The 10-Second Habit Dietitians Recommend to Curb Stress-Eating

Before reaching for that snack, try “in for five and out for five.”

Reviewed by Dietitian Katey Davidson, M.Sc.FN, RD, CPT

Key Points

• Stress-eating often starts with triggers, not physical hunger cues.
• A 10-second breathing pause can help you slow down and check in.
• Taking a pause can help you make more intentional, less reactive eating choices.

Stress-eating usually doesn’t start with hunger. It starts with a trigger, like a bad email or a tense conversation. If you use eating as a way to cope with stress, you may find yourself reaching for something crunchy or sweet before you’ve even had time to think about it.

Eating in response to stress is common, and food can absolutely be a source of comfort. But if it’s starting to feel automatic or out of control, it can help to build in a small pause.

One simple strategy dietitians recommend is a 10-second habit called slowed diaphragmatic breathing. The idea is not to talk yourself out of eating. It’s to slow the moment down just enough to check in—are you physically hungry, emotionally overloaded or both? Here’s why this may help.

Why Slow Diaphragmatic Breathing Can Help with Stress-Eating

Diaphragmatic breathing means breathing into your diaphragm, a dome-shaped muscle located in the upper abdomen that is the primary muscle used for breathing. For context, it’s the same muscle that gets activated when you have hiccups.

“When we’re stressed or anxious, your body naturally tries to bring itself back into balance,” says Alissa Rumsey, M.S., RD. For many people, one way that shows up is the urge to eat. But food doesn’t always address the full picture, especially when your nervous system is still activated. Rumsey explains that diaphragmatic breathing can help because it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps shift the body out of a heightened stress response and into a more regulated state.

One review study found that diaphragmatic breath work was associated with lower self-reported stress and better mental health outcomes compared with control conditions. Another study also found that voluntary slow breathing can influence heart rate variability, which is a marker of autonomic nervous system regulation. Together, this research suggests that slowing your breath may help signal to your body that the immediate stressor has passed, and can help your body start to relax.

During stress, the body shifts into “fight-or-flight” mode and stress hormones rise, which can make highly palatable foods become more appealing. Research also shows an association between emotional eating and stress, along with other forms of psychological distress, which may help explain why people often reach for comfort foods when they feel overwhelmed.

This is why allowing your body to relax before eating can be helpful. Stress-driven eating is often sudden and cue-driven, while physical hunger tends to build more gradually, explains Serena Pratt, M.S., RDN. She adds that the goal of diaphragmatic breathing is not to stop yourself from eating, but to create enough space to make a more intentional choice about what you eat.

How to Do It

Here’s how to practice diaphragmatic breathing for yourself.

1. Place one hand on your chest and one on your belly.
2. Inhale slowly through your nose, letting your belly expand for a count to five.
3. Exhale slowly through your mouth, letting your belly fall for a count to five.
4. Repeat for a few breaths. Even three to five rounds can help take the edge off the urgency.

Once you have taken those breaths, it can be helpful to check in with yourself, says Shauna McQueen, RD. Some questions to ask might be: Are you physically hungry? Do you want comfort? Are you tired, overstimulated or looking for a break? These questions can help you tease apart physical hunger from a stress-driven urge to feel comforted, adds Pratt.

Once you’ve completed the breathing exercise, you may still decide to eat—and that’s perfectly fine. In fact, sometimes food is part of what you need. The point of taking a moment to breathe is not to override your body, but rather to interrupt the automatic habit of eating. When you eat more intentionally, the food is more likely to feel grounding and satisfying, instead of leaving you uncomfortably full and frustrated afterward, explains Rumsey.

Other Tips for Stress-Eating

Here are a few other realistic, nonrestrictive ways dietitians recommend managing stress-eating:

• Eat Consistently Throughout the Day. Pratt emphasizes the importance of regular meals and snacks. She explains that going too long without eating can make the urge to stress-eat feel more intense later on.
• Don’t Skip the Carbs. Under-eating carbohydrates can leave you feeling energy-depleted, which may make it harder to cope when stress hits, explains Rumsey.
• Identify the Role of Food. Are you trying to soothe yourself? Procrastinate? Take a break? Identifying the function of the food can help you respond with more clarity, suggests McQueen.
• Use Other Coping Strategies. Food can be one tool, but having others to choose from can help. Pratt suggests options like taking a walk, listening to music, texting a friend or stepping away from your screen for five minutes.
• Drop the Guilt. If you do end up stress-eating for comfort, you don’t need to feel ashamed about it. It can absolutely be a normal response. Pratt suggests letting go of guilt around food choices and approaching the situation with more self-compassion.

Our Expert Take

Using food as a way to comfort yourself during stressful times is normal. Stress-eating can be a sign that your body and brain are trying to find relief in the fastest, most familiar way available. However, it’s helpful to have other coping strategies so it doesn’t become your only go-to.

That’s what makes this 10-second diaphragmatic breathing technique useful. It doesn’t ask you to suppress the urge to eat, but rather gives you a moment to come back into your body before responding. Sometimes that pause will still lead you to food, and sometimes it will point you toward a different kind of support. Either way, the value lies in shifting from a reflexive reaction to a more grounded choice.