The ultimate guide to stress eating during finals week

Stress eating is a very real phenomenon. When we’re stressed, adrenal gland secretes epinephrine, or adrenaline, which is a hormone which initiates the fight or flight response. This might happen the day of an exam – and temporarily puts our eating on hold. However, if we are exposed to longer periods of stress, such as the run-up to final exams or three ten page papers due in a week, then are adrenal gland secretes increased levels of cortisol. Not only does this boost appetite, motivation and motivation to eat, but also the specific desire and craving for fatty and sugary food.

My strategies for combatting stress eating include: making a cup of tea instead of a snack, going out for a conversation (and cigarette) as a quick study break instead of the Rock cafe and last but not least, eating whatever I feel like.

College is tough, finals can be miserable. At any University, and especially at a high-achieving Ivy like Brown, students put a huge amount of pressure on themselves. This leads to anxiety and deleterious stress. Anything to make it a little bit better is completely needed.

I think it really doesn’t matter what we eat because stress can increase our metabolism and our brain needs a huge amount of energy, so we burn most of it off anyway. It is more important to follow our bodies cravings and indulge when needed. Trying to resist can lead to binging later in the day rather than regularly snacking throughout the day. And anyway, who cares if I gain a little bit of weight over finals? No one.

The Rock is only manageable with munchies.

Tea is the ultimate study buddy. When I lived in England, my mum used to make me so many cups of tea. As much as I am now addicted to coffee, I will always worship tea. Not only is it warm and cozy, but also you can drink so much more than coffee without building up a strong tolerance for caffeine.

More tea = fewer Ds

The main issue about Finals feasting is where to get a constant supply of nibbles. There are dumpling being sold in the Sci Li from 8.30pm onwards – this will definitely help.

Before 7pm, the Ratty cupcakes and ice cream cones are always a great idea. The ratty gets a lot of disdain, but around finals time does it get any better than all you can eat desert? Today there is a Specialty Ice Coffee Bar with flavored syrups. Flavors include caramel, hazelnut, peppermint, vanilla, strawberry wild, raspberry wild, pomegranate, mango and pumpkin spice. Sounds like the best energy booster ever.

The ice cream at the Ratty and V-dub gets super popular around this time. I recommend extra sprinkles.

Past 7pm, the Ivy Room smoothies can be the best fructose fuel. Somehow I only discovered that this was a place my Sophomore year. It was the best realization ever.

Working in your dorm room can be hard, especially if you live with friends, but from my experience eating regular and nutritional meals in-house can be even harder. The ratty, Jos or V-Dub take-out boxes are essential – snagging an extra handful of bananas often comes in handy too.

With the right snacks (and lots of them), any final exam or paper is manageable.