Comfort Eating to Avoid Blizzard Bloat

Snow Days - They’re the best and worst days of the year for people who love food

You’re enjoying the surprise day off, seldom-seen nearby neighbors, and delicious goodies you’ve stocked up at the last minute for the storm. It’s so fun, but you’re dreading the aftermath – feeling that blizzard bloat of a few more pounds around the middle.

Not to mention the holed up feeling of angst that triggers the urge to devour everything in sight

Then we have the added disadvantage of being biologically programmed to crave fatty, salty and sweet foods. In fact, the brain has a hard time distinguishing between stress and hunger. And eating when you’re stressed really lays on the pounds.

But there’s no need to feel guilty, or despairing. While we are biologically programmed to eat when stressed, there is a simple way to tame the urge and let us choose the things we really want to enjoy eating and drinking.

My advice is to decide on one or two delicious – and healthy – recipes with multiple servings to have at your finger-tips at home. It makes the most of the time you spend in the kitchen and keeps you from being a short-order cook.

To take stress out of your life (and high calories out of your diet), get in the habit of preparing batch meals ahead of time—preferably on weekends, when you are not as rushed or tired as you are during the week. This is such an important concept that an entire section of Diet Simple is dedicated to batch cooking recipes.

Batch cooking involves preparing quick and easy dinners ahead of time so that you always have something in the freezer or refrigerator that is ready to eat on a moment’s notice.

How does “White Beans with Garlic and Basil” sound? How about “Veal Stew with Carrots La Boutard,” “Chili Non Carne”? They’re homemade, and require only a few minutes to reheat. Once you make the batches, divide them into serving sizes and keep them in airtight containers in the refrigerator, and some in the freezer.

Studies show you’re more likely to eat whatever is in your environment. If you surround yourself with delicious, healthy, wholesome foods, that’s what you’ll end up eating. It’s simple physics: We naturally take the path of least resistance. So why not make things easy on yourself? Plan to make a few batch meals on weekends so you and your family will have wonderful food at your fingertips during snow days.