Glucocorticoids are a class of hormones that have many functions in the body including helping the body respond in times of stress or danger. They affect metabolism of carbs, proteins and fats. They affect hunger and satiety and influence how we choose our portions. When stress becomes too much or chronic, these hormones are working behind the scenes to affect how much we eat. It\u2019s all too common to skip meals\/snacks or go for too long without eating when we\u2019re stressed and busy. This creates temporary hormonal changes which can lead us to overeat later. It\u2019s common when our blood sugar gets low to reach for a quick fix that might not be the best choice. It\u2019s harder to know what portion is right for your body when you\u2019re hangry. A nutrition deficit can make feelings of stress, depression or anxiety more pronounced.<\/p>\n
Your feelings are valid.<\/strong><\/p>\n These are real biological factors, so don\u2019t heap guilt or blame on top of the stress you\u2019re already under. Let\u2019s stop criticizing ourselves (and others) about what and how much we are eating when we\u2019re stressed. Food choices aren\u2019t \u201cbad\u201d or \u201cundisciplined\u201d; the human body is sending perfectly natural messages as a response to internal and external triggers. The strategy is to make sure we\u2019re eating something regularly through the day about every three hours or so. This regulates blood sugar and modifies the hormonal response in a positive way. Our food choices don\u2019t have to be perfect. We just need to take small steps each day to make sure we\u2019re not skipping meals and snacks. <\/p>\n What to do to feel better<\/strong><\/p>\n Set yourself up for success by bringing fruit, energy bars, protein shakes and other easy snacks with you during your busy day. You know you\u2019re going to be busy and stressed, so plan for that. Set a timer on your phone if needed. Have high fiber foods easily accessible like apples, clementines or bananas in between scheduled meals to regulate blood sugar and give you energy. Don\u2019t just skip meals even if you think you\u2019re too busy. At the very least, bring a protein drink with you to sip on when you can. Ideally, you\u2019ll be able to sit down to a real meal with a protein, starch, vegetable and healthy fat, but if you can\u2019t, don\u2019t just eat nothing. Bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with you and eat it while walking to your next rehearsal. Even eating a couple of cookies is better than starving yourself in the long run because at least they give you some energy for a little while and keep your blood sugar from dropping too low. You\u2019re better off enjoying those two cookies during the day rather than being famished later and then eating too many cookies. Don\u2019t get hung up on perfection. <\/p>\n Be mindful about caffeine intake.<\/strong><\/p>\n During times of stress, try not to over-consume caffeine. I say this with zero judgement because I know how it feels. It\u2019s about balance and knowing your own tolerance levels. Caffeine isn\u2019t all bad; it can assist in focus. However, too much caffeine will amplify stress and make you jittery and less adept at handling daily stress. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and it increases levels of cortisol which is considered the stress hormone. That\u2019s one of those glucocorticoids we mentioned earlier. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant. Leaning too hard on coffee or energy drinks to get you through the day is likely to lead to feeling hangry and ironically energy depleted. A cup of green tea could be a substitute for that highly caffeinated energy drink. <\/p>\n Alcohol increases the stress response.<\/strong><\/p>\n Alcohol is a depressant. Its elevating effects on stress and anxiety are well documented. It absolutely reduces sleep duration and quality. It can affect athletic performance for up to 5 days after even just 1-2 beers. It has 7 calories per gram and affects hormones. For women, it can affect menstruation pain and duration. Limiting or avoiding alcohol in beer, wine and mixed drinks will undoubtedly improve your response to stress.<\/p>\n By Emily C. Harrison MS, RDN, LDN of Nutrition for Great Performances.<\/a><\/p>\n Emily Cook Harrison MS, RD, LD <\/em><\/strong> The post Is stress eating away at you?<\/a> appeared first on Dance Informa Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Stress, emotions and how we\u2019re treated by others all affect how we feel about food and drinks. It\u2019s just part of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":576,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574\/revisions\/576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigrecipes.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Emily](\"https:\/\/www.danceinforma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Emily-Harrison.jpg\")
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Emily is a registered dietitian and holds both a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree in nutrition from Georgia State University, USA. Her master\u2019s thesis research was on elite level ballet dancers and nutrition and she has experience providing nutrition services for weight management, sports nutrition, disordered eating, disease prevention, and food allergies. Emily was a professional dancer for eleven years with the Atlanta Ballet and several other companies. She is a dance educator and the mother of two young children. She now runs the Centre for Dance Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyles. She can be reached at emily@dancernutrition.com
www.dancernutrition.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n