Many women want to do it all, but when there aren't enough hours in the day, we end up running on empty — literally. According to a recent article in the Daily Mail, a new type of eating disorder, "stressorexia," may be emerging amongst modern women. According to Dr Adrian Lord, consultant psychiatrist at the Cygnet Hospital in Harrow, England:
Stressorexia is not a scientific diagnosis that a doctor would make but anecdotally its symptoms are very prevalent among women.
The more women juggle, the more anxious and stressed out they become. Some say stressorexia starts with a missed lunch and spirals out of control from there, resulting in massive weight loss. When people are too preoccupied to eat, it makes perfect sense.
I'm the kind of person who never skips a meal — I become shaky and irritable — but I know many people who oftentimes look down at their watch and say, "oops, I forgot to eat lunch!" So ladies, even if you're having a stressful day at work or at home with the kids, do you ever fall victim to the "stress diet"?
Dimensione Danza
Suss
Modalu
I used to be like this!
Work work work and forget to eat!
But now, i make sure to eat whenever I hear that grumble! Because i feel so much better and have more energy throughout the day!
1I wish I had that problem! Most often, I use food and snacking as a distraction from doing school work.
2Its not healthy to NOT eat.
3Yeah, sometimes stress effects my eating habits.
4Sheesh. I wish I had that problem too - I'd be so skinny with the amount of stress my job gives me. Instead, I eat comfort food.
5I'm the opposite--I eat more when I'm really stressed!
6Me too, I tend to gain weight when I'm stressed.
7I'm like Dear--I get super shaky if I go too long without eating. Like I'm about to pass out. Guess it's a good thing. Just means I have to eat right and exercise...the old traditional way.
8This is completely me. I eat when I'm hungry and if I'm busy and stressed out, I'm just not hungry. Forgetting a meal or two is commonplace for when things are really humming.
9When I'm stressed out I don't even think about food. I drop weight like crazy.
10Oh. hell. yes.
Between life, work, school, and planning my wedding; I have not been able to put down a full meal since before the fall semester. August? I eat about twice a day, small meals, anything else I become nauseous. My Dr. has me supplementing with a lot of vitamins and fruit smoothies and raw veggies when I feel peckish.
Sigh... weird thing is, there's a lot of positive feedback when you lose weight. I've clearly lost 15lbs. and everyone just says how great I look. Weird society we live in where stressed and thin looks good.
11I'm exactly the opposite; I tend to eat when I'm stressed, so I've never had this trouble.
12chakra_healer, I know what you mean. In highschool I had an eating disorder and I remember how everyone was telling me I was looking great and that I was finally "losing my baby fat." Inside I was so unhappy, I was irritable and weak all the time from not enough food.
Looking back it just feels so sick, you know? Like we're talking my grandma and stuff here - not random people who were saying this. I was clearly depressed and unhappy, but all they saw was my losing weight.
I since got over that and now I eat when I am stressed, which I suppose isn't good in the other direction either. But anyway, yeah, we live in kind of a messed up society when it comes to women's body image.
13Girlfriday, I know! I used to have an eating disorder in high school, and I clearly remember my dad telling me how great I looked after losing 20 pounds (being 90 lbs total at 5'4"). Messed up, isn't it?
I have to eat regardless of whether I'm stressed. One time, after skipping lunch I almost passed out at work when using a chop saw. Not very safe. I didn't even realize how weak I felt until I started to see black. I actually tend to eat healthier when stressed, though, because I stop snacking and just eat a meal instead of lots of little stuff out of boredom. Generally, I function better at a stressed out level than one with no stress.
14I can totally do this. It's not even just "stress", just being really busy is enough. I've spend days where I've been traveling around and on the go all day, and come 6 pm I realize that all I've eaten was a granola bar and a piece of fruit all day.
159-2 i have class. then 2-5 on tuesday/thursday. it's not awful.
16what is awful is my boyfriend's schedule, and how working around that makes it bad. his schedule is 9am - 8 30 pm(!) with a two hour lunch break at 12-2. so i make dinner and we eat around nine. sometimes i get bored and eat some cereal before he gets home, and dont "feel like eating" and end up skipping dinner.
my eatings habits are so so bad. simply because i don't really eat meals. i try for breakfast, but sometimes i come home and i dont want whats in the house or just want pretzels.
it's just a weird time schedule i hope gets better
yeah, I eat more when I'm stressed. Munching on something calms me down.
17When I'm stressed I definitely can't eat. Like when my boyfriend and I broke up for awhile, I didn't really eat at all for a week straight and lost 7 lbs. I completely lose my appetite when I'm stressed or upset.
18Greentea1203 same here. I had a rough relationship issue 2 yrs ago and lost about 12lbs, I was never hungry.
19I'm both, really - I skip meals when stressed or busy, but really shouldn't because my blood sugar plummets and I can barely function. It's a real lose-lose situation, but I've gotten better at controlling it by forcing myself to not skip meals (or at least snack).
20I totally have stressorexia. When I get super nervous and busy I totally forget to eat. Seriously, I forget.
21I do the opposite when I stress. I pick up weight. Not that I go binge eating I actually eat less but it just seems that doesn't matter what I do I all I eat go straight to fat when stressed. So when I'm happy I just loose weight
I'm not kidding I know it's weird. My dad is
the same way, when we are unhappy we pick up weight and stress definitely makes me unhappy.
22I have been really stressed before and lost weight unintentionally.
Like when a really bad breakup happens or a family member is dying.
When my mom had cancer I lost about 30lbs. I was constantly worried about her and couldn't sleep, i had no appetite and when i did eat i would get so nauseas i would almost puke. You would have thought i was the one going through chemo!
23When I get super busy and stressed I reach for frozen pizzas to relieve the stress and because they don't take too much time to make, needless to say, I do NOT lose weight with stress.
24I mostly trie to eat healthy stuff about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. That keeps you running.
But sometimes I veg and eat junk. Winter gets tough. I do manage to realize what I am doing and improve. It doesn't take long to get into better habits, a little at a time....
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