What If the Craving Isn't Actually Asking for Food?
- Jen Weir
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
You’re stressed.
You walk into the kitchen.
Open the pantry.
Stand there staring at it like something new might have appeared since the last time you checked 20 minutes ago.
You’re not particularly hungry.
But surely there’s something in there that will make you feel better.
Sound familiar?
Or Doomscrolling. Stress levels hit the proverbial fan; your brain is looking for a way out- any way out. Your hand, always happy to help you out, reaches for your phone before you’ve even consciously decided to check it.
Then there’s the now classic Netflix and chill Binge. Although now it’s just stream from 1,001 sources and do your best to choose just one thing, and then chill. That is if it hasn’t taken you 3 hours to finally pick something…
Sometimes “one more episode” isn’t about the show at all. It’s your brain looking for relief after a day of carrying too much.
Stress eating, stress scrolling, and stress entertaining are wild because sometimes what feels like a craving for food, reels, or a show is usually a craving/need for something else entirely.
Comfort.
Relief.
Stimulation.
Reward.
A much-needed break.
A desperate fail-safe attempt to change how you feel.
Food, phones, and TVs just happen to be one of the fastest ways your brain has learned to get there.
Not because I believe you should smell an essential oil instead of eating when your body genuinely needs food.
Please eat the food.
But when reaching for something sweet, salty, crunchy, or carb-loaded has become an automatic stress response, Stress Away can become something else:
A pause between the feeling and the familiar response.
Stress =Pantry run
Most of us have little pet emotional rituals we don't even realize we've created. It goes like this: Something happens. You feel overwhelmed, irritated, lonely, exhausted, worried, or completely over everyone and everything. And before you've consciously decided anything, you're standing in the kitchen, or on th\e sofa, clicker or phone in hand, self-soothing like a pro. The brain is remarkably good at learning associations.
If food, scrolling, or TV have repeatedly provided pleasure, comfort, or distraction during stressful moments, reaching for one or all can become part of the pattern.
So rather than only fighting the behavior by declaring, “I need more self-control!!”, wisdom says it's better to interrupt the pattern long enough to ask, "What am I actually needing right now?"
This is where you start to use the oil in a way that creates change, not just smells delicious.
Smell has unusually direct connections with brain regions involved in emotion and memory. A familiar aroma can become part of a deliberate sensory ritual: inhale, pause, have the awareness of what's happening internally, and then decide what you actually need.
And Stress Away has an absolutely delightful aromatic profile for doing exactly that.
What's Actually in Stress Away?
Obviously, these oils are incredible individually. But synergistically blended together?
You have one stunning oil blend.
Copaiba, think Ground
Copaiba contains high levels of beta-caryophyllene, a constituent that interacts with CB2 receptors within the body's endocannabinoid system. Aromatically, it's soft, woody, and grounding. I think of Copaiba as the turn down the volume component of this blend.
When everything internally feels LOUD, Copaiba contributes a deeper, steadier note.
Lime, think Shift
Then somebody threw Lime into the mix. And I love that. Because sometimes you don't necessarily want to become sleepy when you're stressed. You want a state change. Lime is bright, fresh, and uplifting. Citrus aromas have been studied for their potential effects on mood and perceived stress. If stress snacking is partly your brain saying,"Give me something. I need a little dopamine hit here," the bright sensory experience of Lime gives your brain something completely different to notice.
Ocotea, think Warm
Ocotea brings a warm, spicy sweetness to Stress Away. You'll sometimes hear claims that Ocotea controls blood sugar, reduces appetite, or eliminates cravings. And while the research behind that is pretty amazing, we're aren't going ot blow sunshine here and make blanket promises we can't actually keep for every single person. But aromatically?I will make sweet promises all day long. This oil is an incredibly comforting, satisfying sensory experience that makes Stress Away feel less like CALM DOWN and more like..."Come here, sweetheart. You're okay. Let's figure out what you actually need."
There's a difference.
Vanilla, think Comfort
This may be one of my favorite parts of the entire formulation. Because what are we frequently searching for when we stress eat? Comfort.n Vanilla smells like comfort has an address. Vanilla is associated with sweetness, warmth, pleasure, and reward. Smelling something pleasurable doesn't magically eliminate hunger or cravings. But it sure does offer another source of sensory satisfaction. Instead of immediately reaching for food, your phone, or the clicker to change how you feel, you've introduced another pleasurable sensory experience first.
Cedarwood, think Settled
Deep.
Woody.
Earthy.
Grounding.
Cedarwood anchors the brighter Lime and sweeter Vanilla notes beautifully. It's most often used during bedtime routines and moments when people just want to create a quieter, more chill vibe.
Lavender, think Exhale
And then, of course, there's Lavender. Lavender is probably the most recognizable calming essential oil, and has a huge amount of research surrounding relaxation, stress, and anxiety to back this up. Lavender is the exhale in this blend that wraps the whole experience in a stunning little bow of peace and calm.
Stress Away Isn't an Appetite Suppressant
Of course, the obligatory disclaimer that this essential oil does cannot be called an appetite suppressant. This oil helps interrupt the patterns and will cause you to pause ot think about why you're in the kitchen... again. Why are you sitting on the couch, clicker in hand, for a 3rd night in a row? And why, oh why did you just send your friend 1,001 reels at 2 AM when you know you're getting up at 6 AM?!
And I definitely don't want you turning Stress Away into another tool for judging yourself because you ate the cookie anyway. This oil is meant to give answers and assistance to begin changing patterns.
This is perhaps the old pattern:
Stress >nervous-system activation > desire for comfort/reward > automatic snacking
Now we are working to put in a new pattern:
Stress > Stress Away> breathe > pause > notice >"What do I actually need?" > a more intentional response
Maybe the answer is food.
Eat.
Maybe you are exhausted.
Rest.
Maybe you're furious and haven't admitted it.
So deal with that first, then grab the cookie, phone or clicker if you still want it.
Maybe you've been sitting at your computer for six hours, and your body wants movement.
Move.
Maybe you're lonely.
Call someone.
Maybe you're overstimulated and don't need one more thing; you need ten minutes where nobody wants anything from you.
Take them.
The win isn't that you didn't eat, scroll, or click.
The win is that you stopped long enough to discover what you actually needed.
Stress Is Common. Constant Stress Shouldn't Be the Prize.
People sometimes talk about chronic stress as though it's simply the admission price for adulthood. "Everybody's stressed." Yes, it would appear so. But just because something is common doesn't make it normal.
I'll say that again: just because something is common does not make it normal.
Yes.
Stress does happen. But it is not suppose to be part of the adulting goodie package. There are ways, means, and practices to mitigate stress in our lives.
is part of being alive.
Our bodies are designed to respond to challenges and then move toward recovery. The problem is when activation becomes the default setting, and we continually push through without creating opportunities for recovery.
Eventually that pattern can spill into sleep, relationships, work, eating behaviors, emotional regulation, and how we experience our own lives. The answer isn't just become better at tolerating more stress. A better answer is recognizing when something needs to change.
Questions Worth Considering
What am I carrying?
What am I repeatedly reacting to?
What have I normalized that isn't working anymore?
What response have I practiced so many times that it now happens automatically?
What would choosing differently look like?
Try This the Next Time You Find Yourself Standing in the Pantry
Before grabbing anything, smell Stress Away. Not because you're forbidden to eat, scroll, or binge-watch. But because you're a curious person.
Take a few slow breaths and ask yourself, "Am I physically hungry or am I trying to change how I feel?"
If you're hungry, then by all means, eat. But if you're looking for comfort, relief, stimulation, reward, or escape, give yourself a minute before automatically reaching for the strategy you've always used. Then choose. That teeny tiny space between stimulus and response is where things begin to change. Maybe that's why so many people have loved Stress Away over the years. It smells incredible, no doubt about that.
But when you intentionally attach it to a new response, the aroma itself becomes a sweet reminder to:
Pause. Breathe. Pay attention. Choose.
Sometimes the craving isn't asking for food, scrolls, or binging.
Sometimes it's asking you to FINALLY listen.
Stress Away can become the pattern interruption. Before opening another app or scrolling another 30 minutes, ask: “Am I actually interested in this, or am I trying to change how I feel?”
Before automatically hitting Next Episode, reach for Stress Away, breathe deeply, and give yourself a minute to downshift. Then ask: “Do I genuinely want to keep watching, or am I too activated, tired, or emotionally full to transition into actual rest?”
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