or are you looking to relax after an extended day? An exercise session at the gym or going for a brisk walk can definitely help. One of the best benefits of physical activity is that it releases endorphins into your brain. These endorphins make you feel calmer, happier, and less anxious. You even feel more confident about yourself with regular physical activity. Reduces Stress If you\’re stressed, it is recommended to go for some sort of physical activity. Stress not only affects the quality of your sleep but also the immune system. It causes a build-up of harmful oxygen radicals in the body that lead to different diseases. Thus, physical exercise can be highly effective in decreasing stress. When you\’re feeling stressed, consider going for a short workout session or a brisk walk. You\’ll surely notice changes in your disposition. Strengthens Muscles And Bones As you age, you begin losing muscle mass and bone density. That\’s why a lot of women over 30 suffer from arthritis, loose skin, and osteoporosis. Regular physical activity increases mineral density in bones to protect them from osteoporosis. Strength training can also help increase strength, muscle mass, and endurance. Lowers High Blood Pressure High blood pressure can cause heart attacks, strokes, or even death in extreme cases. It is usually caused by a poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle, or genetic inheritance. If you are suffering from high blood pressure or hypertension, it is important to ensure that you eat right and stay physically active. Relief from Physical Discomforts Physical activity can help with joint aches like lower back or knee pain. A good workout routine can be helpful for persistent aches and long-term injuries. Although, make sure to consult a doctor first for your workout regime in case of joint aches. Increased Energy Levels Your body goes through a surge of hormones when you exercise. These hormones offer a boost in energy that can help you overcome fatigue and improve focus. This boost in energy is particularly beneficial for those suffering from chronic fatigue. Benefits of Physical Activity for Child Development Physical activity is extremely crucial for mental and physical growth of children and teenagers. Thus, children should be encouraged to exercise from an early age.  The benefits of physical activity also help create links between brains and nerves. It helps with brain development, motor skills, personal awareness, social interactions, imagination, and more. Regular physical activity even increases oxygen flow in the body and removes toxins. It also helps in keeping all vitals in check for growing children. Hence, even children and teenagers should also stay physically active and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It is essential for improving their physical and mental health. How to Increase Physical Activity? Now that you know about the various benefits of physical activity, let\’s see how you can increase physical activity in our daily lives: Household Chores: Doing chores is an excellent method to stay active and fit. So make it a habit to tidy up and clear up your home on a regular basis. Walking Meetings: You can increase physical activity at work by having call and in-person meetings while taking a walk. Public Transportation: Try to use public transport instead of a personal vehicle. Taking the bus or train will allow you to walk large distances to stay active instead of sitting in your car. Take the Stairs: You can simply take stairs instead of the elevator to increase your physical activity. Even if you are only climbing a few floors, it will still add up quite a lot to your daily physical activity. Dance and Aerobics: Dancing is an enjoyable and exciting way to increase your physical activity for weight loss. It\’s a great way to pump your heart to increase endurance and burn calories. Dancing is a great way to work out without using any equipment. Tips to Avoid Injuries during Physical Activity While regular physical activity is quite important, you should be careful and avoid all injuries. For the same, you can consider these points: Warm-up for 5-10 minutes before and cool down for 5-10 minutes after your workouts. Start slow and gradually increase your activity unless you work out on a regular basis. Select the right clothes and shoes specifically for your exercise. Replace your shoes every six months as the cushioning wears away. Exercising in humid and hot weather can result in overheating and dehydration. Make sure to stay hydrated and avoid working out in extreme temperatures. Avoid exercising if you\’re feeling sick or tired. Reduce your physical activity if you can\’t complete an exercise routine or feel tired after exercising or throughout the day. Conclusion Physical activity is crucial if you want to shed weight, reach fitness goals, and improve your vitals. There are various health benefits of physical activity irrespective of your age and gender.

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How to Get Rid of Bloating?

Remember the time when you were looking forward to an exciting day? Then it got ruined because you got a bloated stomach? We’ve all had such an experience at least once for sure! Is it because of something you ate or because you didn’t eat? Since it can be quite frustrating, today we will learn how to get rid of bloating and more.  In this article, we will be discussing the definition, symptoms, causes, and finally, tips to prevent bloating. What is Bloating? First of all, it is common to have a bloated stomach and it can happen occasionally. Bloating is a gassy feeling in your stomach that you may have experienced often. It makes your stomach feel tight or pressured with gas and gives you an uneasy feeling. While this usually goes away on its own, sometimes it does take remedies to get better. Although, if you experience a bloated stomach quite often, then you should seek medical help for it. Symptoms of Bloating Bloating can have varying symptoms depending on person to person. If you are facing bloating, you can experience a few or all of the symptoms given below: Gas Pain in the abdominal area Belching/burping frequently Nausea While these symptoms are among the common ones, it’s possible that you might face some other symptoms as well. In any case, if it\’s bothering you a lot, make sure to consult a doctor before making any changes in your lifestyle or diet. Causes of Bloating While we have already seen the possible symptoms, let’s take a look at the possible causes of bloating as well. Again, these are not all of the possible causes, just the common ones. Mostly, it’s a matter of your diet, lifestyle, or even your health issues in some cases as explained here: Too many carbs: Carbs, particularly processed carbs, require water to break down into energy. Having too many carbs causes water retention leading to bloating. Fast eating: If you eat or drink too quickly, the increased amount of swallowed air leads to gas. Excess salt: Salt is an integral part of your diet but having too much salt causes water retention resulting in bloating. Constipation: When you are constipated, the stool in your system gets fermented by bacteria leading to gas and bloating. Food Intolerance: You may be intolerant to some food types which can affect your digestive system resulting in bloating. Therefore, it is advisable to try to identify if you experience bloating after consuming a certain type of food item. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS): PMS happens because of changes in hormones when the menstrual cycle is about to begin which leads to water retention as a PMS symptom. Hence, most women experience bloating because of this. Celiac disease: It is an autoimmune disease where the small intestine is not able to absorb nutrients from the food properly, leading to bloating and gas. Overeating: Eating too much food can lead to bloating or gas as now you will have more food than required to digest. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS): It is a disorder that affects the large intestine and bloating is one of the common symptoms of IBS. FODMAP: When you consume high FODMAP foods, your body draws in more water into the intestine which leads to bloating. How to Reduce Bloating Immediately? By now, you may be wondering if there is anything that can provide you immediate relief from a bloated stomach. So, let’s have a look at some remedies that can help with bloating in the short term: Stay hydrated: Make sure to drink plenty of water in order to avoid water retention in the body and also to flush off excess sodium from the body. Yoga: Doing yoga can improve your blood flow in the digestive tract and can also ease the pain caused by bloating. Take a walk: A walk or any light exercise that moves your body can be beneficial in the movement of gas in your digestive tract which can give you relief from bloating. Ginger/lemon tea: Ginger and lemon are known to be good for the digestive system and also provide relief to the stomach from bloating or gas. Avoid too much sodium: Intake of more sodium can cause more bloating hence try to reduce your sodium intake. Tips to Prevent Bloating Now, let’s look at some tips through which you can prevent bloating in the future. Carbs: When carbs don’t get broken down completely it leads to bloating. Therefore, be careful of the carbs you are having, and try to avoid processed carbs. High Fiber: Fiber is really good in your diet, but having too much of it can lead to issues of bloating and gas. Avoid overeating: Try having your meals at regular or proper intervals so that you don’t overeat on a specific meal. Food Intolerance: Be aware of the food items you are intolerant to, as they can be a common cause of your bloated stomach Chew food properly: In order to avoid fast eating, try to chew your meals properly and focus only on eating without any distractions. Limit bloating causing food: There are some healthy food items like beans, lentils, broccoli, etc. which when consumed in high quantities can lead to bloating or gas. Exercise regularly: Having some regular physical activity can help in keeping your body healthy and avoiding frequent bloating. Probiotics: Your gut contains good and bad bacteria, and if the bad bacteria increases, then it can lead to stomach issues like bloating. Probiotics help in increasing the good bacteria, thus helping in preventing bloating. Food sources for probiotics are curd, yogurt, buttermilk, kafir, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc. Try out these suggestions next time you experience bloating and to improve your digestive health. We hope that this article helped you in preventing bloating as we have covered pretty much everything important about bloating. If it did, make sure to leave your thoughts and questions in the comments down below.

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All About Calorie Deficit

Calorie Deficit : Everything You Need To Know

Do you get confused about what exactly is a calorie deficit every time someone mentions weight loss and why do you need to be in it to lose weight? Nowadays, calorie deficit diets are trending everywhere but it is still a complex concept to understand. And so, we are here to help you in understanding everything about calorie deficit diets!  In this article, you will learn what a calorie deficit is and the different factors that are important to get into a calorie deficit and achieve your dream body. What is a Calorie? To better understand calorie deficit and calorie deficit diets, you must first be familiar with the term calorie. Every cell of your body requires energy in order to perform its functions effectively. Hence, a calorie is a unit that is there to measure energy. To be more exact, a calorie is defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water from 0 to 1 degree Celsius. For example, 1 gram of carbohydrate is equal to 4 calories. Every food item has some calories but the difference is whether it has any nutritional value or not. The calories present in junk food are empty calories because they do not contain any nutritional value. What is Calorie Deficit? If you are on a weight loss or fat loss journey, then you would have certainly heard about a calorie deficit diet. When you consume fewer calories than your body burns during the whole day, it\’s called being in a calorie deficit. Creating a calorie deficit helps in aiding weight loss, hence it is a crucial thing to do if you want to lose weight or fat. For example, if your daily calorie requirement is 2000 Kcal where you consume1800 Kcal a day depending on your goals. Doing this will create a deficit of 200 Kcal. Now, in order to dig deeper into this topic, you will have to be familiar with the concept of TDEE. TDEE TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure. As the name suggests, it is the total energy you need to consume in terms of calories from food to perform your daily bodily functions. This includes body functions such as breathing, digestion, and others even while being at rest. TDEE also considers the extra activity you perform throughout the day. It includes physical activity like exercising, walking, daily chores, and more. To better understand TDEE, let’s look at the different components required to calculate it. BMR: It stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. It is the rate at which your body burns calories to keep the body functioning at rest. It accounts for about 60-70% of the daily calories burned. TEF: It stands for Thermic Effect of Food. It is the energy which is there to digest and process different macronutrients in your diet. TEF can vary from person to person based on the amount of macronutrients consumed. While TEF is different for different macronutrients, the most common estimate for TEF is around 10% of your total calorie intake. TEA: It stands for Thermic Effect of Activity. It is the measure of how many calories you will burn during your training and workouts, or any other extra physical activity that you do on a daily basis. How to Calculate Calorie Deficit? When you calculate your calorie deficit, you have to first calculate your TDEE which includes multiple components. And then, you can create a deficit according to how much you think should be the ideal deficit according to your goals. It\’s better not to go above a deficit of 25-30% generally in order to stay in a healthy deficit. Let’s have a look at the formulas that can be used to calculate the BMR, TEF, TEA, and finally TDEE. BMR For Men: BMR = 10*weight (Kg) + 6.25*height (cm) – 5*age (years) + 5 For Women: BMR = 10*weight (Kg) + 6.25*height (cm) – 5*age (years) – 161 TEF As explained earlier, it is around 10% of your total calorie intake. TEA The thermic effect of activity depends on the intensity of training you are involved in. So, the formulas are also modified according to the different levels of activities: Sedentary: if you have little or no exercise may be because of a desk job, then TEA=BMR*1.2 Lightly Active: Light exercise or playing sports 1-3 days per week, then TEA=BMR*1.375 Moderately Active: Moderate exercise or playing sports 3-5 days per week, then TEA=BMR*1.55 Very Active: Intense exercise or playing sports 6-7 days per week, then TEA=BMR*1.725 Extra Active: Highly intense exercise, training twice a day, playing sports, or having a physical job daily, then TEA=BMR*1.9 TDEE After using all of the above formulas you are ready to calculate your TDEE, which is as follows: TDEE = BMR + TEF + TEA This is the formula used to determine a person’s daily energy expenditure and a calorie deficit can be created using this. Although, these are not the only things a nutrition coach keeps in mind while devising a plan. They take many more factors into account while planning your meals in a way that you get proper nutrition while having fewer calories. Factors Affecting Calorie Requirement By now, you would have guessed that there is no \”one size fits all\” criteria for a calorie deficit. You can’t go into the same deficit as someone else because everyone has different bodies. As for the factors that can affect a person’s calorie requirement, you need to consider the following to calculate a calorie deficit: Age: As a person’s age increases, their calorie requirement decreases.  Sex: Males naturally have a higher calorie requirement than females. Hence, their deficits are different. Height: Height has a direct impact on a person\’s BMR, and the higher the BMR, the higher is the calorie requirement. Thus, it is an important factor while creating a deficit. Weight: Similar to a person\’s height, their weight is also a direct factor of BMR. Hence, it also affects a person’s calorie requirement. Metabolism:

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How Metabolism Affects Weight Loss

Metabolism and Weight Loss: Affects of Metabolism

Have you ever wondered why your friend can eat anything and everything and still look the same? And you might wonder about the relationship between metabolism and weight loss and then continue to blame your metabolism? In fact, if you have ever tried to lose weight you must have heard about having a slow metabolism as well. Thus, further in this article, we will look at what exactly is metabolism and the factors that affect your metabolism. You will also learn the role of physical activity, and lastly, what can you do to improve your metabolism. So, let’s explore everything you need to learn about metabolism and how it affects weight loss. What is Metabolism? Before moving on to the factors affecting metabolism, let’s look at the basic definition of it. Metabolism is the process by which the body converts the food you consume into energy. It determines the rate at which your body burns calories. Since it’s a complex process that combines calories and oxygen to create and release energy, it is broken down into two separate processes: Catabolism: It is the breakdown of food into simpler components, releasing energy. Anabolism: It uses the energy from catabolism to build and repair cells as well as for bodily functions. These both processes come together to make up your metabolism which helps in your daily bodily functions. What is BMR? Your body burns calories even while doing basic functions such as respiration, digestion, nervous functions, and more even while being at rest. And the rate at which your body burns calories to keep the body functioning at rest is determined by BMR i.e. Basal Metabolic Rate. In fact, it accounts for about 60-70% of the daily calories burned because of which BMR can affect weight loss as well.  Slow v/s Fast Metabolism for Weight Loss In the past, you may have heard about having a slow or a fast metabolism. So, let’s see why different metabolism exists. The speed of metabolism varies from person to person and some part of it depends on genetics as well. Hence, you can have a slow or fast metabolism irrespective of your body size. If your body is burning fewer calories than required, then the excess energy is stored in the form of fat. Hence, if you have a slow metabolism with a slower calorie-burning rate, it can result in difficulty in losing weight. While on the flip side, if you have a fast metabolism, your body burns calories at a faster rate which explains why your friend still looks the same even after having literally anything in their diet. Major factors that define how your metabolism is the way it is are lifestyle-related; so you may be able to control how your metabolism works. Metabolism and Weight Loss The reason you are not able to see changes in your weight cannot entirely be your metabolism’s fault. The process of weight loss or weight gain is a complicated one, so there’s no one specific factor that affects your progress.  To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit which essentially means consuming fewer calories than what you burn in an entire day. If you are gaining weight, then it is most probably because you are consuming more calories than you are burning. Metabolism can affect your weight loss as it can be a bit easier to lose for those with a fast metabolism. Because if you have a fast metabolism, you will be burning more calories which can make up for the calories that you consume throughout the day. However, a slow metabolism cannot make you gain excess weight unless you have some sort of medical condition or you are in a calorie surplus. Factors affecting Metabolism and Weight Loss Genetics are just a small part of the reason why your metabolism might be affected. Instead, a major part is played by two types of factors including lifestyle and medical factors which are as follows: Lifestyle factors affecting Metabolism Unlike what you would expect, your metabolism is not only affected by medical factors but also lifestyle factors like the following: Age: With increasing age, BMR lowers and people tend to lose muscle mass which causes their metabolism to slow down. Physical Activity: With regular workouts, you can burn more calories than your BMR and build lean muscle mass which can effectively fasten up the metabolism. Body size and composition: Higher the weight, the higher is the BMR. Hence, it is more likely that a person with a higher weight will burn calories at a faster rate.  Gender: Men have relatively more muscles than women of the same age and weight which helps them burn more calories. Sleep: Sleep plays an important role in keeping your metabolism normal. Lack of sleep slows down your metabolism and can trigger food cravings as well. Stress: Cortisol is a stress hormone that your body produces naturally. An increase in stress levels can increase cortisol levels which can affect your carbohydrate and fat metabolism. While this is useful for basic human survival, it can cause cravings which can cause weight gain due to increased calorie consumption. Medical factors affecting Metabolism Medical conditions can play a significant role in determining the cause behind your metabolism as well. Hence, it is important to be aware of these factors: Hypothyroidism: It happens when there isn’t enough thyroid hormone in the bloodstream which slows down the metabolism. Cushing’s disease: Here, the cortisol levels are high which leads to increased appetite resulting in an effective slower metabolism. Polycystic ovary syndrome: Women with PCOS, particularly with insulin resistance, have a low BMR which leads to a slower metabolism that can hinder weight loss. Pituitary gland disorders: The pituitary gland secretes hormones for the proper functioning of your body. Hence, any disturbance in this process can cause hormone imbalances which can affect your metabolism. Improving your Metabolism for Weight Loss By now we know what metabolism is, what all types are there, and the

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