It is 4 pm. The deadline moved up. Your hand is in the biscuit packet.

Stress eating: are you even hungry?

Read the guide

Stress eating meaning

Eating to cope with a feeling, not to answer hunger.

It is common. It is not a character flaw.

In plain words

Many people say: "Stress makes everyone eat more."

In one student survey, 38% said they ate more under stress and 42% said they ate less.

It varies

The 30-second check

Would any food do?

Real hunger can be settled by almost any food. A stress urge usually feels as if only one particular food will do.

Hunger or stress

Before you open the packet

Say "this is stress, not hunger." Rate the urge from 1 to 10.

Then wait 10 minutes and rate it again.

The 10-minute plan

The answer

An urge you do not act on tends to build for a while, then fade.

Hunger is settled by eating.

The answer

What about the 11 pm snack?

The article looks at short sleep and late-night urges, and at the Indian kitchen version: chai, mithai and the 4 pm slump.

Read the full article

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