If you hate your job and you are only getting fatter, we need to talk.
We all have those days. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired. When you are not bored at work, you are stressed. And seems like those butthole so-called coworkers that really get on your nerve will not quit; not to mention your unreasonable boss.
You are NOT alone. Gallup’s study found that more than 85% of people wake up Monday morning not wanting to go to work. Hating Mondays has become a prominent pillar of our culture. More people hate Mondays than ever before. This is explained by the fact that job is playing a far bigger role in our modern life than we’ve ever seen; ever.
But what does all that have to do with your stress eating habits? If you hate your job and you are only getting fatter, we need to talk.
Why do stress and hunger go hand in hand? Why do we turn to emotional eating under job stress?
Job stress can cause suppressive hunger due to cortisol release, not to mention that 8% of annual health costs and 120,000 deaths in the US are associated with job hatred, Jeffrey Pfeffer from Harvard found.
But let’s focus here, why does this cortisol make us hungry? And why do we turn to emotional eating under job stress?
The answer in simple English is that our body (exactly our adrenal glands) release cortisol when we feel stressed or scared. This has been happening for thousands of years to homo sapiens when they encountered a fight-or-flight situation; e.g. stumbling upon a lion on their way to lunch. This cortisol is released to balance their blood pressure and they run the heck out.
Now obviously in our modern day and time, there are no lions walking around our concrete roads. Homo sapiens have concord the known world and we are the masters now, or aren’t we?
Now we have different stress and fear sources. They are at our offices everyday. This monster snake called email subject or that god of hatred called Boss-assleous. What do we do now that we have come to this stage and we don’t need to run? We get hungry.
Now that you understand why this is happening to you, here is what you should be doing
I hope you can find some refuge in knowing that you are not alone and that what happens to you is quite normal. But let’s not get too chicken to fight back.
Here are 3 things you should do when you are under work stress.
1. Add job hunting to your daily routine at your typical needless snacking time
This can help shift your attention from the symptom to the cause. You will eventually get accustomed that hating a job should make you job search, not burger munch.
Job hunting long enough will also help you feel more appreciated as you find some workplaces out there that are looking for individuals like you.
It will either put you in peace with your current job or take you to a different one.
Do it at the time you always stress snack, right after work and on your work breaks for most people.
2. Define and declare stress hunger when you spot it.
No matter what happens at the end, whether you go for food or be smart enough not to; always make sure to acknowledge that this is stress hunger, not real hunger.
Doing so will eventually make you smarter with food choices and help you fight emotional eating in a more effective way.
3. Do not reward your stress hunger with delicious food.
When you spot stress hunger and you can’t fight it, go for the least tasty food ever; don’t go for your favorite supersized quattro formaggi.
This will make your hunger less rewarding and will teach your body to get less excited about food when you’re under stress, because it knows that the reward isn’t really worth it.
Stuff your stomach with veggies and salads. Do it till you are completely full if you have to.
Always remember that it’s smarter to fight first and job hunt.