Creating Fulfilling Meals During Times of Stress
Whether it’s due to events occurring in the wider world or pressures in your own life, everyone experiences times that are more stressful than others. Big stressors can disrupt your routine and make ordinary tasks more difficult. If you or someone you care about suffers from an eating disorder, times of stress and upheaval can make it especially challenging to continue healthy, nourishing habits and avoid relapsing. There are ways to find a sense of calm in the storm though, and by applying some of these tips and tricks you can help maintain healthy eating habits and craft nourishing meals in almost any circumstances.
Allowing Yourself to Eat Comfortably
Working on goals such as increasing food flexibility by incorporating new items into your diet can be an important part of your journey; however, during times of stress, it can be helpful to allow yourself to eat foods you are comfortable with regularly. Whatever causes you the least stress and anxiety can be a good option to fall back on when life gets tough. As always, caring for yourself should be a priority and making sure you are receiving the nourishment you need to continue your recovery is a worthy goal in and of itself.
Planning Ahead
Depending on what your situation is, a lack of access to certain items may be a large part of the stress you feel. Not having the foods you want on hand can be discouraging and cause maintaining your goals to be all the more difficult. Planning can help mitigate this issue by taking some of the pressure off of deciding on a meal each day and finding the supplies you need to prepare it. Creating a self care nourishment plan allows you to spend some time considering what the nutritional value of your foods will be in advance so that you can get all the ingredients for well-rounded options during your grocery run.
Take some time at the beginning of each week or so to think about some meals that would work well for you. Planning ahead in this way can allow you to get all the shopping done in one go. This helps take the uncertainty and stress out of the rest of the week by giving you a clear idea of what you will eat each day. If you find that something you need or want for your meals is not available at the store, consider looking up a suitable substitute ingredient to see if it might be available instead.
Prioritizing Your Wellbeing
Sometimes it can be helpful to go back to the basics when planning out your meals and ensure that what you have decided on will meet your nutritional needs. Depending on your unique circumstances, the specifics may vary, but being well-rounded and following any guidelines you have been given by healthcare professionals is generally a very good idea.
If you find you need help resources such as https://centerfordiscovery.com/ can be a good place to turn for professional insight. Don’t hesitate to get any assistance you feel is important for your health. If you are struggling, it is often more constructive to build a network of resources to help you rather than try to fight through it on your own.
Persevering Through Stress
While some periods of life are inarguably more difficult than others, persevering through these times of stress is an amazing accomplishment. Going back to the basics of nutrition and foods that you find the most fulfilling can be good ways to help take some of the stress out of your eating. Being kind to yourself and getting any help you feel you need is also of serious importance and can greatly help you on the path to recovery and success.
