It won't surprise you to know that stress, and how you react to it, can be tangled up in your eating patterns.  Stress presses your body's panic button, and unleashes a cascade of internal chemical reactions

that affect your feelings and your body.  Stress activates your fight or flight response with the release 

of adrenaline and cortisol.  This process can alter digestion and your relationship with food.

If your stay stressed for long periods, your body's daily cortisol cycle will spiral out of whack, upsetting

the normal internal conversation. Chronic stress allows these affects to continue indefinitely.

While we all have stress in our lives, each of us will respond to it differently and that includes how, when and what we choose to eat. Some people become obsessive compulsive, and use strict food management 

to gain a sense of control over a stressful situation, especially one that is ongoing.  Others retreat from stress, taking comfort in their favorite foods.  You must break that link to food in order to reset that connection, and move on. 

Check out the next post to find ways to deal with stress.