Is Food Your Anxiety Treatment?

Is food your refuge?

When you can’t handle the stress, is food your anxiety treatment?

Cleaning up your diet feels great, but when you fall off the wagon and eat unhealthy foods do you beat yourself up about it?

When you allow yourself to eat foods that aren’t ideal without guilt on occasion you free yourself up to really enjoy food instead of feeling controlled by a rigid diet!

Good food and good friends are both important parts of life. 

You don’t have to feel deprived to make real change in your health by choosing healthier foods! You really don’t!

Dr. Mark Hyman is a Clinical Nutritionist.  You can trust that he is one doctor who knows what he is talking about when it comes to food.

The following is an excerpt from a recent post on Dr. Hyman’s blog.

Let it invite you to lighten up, so you can realize REAL success with both your diet AND your life!

Eating better is about feeling better!

So, focus on what will help, and let the rest fall away!

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Get back to basics

Are you one of those people who live for extremes, the all or nothing approach?  It’s very common to hear people rationalize their motives for straying from their diet protocol because something “off limits” slipped in at a family party or event.

Or maybe a stressful morning or afternoon led you to indulge in potentially inflammatory food.  The easiest and healthiest way to regain your sense of competence with a lifestyle modification program is to forget about the details and focus on the basics.  When you are back in flow you can resume the details.  Remember these principles the next time you need to reboot your body:

• Eat real, unprocessed, whole foods

• Make 50 percent of your plate a variety of colorful vegetables, 75 percent if you are on the Advanced Plan of the BSS

• Clean up your pantry. Toss all packaged and convenience foods including anything with trans fats or high fructose corn syrup

• Eat a protein-based meal or snack every 3 to 4 hours

• Focus on making your meal a low-glycemic load. Hint: remove all refined flours and unnecessary sweeteners including anything artificial

• Avoid all potential food sensitivities and allergens especially gluten and dairy

Plan, prep, and proceed

The ultimate way to keep yourself on the wagon or give yourself a boost back on if you have fallen off is to have a plan, account for prep work, and proceed until you see the moment through.  If you know you are going to a restaurant and you are not sure of the menu, a simple Google search can help calm you so your company gets more of your attention than the menu.

If you are going on the road, pack an emergency food kit with blood sugar stabilizing foods.

When I leave home, I usually bring some of the following:

• An ice pack and a small cooler

• Water

• Almonds or walnuts

• Can of sardines

• Hummus, tahini, or cashew butter in a 1 ounce salad dressing container for easy storage

• Carrots, sugar snap peas, or other stable veggies

• An apple

• Dark chocolate, 70% or higher

These are my staples but I would encourage you to find out what works for you.  Consider that in any situation the possibility to upgrade your food choice exists so you can optimize the quality of your nutrition.  Yes, you always have choice!

Speaking of choices, don’t hesitate to use your voice.  You would be surprised at the power we all have as consumers.  If you are at a restaurant remember you are in the driver’s seat and it is the restaurant’s goal for you to leave happy.

Ask for the gluten-free option, request fresh vegetables with olive oil on the side, and insist on having your meal prepared as you desire.  Sometimes labels can be deceiving and ingredients do not match the enticing menu descriptions.

By exercising your right to have a deliciously healthy meal you do more than simply get better quality food, you help trigger a ripple effect of change in our country to have consumers drive the market to a healthier restaurant experience.

Let go of perfectionism – it’s killing you!

I’ll fill you in on a little secret of mine: I don’t eat perfectly all the time.  But then again what I consider “perfect” means something different than conventional wisdom’s understanding of the word.  To me, eating well means providing my body with the nutrition it needs so that I can live the quality of life, which keeps me in flow.

Sometimes this means I have to eat something that doesn’t quite meet my standards or in some situations I eat something I normally wouldn’t.  I like to call this “recreational” eating- it is more for entertainment, socializing, and amusement than for systemic health.

As long as I know my body is in the appropriate state to handle a treat, I call upon my secret weapon for UltraWellness: the 90:10 Rule.  Ninety percent of the time I eat an anti-inflammatory, real, whole foods diet and ten percent of the time I leave room for the unexpected.  This way, I am not flustered or deprived when I go to events.

And more so, I don’t let a good moment pass due to fear, anxiety, or guilt around not being perfect.  This negative mindset actually fuels the flames of inflammation as much or more than eating a single, small portion of a recreational food.  So when you are on a break, give yourself a break!

Trust the process

At the end of the day our goal is to find happiness.

Original Article Source: Dr. Hyman’s Blog

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Forgiving yourself is the key to finding your flow. 

You might feel silly letting yourself off the hook after a day of terrible food choices but beating yourself up about it just isn’t going to help.

Why do you do the things you do?

You don’t need to know the answer to that question to give yourself a break.

You don’t need an excuse!

Heart Failure Solutions and The Life Breath Coach encourage you to work toward acknowledging emotions without being sabotaged by them!

The Secret to making that happen consistently lies with Sacred Breathing.

Sacred Breathing is the key to addressing every health concern from asthma to heart failure and it is also the key to processing difficult emotion!

Processing difficult emotions quickly and easily is effective anxiety treatment that can keep you from making bad choices.

Click on the link or blue button below to learn about the most important book you will ever read concerning weight loss OR life threatening health crisis!

Therapy For Emotional Eating

 

Many blessings,

Carrie Tucker, RCP

The Life Breath Coach

Heart Failure Solutions

AND

“Ambassador of Breathing Techniques” on HowToLiveOnPurpose.com

 

PS– Remember everyday:

• Relax and Release tension
• Exhale Slowly
• Be active in a way that adds Joy to your life

Plus pure water ~whole foods~sunshine~and laughter