Jealousy, Chocolate, and Change

As we get older, our bodies naturally undergo changes that can make maintaining our weight more challenging than before. But recently, more attention is being drawn towards the impacts our mindsets and nutritional habits play in this process. One professional delving into this area is Tina Hong, an executive health and wellness coach who mentors highly accomplished women. She focuses on helping these women find renewal and reinvention in their second and third acts of life and I interviewed her on the Top Self podcast.  You can listen to the full episode here.  Your Anxious Mood Could be Amplified by Your Food, Episode 59.  

It’s SO much more than just what you’re eating

It's a common misconception that losing weight is mainly about restricting calories and hitting the gym, a myth Tina dispels. Stress and anxiety, for instance, significantly affect our metabolism and blood sugar levels, both of which impact our body's ability to lose weight.

Our thought patterns are just as significant as we imagine. Stress can sky-rocket our blood sugar levels. Therefore, managing stress becomes pivotal in our journey to weight loss. Also, our habits around our eating also have long-term effects if left unchecked. Achieving permanent weight loss is less about a quick-fix diet and more about healing your metabolism over time.

Your Relationship with Food

The emphasis on the mental aspect of weight loss in Tina's approach cannot be ignored and is centered around the importance of one's relationship with food and the significant role it plays in overall health.

Our mindset can be one of our biggest obstacles in losing weight. If you have a deeply ingrained disbelief that you can lose weight, it can hinder your progress.  You hear it all the time, growth follows belief and just as it’s true when trying to tame your jealousy, you have to put faith in yourself that you can make the changes, even if it’s just a little at a time.

If you’re like me, when you’ve had a jealous meltdown or you’re in one of those moods where you’re just not feeling good about yourself, you self-sooth with a bowl of ice cream, or chocolate cake, or a glass of wine.  I see you and I feel you!

One big mindset shift for me is getting used to viewing food as nourishment rather than comfort.  When you change the way you look at food, you look at food differently which leads to a more mindful approach in your food choices.

Creating Healthy Habits

What’s on Your Plate

Tina stresses the importance of developing healthier habits surrounding eating. Her advice is to view food as fuel for your body and source of nourishment. By shifting our mindset from using food as a source of comfort to using it as fuel, we can significantly influence our weight loss journey in a healthier way. This doesn't rule out occasional indulgence, but it recommends a balanced and mindful approach to your meals.

Did you know there are certain foods that cause inflammation in your body?  Prevention.com shares a list of The 21 Best and Worst Foods for inflammation.  Chronic inflammation can damage tissue and organs cause a wide variety of health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and could be behind that brain fog you have. 

I don’t think there would be much argument that sugar is a huge hurdle when it comes to making changes to what’s on your plate.   This is where I myself am starting and doing a 10-day detox from sugar.  In fact, if you’d like to do the challenge yourself, grab the book I’m using called 10-Day Detox Diet by Dr. Mark Hyman.  In the book, he says it has been scientifically proven - “that sugar is more powerfully addictive than alcohol, cocaine, and even heroin.”

I absolutely feel the addictiveness of sugar when I’m secretly waiting for my husband to fall asleep so I can sneak another piece of chocolate in privacy.  Who else is with me??

Nutrition Beyond Your Plate

With all this sugar talk, its no wonder this topic came up on the podcast and the importance of monitoring blood sugar levels for sustaining health, even for those who are not diabetic. It important to understand the relationship between food intake and its immediate effect on blood sugar levels. Tina and I both agreed that incorporating blood sugar monitoring, through using a continuous glucose monitor, into one's wellness routine empowers you to make more informed dietary choices. (More to come on my journey wearing a glucose monitor on next week’s podcast episode #60 with Dr. Ben Galyardt.. I can’t wait for you to hear it).

As someone who suffers from jealousy, practicing breathing techniques and going for a walk can reduce your jealous stress which in turn helps keep your blood sugar level from spiking which in turn helps keep weight off.  Did you also know that too much exercise or cardio only exercise might not be good for you especially at a certain age?  I didn’t either!  Nourishing the body with the right foods and moving it appropriately, not through excessive exercise but through thoughtful, deliberate actions that lead to desired body composition and overall well-being.  

Little Changes for Big Transformations

As with jealousy, weight loss, or any other transformation you’re looking for in your life, it has to start with small changes.  Don’t overdo it or try to do everything as once.  Both journey’s are about becoming more self-aware whether its what your saying to your partner that’s ruining the relationship or how you’re taking care of yourself physically BUT, without your health, none of it matters anyway. 

The information shared in this article is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical advise, diagnosis, or treatment.  Please consult a qualified medical healthcare professional with any questions before implementing any recommendations contained in this article or website.