The 5 Most Powerful Lessons I’ve Learned: Part 1

There are five lessons that I've learned along my journey - and they're so important, I want you to learn them too, especially as we start the new year. Over the next few weeks, I'll share all five with you. This week is Lesson Number One.

Lesson #1:

If hunger isn't my problem, food isn't the solution. Repeat it with me: if hunger isn't my problem, food isn't the solution.

Emotional eating. Yes. This is a tough one. But occasionally when I have something minor going on like stress to get to soccer practice, and I find myself snacking from the kids' plates, this is the time to check myself.

What is at the root of this need I am feeling - is it true hunger for proper fuel for my body, or is it something else, like stress or a bad habit coming to the surface? What is driving my emotional or mindless eating?

Life happens. In the case I described above, lack of organization and poor time management are why I'm snacking and not fueling. How do I combat this? I try to make a plan for each day the night before (my macro-counters, you know this as pre-tracking).

I also try to have healthy, fueling, 'grab & go' style snacks like yogurt, cheese sticks, apples, pretzels and hummus, G2G Bars, etc. with me so I'm not mindlessly eating things that don't benefit me or fuel my body properly.

For the deeper stuff, how do I combat that and work on healthier habits? Therapy, talking things out, saying things out loud to take power away, and changing the channel in my mind are go-to's for me. Sometimes we aren't able to get to the root of this alone, and seeking professional help is the best thing we can do for our mental, physical, and emotional health.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

I also live by "I can't eat it if I don't buy it." This might sound harsh, but it's true. I used to buy things in preparation for nights I'd know I'd eventually want to binge out...I stopped doing that.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Have you ever gone mindlessly searching in the cabinets to snack on something and not find anything in there that sounds good? So you DON'T emotionally eat?? It seems harsh but it works. Not buying foods that don't fuel me properly was one of the quickest ways that I curbed the habit of mindless or emotional eating, and you'll likely save money on groceries, too!

When I hit my nutritional needs consistently during the day by counting my protein, fat and carbs (also known as macro-counting) and eating the proper amount of calories, I naturally don't feel the need to eat as much at night, since many of those late night cabinet raids were fueled by my body telling me it needed more nutrition!

If you don't have those triggering foods in your house, (did you know they are addictive on purpose?) and are more mindful during the day, you're less likely to feel that need to snack late, use food as a coping mechanism, or mindlessly snack instead of properly fueling your body.

Want to learn more about fueling your body properly? Find me on Instagram @raisingmeadowsage or check out my programs here! And stay tuned for Lesson Number TWO next week!