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Category: Stress Eating

3 Reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating (and the solution)

Posted on by tmAdmin

There are three reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating. And according to a recent survey by Precision Nutrition, you’re not alone.

Nutritional Challenges - emotional eating
nutritional challenges – how can I stop emotional eating

3 Reasons why you can’t stop stress and emotional eating

Awareness is key. Notice when stress, emotional eating and cravings happen. There’s often a pattern that’s triggered by certain thoughts, feelings or situations.

#1 So first, notice, do intense cravings happen when you’re restricting certain foods or calories on a “diet” or restrictive meal plan?

That’s why I find it crazy that so many of us go to them as solutions to the challenges of cravings, overeating, stress/emotional eating. Yup, often they’re the CAUSE!

Yes, read that again.

So the solution is to stop dieting and going to restrictive meal plans to improve your health and well-being. That’s why I take a non-diet, no meal plans approach – focused on improving your eating behaviors and relationship to food and your body (and your entire self-care) to help you feel and be your best self.

Sucking diet BS out of your head - how can I stop emotional eating
How can I stop emotional eating

# 2 Second, do you find yourself stress or emotional eating when you are exhausted?

Maybe you’re not sleeping well (or your list of reasons) so you find yourself in a pattern of drinking tons of coffee and/or reaching for sweets to get through another day – to give you more energy.

Nope you don’t have a problem with sweets. You’re exhausted. Let’s figure out how to get you sleeping better or whatever is causing your fatigue.

# 3 Third, consider your why?

Why do you crave crunchy potato chips every Sunday night (or every evening)? Are you feeling stressed and anxious about heading back to another day in a toxic work environment?

Again, it’s common for us to try and solve cravings or overeating by dieting or restricting that specific food — when it’s not a food problem. The challenge is coming from feeling stressed or ___(lonely, angry, sad etc.) about work or __ (whatever the cause is for you).

The solution is to recognize your triggers and then find alternate solutions – to break this unwanted pattern.

Want to gain insights into your unwanted eating habits and find deep health solutions to change them? The list of stress, emotional eating, and cravings triggers is endless and unique to you.

Complete my free self-care assessment and let’s get you scheduled for a 30-minute chat to get started.

To your happiness and health, ♡ Tanya

Living Like Your Hair is on Fire

Posted on by tmAdmin

Do you live your life like it’s an emergency?

I was guilty of that, too!

I had an ah-ha moment at the grocery store one day while I was rushing around like a madwoman. Out of nowhere, I had this moment of clarity and said to myself, “What am I doing!?” I couldn’t believe the tizzy I was in! I thought, “If I just slowed down and it took me one extra minute to get from the parking lot to the produce section, what effect could that have on my overall well-being?”

You see I had been stuck in this chronic cycle of “there’s not enough time”. From the moment I woke up in the morning to the time I finally calmed down and got to bed, I never stopped living life like my hair was one fire. And I could feel the nasty effects throughout my entire body.

We need downtime to let our bodies and minds rest and heal from all the stress they experience daily. Low-level stress accumulates in your body over time and compounds to become dis-ease.

Rx for Slowing Down

So, what can we do about it? How do we start to slow down and create that sense of “presence” our bodies and minds need? First, take a moment to reflect: What’s your personal rhythm? Are you constantly stressed due to a lack of vitamin T (time)? If yes, keep reading.

The ultimate game-changer for me was learning to set my mornings up for success.

Before you get ready for your day, try taking 5 minutes to yourself. During that short period of time, do some deep breathing, listen to gentle music, or repeat an uplifting mantra. Any of these simple activities will help set the tone of your day.

Are you thinking, “But I don’t have time in the morning for that?“ I hear ya. I felt the same way. But then I realized that my poor relationship with time was setting me up for stress each and every day.

What helped me conquer my morning freakout was going to bed and getting up an extra 15 minutes early.

Just 15 minutes. That’s not much right? But it can make a huge impact on your day. By getting up 15 minutes early, I was able to have some vital me-time that helped me feel grounded and centered, instead of rushed and stressed out.

Practice this simple strategy first. Once it becomes established, part of your daily routine just take a mid-day mini break to shift your cycle of stress.

My 3 Tips for Mini Stress Relief Breaks:

  • If you sit at a computer day-in, day-out, try setting a timer every 30 minutes. When that timer goes off, take a few minutes to stand up, stretch and enjoy a little break.
  • Or, better yet, lock your office door and pop on a 3 minute Body Groove video or something like it. Sure, it might sounds a bit silly, but dancing around for just a few minutes is actually really fun and can make a huge difference on your stress levels! Seriously, even if you just watch this video, you’ll be sure to smile and laugh and probably think I’m nuts – haha!
  • But if that’s not your style, take a walk, get outside, and breathe in some fresh air.

No matter which way you do it, taking breaks and having some “me-time” can help stop chronic stress in its tracks, and help ward off future disease.

  • Tanya