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" It&amp;#039;s that time of year again! The stress has been pouring in. Between work and school, things have been extremely hectic. (Not to mention I picked some rather difficult professors this semester!) One of my worst habits is frequent snacking when I&amp;#039;m feeling the pressure. So this has been something I&amp;#039;ve definitely had to deal with. I have a few alternatives to avoid stress-snacking. Writing has always been one of my biggest passions. Sometimes I&amp;#039;ll just sit and write for hours on end. I write poetry, lyrics, stories\u2014whatever I feel like. One of my friends suggested that when I&amp;#039;m upset about a particular incident or with a specific person to write a letter about whatever is keeping me down. (Thanks, Seth!) Writing is a great way to release some tension and express what I&amp;#039;m feeling or thinking. So if you&amp;#039;re feeling like stress-eating, I suggest doing something you&amp;#039;re passionate about. If all else fails, blast some music and sing along. It&amp;#039;s not only fun\u2014it puts you in a better mood! If I still want to snack, I have a few go-to foods. Fruit is always a good choice, so sometimes I&amp;#039;ll snack on an apple with natural peanut butter. Other times, I have some unsalted natural popcorn. (I even found some at a local dollar store!) On another note, I went out last weekend with a group of friends! I managed to stay on my diet even at a restaurant by watching my portions and checking nutrition info before I got there. Plus, the people I went with were all really supportive, so I didn&amp;#039;t feel odd for paying such close attention to what I was eating. If you know that the restaurant you&amp;#039;re eating at gives huge portions, I suggest sharing a meal or eating some fruit or veggies before you go so that you&amp;#039;re not as tempted to overindulge. Anyway, we had such a great time\u2014so I included a picture of some of the girls and I! (I&amp;#039;m on the very left!)  What do you guys do when you are stressed? How do you handle going out with friends? I would love to hear about it! =] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/fitness/a3279/stress-eating-aab-020409/>