If you’re stressed and looking for food to comfort you, step away from the ice cream. Indulging in high-fat treats will make you feel good for a few minutes, but then reality hits. Now you’re still stressed and you’ve got something else to worry about: all those calories you just inhaled. Who needs that? With the help of Patricia Bannan, MS, RD, author of the upcoming Eat Right When Time Is Tight (NorLightsPress, 2010), we’ve uncovered six fast fixes to help you deal with your stress without going to the next jeans size.

Have a hot date tonight?
Feel slimmed down superfast by drinking a cup of hot or iced herbal tea. Bannan suggests that herbs like peppermint, spearmint, and chamomile may lessen the gas in your body so you’ll feel svelte (not to mention more confident).

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Frazzled at work?
Calm your nerves by nibbling on a handful of pistachios. Research finds that eating pistachios may reduce the body's response to the stressors of everyday life by reducing blood pressure. What’s more, 30 pistachios are only about 100 calories—and that’s at least 200 fewer calories than any snack in the vending machine!