Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 2023, started his free daily newsletter, Arnold’s Pump Club, with the vision of helping as many people as possible stay healthy. And just in a year, he has 600,000 village members (as he likes to say) in his community. Continuing his mission this year, Arnold brings relevant and science-backed information to help his village. In an edition titled ‘How to Stop Stress Eating,’ the former bodybuilder writes about a 2-step technique that can help reduce cravings during stress.
It is now a rather well-known fact that stress can lead to eating more food. And the food that one craves is usually unhealthy. Grabbing a cookie or munching on a bag of chips gives relief at that time because they release chemicals in the brain that make one feel better. But these junk foods have a lot of fat and sugar. And overconsumption of such food can, in the long run, cause multiple health problems.
With the help of a study, the Austrian Oak mentioned that this problem has a simple solution. He wrote about how a straightforward technique can help one’s brain crave more healthy foods under stress.
“You can train your brain to crave healthier options and reduce your stress at the same time.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger mentions that the scientists in the study used Pavlovian conditioning to get to this solution. In the first step of the study, the participants performed a six-minute-long relaxation technique.
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The second step involved the participants eating a piece of fruit while practising the relaxation technique. The results of the study revealed that eating only fruit(without practising relaxation) also helped reduce anxiety.
“By training the mind to associate the two actions, the participants saw that eating fruit alone (without the relaxation technique) reduced stress and anxiety.”
The participants in the study did this once per day for a week and then saw a difference. Hence, doing the 2-step technique helped the participants reduce stress, resulting in less stress eating.
Arnold Schwarzenegger asks his village members to do the 6-minute relaxation technique whenever under stress
The technique mentioned by the seven-time Olympia is called progressive muscle relaxation. In this, one needs to tense every muscle of the body and then gradually let go of the tension and relax.
The Austrian Oak requests his followers to follow this 2-step technique whenever they feel they are under severe stress or anxiety. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been connected with his village since he started Arnold’s Pump Club. And with his interactive platform and science-backed studies, he is doing his bit to help people take care of their mental and physical health.
