Tag: Eating

Health Habits of Happiness #1: Hara Hachi Bu

Post author By AMANDA WRIGHT
Post date February 2, 2017

I have to say, I’m a little fascinated with Japan and now I have reason to be even more so. I have been so lucky to have been able to travel there 4 times so far since my stepdaughter lives there right now, stationed with her mom and her stepdad in the navy.

Every time we travel to Tokyo and the surrounding cities, I am in awe of the culture. They are very clean people (I once saw a man who’s sole job was the clean the grates and cracks of the metal part you step on right before hopping on a escalator), they are incredibly gracious people (bowing to you every time you enter their store and when you leave it), and they are very healthy people (ranked 5th on Bloomberg’s list of healthiest nations in 2015—the US was ranked 33rd, btw).

It was of no surprise that when I was researching the BEST and most foundational habits to build in your nutrition (as is covered in my soon to be released Nutrient Based Eating book), one of the best practices for eating in moderation originated in a Japanese province.

Okinawa, Japan is considered one of the coveted “Blue Zone” areas of the world which are those cities that have a high population of Centenarians, or those people who live over the age of 100. Naturally, these populations of people cause us to look deeper into their nutrition habits and cultures to speculate what their longevity and health secrets are.

While there are some surprises we find from this population, such as while they are Japanese residents, they actually don’t eat as much fish as we would expect. Their eating is largely centered around plant-based eating and holistic food choices.

But, what is truly impactful to their longevity is the principle called “Hara Hachi Bu” (or Hara Hachi Bun Me) which means “eat until your belly is 80% full.”

It is the mindful approach to portion control and calorie restriction which has lead to an extended life and a higher quality life in older age.

According to the Wikipedia page, it is believed that the average Okinawan resident eats only between 1,800-1,900 calories per day. Whereas another study showed that the US, (once again not to be outdone!), ranked #1 with the most calories consumed per day with an average of 3,770!

So, while there will be a time and place to address WHAT you’re eating, one solid habit to form is simply HOW you’re eating.

This habit of avoiding overeating will be invaluable to your long term health and pave the way for you to be able to enjoy the foods you like the most, simply in moderation.

Can you learn to stop eating at 80% full? Yes, I know you can. Here are some mindful eating tips to help you.

1. Remember, like all habits, this will take about 63 days to form, so focus on it by itself.

Dr. Caroline Leaf and associated neuroscientists have proven that while a memory takes 21-days to form, an actual habit of automated behavior takes 63 days.

So, you need to go into the habit fully expecting the daily practice sessions to be long and bumpy. The thing about this habit is it requires several cues that we so easily forget to do simply because of the pace in which our life. So while it is technically one habit of registering fullness and stopping eating, it will involve several other behavioral habits that are the remainder of this list.

This is why, in my Nutrient Based Eating program I have all clients focus on just ONE nutritional habit at a time. Trying to achieve this while simultaneously working on food choices, eliminating food groups etc, is simply too overwhelming for our brain to handle. With this one, give yourself 2 solid months of discipline and diligence!

2. Stop Multitasking Eating

Now, I get it. With all the things you have going on in your busy life, you sometimes think the only time you can squeeze in remembering to eat might be at your office while you're fielding emails or scarfing on a snack while you’re driving, but the reality is that these behaviors are not just bad for the cause of overeating, but also for digestion and drawing out the vitamins and minerals from your foods.

Remember, while food is certainly enjoyable, it’s also designed to help fuel your body and a very important aspect of that is digestion! When you are eating too fast and eating on the run, your body does not digest the foods as well and you are robbed of some of the necessary vitamins and minerals you need! The stress levels of a hurried lifestyle impact far more than you’ve bargained for. So pencil in your meal times without any distractors! Give yourself 15-20 mins to eat!

3. Practice Registering Hunger/Satiety Cues:

On a previous blog, I went over the difference between hunger and cravings and the importance of eating when you’re about a level 7 on a scale of 1-10 of the hunger scale. Equally important is knowing your satiety scale as well. In this case, you will want to stop eating at a level 4-5 of the hunger scale and note that it will take your body 15-20 mins to fully register fullness (hormonally).

4. Remove Food From Your Sight:

We will all mindlessly eat when food is right in front of us. So going to buffets and stocking your office or home living room with candy dishes are not the way to easily achieve this goal.

As much as you can, remove food from your sight. If you are at a restaurant, simply cover it with your napkin or put the remainder in a to-go container. If you are cooking at home, put your meal on a plate (a smaller plate, at that) instead of eating out of a bag, box or while standing in front of a refrigerator or pantry! Come up with easy solutions to help you manage the mindless eating that we will all get caught doing from time-to-time.

For more great ideas of for mindless eating hacks, I really enjoyed the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink.

For other great blogs and resources on our appetites and mindful eating, I really enjoyed the blog posted by my certification company, Precision Nutrition. You can check out their awesome blogs here.

Ready to SUPERCHARGE your nutrition in 2017?

Get this FREE guide of the TOP 10 NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES AND WHERE TO FIND THEM FOR LESS CALORIES.

Studies are showing that some of the most common weight loss diets are also the least nutrient sufficient in the vital vitamins and minerals! Other studies also show that multivitamins are NOT the answer, as huge metadata results indicate they are associated with higher mortality rates!

My FREE guide not only gives you where to find these most common deficient vitamins and minerals, but also gives you the serving size and nutrition data to help you get the least amount of calories per food choice!

I even put all the information together into 2 days of menus that ensures you can get all the vitamins and minerals for UNDER 1700 calories!

Tags 80% full, appetite, binge eating, Eating, habit, hara hachi bu, hara hachi bun, hari hachi bu, Health, japanese, nutrition, one habit, Overeating, portion control., Women

Food & Nutrition Spiritual Health

So I’ve Been Hearing Brene Brown’s Voice in My Sleep…

Post author By AMANDA WRIGHT
Post date December 9, 2016

the-voice-of-brene-brown-in-my-sleep

Well, I should say, I've been falling asleep to my Audible app playing in my headphones as I sleep (is that dangerous?) and her book, "Men, Women and Worthiness” has been speaking to me as I drift off. She’s an incredible author who has researched the areas of shame, vulnerability, empathy, and love for the last 15 years.

This book, and so many of the other's she's authored, triggered a memory I had that still is with me today. It’s a story of my shame and overeating issues.

I was in college, my Junior year maybe, and my girlfriends and I were all up at my friends' parents' beach house in Newport Beach, CA.

Now, I don’t know what college was like for you, but college for me was a time that, in retrospect, I believe was my most insecure. I suffered from the “trifecta” of not feeling “good enough.”

Spiritually I felt a bit like a heathen and a harlot attending a private Christian school after having sown some wild oats in my high school days.

Mentally, I felt largely inadequate as I struggled to achieve mostly B’s and some C’s in my Biochemistry major, while everyone else, who studied less than me, scored higher than me.

Then, physically, I believed I struggled the most. I was a Colorado girl, tall, athletic, and curvy who was surrounded by a lot of SoCal girls who were beautiful, petite and small-framed.

Naturally, due to my body insecurities during this time of my life, I was a workout queen. Sometimes taking 3 classes in a row at the local 24 Hour Fitness and training for some half and (almost) full marathons, a task that I now know does NOT fit my body type.

My copious exercise routines, combined with the massive amount of stress of school, made me hungry like a Mrs. Pac-Man going rogue, especially on sweets.

As we walked into the house in Newport Beach, we learned that my friend's mom had just had a birthday and there was some leftover cake…gooey, chocolatey, overly-indulgent, cake.

Game over.

All of us gathered around with our forks and dug in. (What’s a little sick is that I can still vividly picture this cake in my mind, a good 11 years later.)

Naturally, with something so decadent, most of the girls stopped at a few bites.

And I tried.

But every time I sat down, all I could taste was chocolate and all I could think was, “Don't eat the cake, don't eat the cake..." Meanwhile all my feet and fork seemed to hear was, “Cake…cake... cake" and before I knew it, I would be up having a few more bites. Then a few more after that.

Then I heard it...

My friend, in a failed attempt at whispering, said, "God, when is she going to stop eating that cake?"

Que the spiral of shame.

I pretended like I didn't hear it and just sat down. But, I was devastated.

I wonder, do you have any memory like this?

Where someone mentioned something about your eating or your weight and it just triggered deep shame in your eating? Maybe it was a family member? Maybe it happened in school? Something that made you want to starve yourself and hide?

Or maybe a memory of someone making fun of your athletic ability and it forever changed your relationship with exercise?

My guess is I bet you do. So many of us do.

But, I bring a message of hope, because with the help of some experts like Brene Brown, and certainly with the help of the Good Lord, we can learn shame resilience and navigate out of the snare that shame can be to our mindset and emotions.

So, how do you know if you're in shame versus guilt, humiliation, or even simple embarrassment?

Well, Brene Brown says it all comes down to our self talk. What is that inner voice telling us when these circumstances arise?

Let's take my example to walk through it.

If my friend’s remark had triggered some thoughts like, "Oh my goodness, she's right. I'm totally out of control right now." Or something about the behavior, then this would be considered GUILT.

Guilt is always about, “I did something bad,” whereas shame is about “I am a bad person.”

Brene points out that guilt, while it's not an inherently positive thing to feel all the time, is capable of helping you correct bad behavior.

You essentially have to feel guilt and remorse if you’re ever going to change. But the key difference is you focus on the behavior you're doing, not who you are as a person.

Or, if on the night of my cake incident, if it has caused a self dialogue of, "I can't believe my friend just said that about me in front of all our friends! How rude is that?!" This would be a response of HUMILIATION.

It's once again focused on the behavior of the other person or the event that offended you.

Lastly, EMBARRASSMENT could have been triggered as well had I thought something like, “Ha! She totally got me. I am totally going to town on this cake huh?” It’s a more laughable, relatable feeling. Like, “I know I’m not alone in this issue,” kind of response.

So as you read my story out right, you might know yourself well enough to know you would likely respond in one of the other, slightly healthier ways. And that’s the thing we all need to recognize and empathize in others, once shame is triggered, there’s no use telling someone how they *should* feel or respond, you need to move toward helping them (or ourselves) deal with the torturous shame and condemnation.

For me, I vividly remember feeling like my friends had “found me out.” That all my dirty little secrets of being an out-of-control eater were not only out in the open, but were being judged by my closest friends at the time.

I reiterated my self talk of always “being the fat friend,” and never being “strong enough” to control my eating.

So, where does this lead us? Why would I share with you a story from over 11 years ago? Does it help anything for today?

And my answer is YES, ABSOLUTELY.

Because, what our past experiences help us understand is where the devil thought he had us. You see, Satan uses shame as one of his greatest tools to get us to turn a hide from God.

In the Garden of Eden, after Eve gave Adam the apple, what did Adam and Eve do?

They hid.

When Adam responded to God’s call, and said, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid.” (Genesis 3:10)

They were ashamed of their nakedness, and they hid.

Sin is what first brought shame into our lives. It has kept us bound by sin ever since.

Shame in our mindset serves as a stronghold. We are not thinking clearly of what the devil is trying to do to us, we are totally consumed by the muck of our thoughts and emotions.

But, in hindsight, if we are brave and willing to address these memories, we recognize this an evil tactic and can start re-telling our mind the TRUTH of our memory.

I had to repeat this scenario in my head and with great empathy, replay a healthier reaction based in the TRUTH of who I really am in Christ, not who the critic in my head is telling me to be.

So, I can look back at that 21-year old self and say with certainty, “You were not fat. You were not an out of control, crazy eater. You had a bad night and went a little too far on that cake. But it didn’t make you a unworthy, unlovable person.”

I can in some ways offer forgiveness to myself and let myself off the hook.

I start telling myself that the choices I make DO NOT define WHO I AM.

Only God can do that and God tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

So, sometime soon, I think it would be really helpful for you to start thinking back on some old haunting memories and correct those thoughts that you were fooled into thinking before. Maybe journal them and pray over them. Ask God to help you seek the truth.

When you break these strongholds with the truth of who you are in Christ, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." And when we are free, we'll be free indeed.

So, I'd love to hear from you on this one. Sharing these vulnerable stories are always a bit tough....can you relate at all?

Join the A. Wright Fit Daniel Challenge, a 6-week Nutrition & Discipline course and Bible study that starts on January 9!

This course is a small-group format of like-minded women who are ready for FOOD FREEDOM in 2017!

As a group, we will be challenging ourselves to a 7 to 21-day Daniel Fast for the first 3-weeks of the course and then transitioning into the Nutrient Based Eating program, the signature nutrition program of Certified Nutrition coach, Amanda Wright!

Every week, we will also be meeting online for a small-group Bible study all on Spiritual Discipline! We will dive into the Biblical principles of becoming more disciplined in the areas of: prayer, time management, health and exercise, organization, finances, and our emotions! This group will be on Zoom every week and you will be given a daily Bible study format to follow!

If you are interested in learning more or purchasing the program, you can visit this link HERE. If you have any questions, feel free to reach Amanda directly at amanda@amandawrightfit.com.

Tags brene brown, Eating, embarrassment, empathy, Faith, Fitness, Food, Guilt, humiliation, not good enough, Overeating, shame, shame resilience

Fitness & Training Food & Nutrition

3 Simple Steps to Maintain and Not Gain This Holiday Season

Post author By AMANDA WRIGHT
Post date November 29, 2016

Real quick, just a friendly reminder that today is the LAST DAY to save big on the A. Wright Fit Daniel Challenge! For Cyber Monday, I'm extending my offer for this 6-Week Nutrition Course that starts in the New Year. After tomorrow it will go back up to $97, but today, you can grab a spot for yourself or any friends in need of thoughtful and helpful gifts, for just 50% off! Click this link to purchase and enter the coupon code: danielchallenge50.

Can't wait to see the breakthroughs that will come this New Year together!! For more info, here's the info page.

But, from now until then, we have a WHOLE LOTTA HOLIDAYS to get through and ideally, we want to do it without completely losing all self-control on the Christmas cookies or spiked Eggnog, #amiright?

As I mentioned the other day, I recently lost about 7 lbs of weight and inflammation while doing just a 7-day Daniel Fast. In spite of a glorious Thanksgiving back home in Colorado, I have maintained this weight loss and still feel SO MUCH better!

The thing is that it is RARE to actually keep off the weight you lose, so I'm definitely brushing up my maintenance skills myself and want you to do the same!

Over the course of being a Certified Nutrition Coach and personal trainer, I have seen time and time again that I could help HUNDREDS of clients lose 20, 40, 60 lbs of weight over several months of hard work and discipline, but I saw time and time again that MOST of my clients would GAIN BACK a significant portion of the weight they lost.

Part of the problem was that I had put them on a "meal plan" where they would measure and count their macronutrients. The tactic worked, as we both saw, but it didn't last because it wasn't a sustainable lifestyle!

So, this, along with my own spiritual awakening, is what spurred me to create the Nutrient Based Eating program (which is also offered in the Daniel Challenge) AND also allowed me to transition to a more HOLISTIC approach to health changes.

This is where the STRONG'her (body), WISE'her (mindset), SURREND'her (spirit) tag line came from. I realized that your health HAS to this balanced approach in order to not just attain health results, but more importantly, MAINTAIN THEM once you achieve them.

So, for this Holiday season, allow me to give you...

1. **STRONG'her TIP:** The 80% RULE

I call this the "Dating vs Married Principle" in my coaching. Essentially, what you did to get her you're going to have to do to keep her! But by "her" I mean, your body changes.

You need sustain about 80% of the activity and clean eating strategies to simply MAINTAIN what you lost.

So, if you workout 4 days a week to attain the results, you will need to still workout 3 days per week at about 80% of the intensity to maintain your results.

If you typically eat really clean for 3 meals and have 1 treat per day to attain your results, you'll still need to eat 80% clean and maybe add in a 2nd treat to be able to maintain those results.

Now, if one week you're on real vacation and you won't have access to your regular routine, seriously don't sweat it. Just try to keep things normal the week before and the week after and during your trip and walk a lot more and do some bodyweight workouts or yoga while away! One week won't make a huge difference, but 40 days (between TG and New Year) will! So, set up your plan!

One really helpful tool I can give you is a simple weekly chart I call my "her Intentional Consistency." I have all my clients write down the THINK, EAT, MOVE goals each week and check off the box when they complete it. You can download your own copy here to help you track your own consistency.

2. **WISE'her TIP:** MANAGE YOUR "ALL OR NOTHING" THOUGHTS

The MINDSET is everything this time of year! The truth is that you should enjoy anything that you want to eat, but STOP convincing yourself that this is the VERY LAST TIME you can have it since "it's the holidays."

It's simply not TRUE. When you shift your thoughts away from the "FOMO" (fear of missing out) and start repeating the TRUTH that you can have whatever you want to eat and ANY TIME during the year, you realize that fear dissipates and it strengthens your self-control to enjoy SOME bites, but not the whole batch type of thing.

So, pay attention to your thoughts in your head. If you find yourself making excuses like, "Well, I'll get started again in the New Year, it's just too hard to resist this time of year," then I highly suggest your correct those thoughts before you start to wear them.

The truth is you CAN enjoy your favorite holiday treats in moderation and still eat in a balanced way the other 80% of the time.

And better yet, when you feel empowered and in control of your eating and don't see the weight gain, bloating and discomfort that comes from binge eating or drinking, then you will actually ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS more!

Why don't you test it out and see?!

3. **SURREND'her TIP:** WELL, SURREND'her IT!

Honestly, if we could all remember that God is with us to help us with e-ver-y-thing on our heart, we wouldn't try to do these difficult things on our own!

Have you ever thought that your eating and exercise is something that "I should be responsible for" and "not bother God with?" I know I have. I thought, "Why would I pray for help with my eating when there are people out there with real problems, like not having any food to eat!"

But this is an error in thinking. When I realized JUST HOW ABUNDANT GOD IS and that when He offers me more self-control (one of the Fruits of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23), it's not like He has LESS power or love to give to others! He's LIMITLESS!

If you struggle with the guilt or asking God to help you with your health, then here is a scripture for you to memorize and dwell on for several days.

James 4:2b-3 NLT
"Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure."

Overall, this holiday season is always meant to me a celebration! There is a reason for the season, and it's not to overdo it on spending or calories. It's to fully receive the incredible gift of our Savior's birth.

Certainly enjoy your special occasions and those holiday favorites that are worth-it to you. But remember, life is much more than food. Get up, get active, focus on your blessings and enjoy every minute.

Tags Diet, Eating, fat loss, Food, Weight loss, Wellness, Women

Food & Nutrition Spiritual Health

Transform Your Nutrition In 2016 Without Making A Single Change

Post author By AMANDA WRIGHT
Post date December 14, 2015

Transform Your Nutrition in 2016

Without Making A Single Change…

This week in the TRANFORMher Health 2016 training, I am tackling the #1 most requested topic when I polled dozens of women on what they would like to learn in order to TRANSFORMher Health in 2016. Over 98% of the women I polled wanted to learn this topic: “How to Be Your Own Nutritionist in 2016.” It’s quite clear, that for most of us, our nutrition is our #1 struggle and point of confusion for most of us!

SO I’m thrilled to have some answers and I really am giving you MY BEST STUFF in this training! I’m thrilled that I have years of experience with the good, the bad and the ugly nutrition habits from my own personal arsenal as well as dozens and dozens of clients! This is really going to be a great training with a lot of step-by-step guidance that I know works! (Again, it’s not too late to grab your spot for this training. The times available are Tuesday evening at 5pm PST or Wednesday midday at 10am PST)

But, even as excited as I am about the potential ANSWERS and CHANGES I have to offer so many of you for your nutritional health in 2016, I KNOW that these changes are NOT going to be the END ALL BE ALL for your eating struggles.

Why? Because FOOD IS NOT JUST ABOUT FOOD. We know this.

Food is a reward. Food is a coping mechanism. Food is a culture. Food is a celebration. Food is a tradition. Food is a temptation. And quite obviously, we can’t just “quit” Food.

But I come with good news!

Just I introduced in my blog a couple weeks back when I was speaking about the subject of TRANSFORMATION, this subject of food can be something that we can be TRANSFORMED in our eating without making a SINGLE CHANGE to our eating habits.

How is that possible, you might think?

Well, if you remember, transformation happens when we “renew our minds” and we align our thoughts with the TRUTH of the Spirit of God within us. (Romans 12:2)

I explained in that blog that I knew I had truly TRANSFORMED my BODY’s HEALTH when I stepped up to the same old mirror, with the same old body, and I looked at those same old flaws, steady at that same old weight that I could not seem to lose to same old extra pounds, but I all of a sudden SAW MY BODY WITH NEW EYES.

THAT is how God transforms us from the inside out. He renews our MINDS and transforms our EYES to see in the Light of His Truth. His Truth is the only truth that “sets us free.” (John 8:32)

What society accepts as “true” will never set us free because it changes all the time.

For example, what was “true” for our eating practices just a decade ago has all be proven false now. This why our eating has been so frustrating to us– because the trends are always changing and our bodies are always changing!

The BEST thing that can ever happen to your eating is to be met with the same old food, at the same old restaurants, with the same old family gatherings, and the same old traditions and yet see the food you choose with NEW EYES.

To no longer be shackled to the food as though it is this thing that “you deserve” or this thing that “stresses you out” or this thing that will “make you feel better.”

No, you will see it as JUST FOOD. And you will eat it and you will enjoy it but you will no longer be a slave to it and will no longer worship it because you worship GOD and God fills up your WHOLE heart.

For this very reason, I did NOT start the TRANSFORMher Health 2016 series with this topic on Nutrition, even though I knew that’s what the women who signed up really wanted to learn the most.

I HAD to start with strengthening our SPIRITUAL health first and then tackle our MINDSET of health second ALL so then we could actually implement some potential changes with our eating and our exercising!

Real change can ONLY happen from the inside-out.

The “Big Picture” of Health looks like this:

KNOW—————> BE ———————> DO

Until you KNOW who you are created by, you cannot BE who you were created to BE and DO the things you were created to DO.

This stands for your health and ANY change or improvement you want to make in 2016.

It has to flow in this order otherwise it won’t stick for long term success and it won’t make you feel “fulfilled.”

So, I invite you to this training where I will teach you how to monitor your EATING and make simple Nutrition adjustments that will TRANSFORM your True Health in 2016! You will get a lot of great information and potential small changes you can make! You’ll even get this awesome Nutrient-Based step-by-step infographic that will guide you all year long!

But know this to be true: Your #1 way to truly TRANSFORM your health and your eating in 2016 is to know your CREATOR and put God at the center of your life and the center of your eating. He will give you NEW EYES to see food in new ways and His truth will truly set you free in your eating!

So my question to you is, if you could see your food with NEW EYES in the NEW YEAR, how would you want to see your food? Comment Below! I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Tags coping, Eating, Faith, fit and faithful, Food, God, Health, infographic, nutrition, nutritionist, reward, teaching, transformation, webinar, Wellness, Women

Food & Nutrition Health Coaching Uncategorized

FAT LOSS DIARIES: These 5 Factors Can Mess With Our Metabolism the Most

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date September 26, 2015

As I mentioned the other day, my road to the the ultimate LEAN life lead to a majorly disrupted Metabolism! I’m currently 2.5 years “post bikini-show” and I am still trying to help get my metabolism recovered! A lot of women struggle with their metabolism, especially as they get older so I know I’m not the only one with this issue. Some women struggle with metabolism so much that fat loss can seem almost impossible. Many prefer to take a surgical route in their weight loss journey, including things like liposuction offered by people like Dr. Paul Fortes. However, there are other ways to lose weight. There are lots of factors that affect our metabolism and weight gain so it’s usually very dependant on the individual. For example, my friend has to get Indolemax from Amazon to help control her weight because her estrogen levels aren’t correct. This also helps with her menopause so it helps her in two different ways! The importance of our metabolism is because we want to be able to EAT NORMAL amounts of food and stay pretty lean!

Our METABOLISM MATTERS big-time if we are trying to live a balanced life. We need to take care of our bodies and take things slow, showcasing the necessary patience and endurance to do this the (w)right way. (Click here for my favorite scriptures to help you with ENDURANCE!)

First, let me preface this next specific topic about your Metabolism by saying there is SO MUCH MORE to learn that I simply cannot fit into one blog. In fact, I wrote an entire MODULE PROGRAM in my Health Coaching programs that goes over all the important factors you need to know about your Metabolism (Module #2: WISE’her Metabolism).

To check out more information on my HEALTH COACHING programs, click HERE.

Nevertheless, in my QUEST TO FIX MY DAMAGED METABOLISM, I have learned the 5 BIGGEST VILLAINS TO SUSTAINABLE FAT LOSS EFFORTS.

Prepare to hate this list with me! But….knowledge is power and power provides excellence!

ALCOHOL: Ok, this one can hurt most of our feelings. You might have read my journey to cut back on this in my WINE-NOT series a few months ago. But there is nothing more relaxing, in my opinion, then a nice glass of wine after a long day. Most of us do consider alcohol our ultimate stress reliever and while that part *does* have some benefits for your Metabolism (by reducing your cortisol levels for a short period of time) it is FAR counteracted by the negative affects alcohol has on metabolic processes.
Alcohol by itself is an high calories (at 7 calories per gram), empty-calories, no-nutrient entity that is a sugar, but a sugar that is especially reactive in our bodies. So much so that our bodies STOP PROCESSING all other metabolic processes (like other food or even our fat metabolism) in order to process the alcohol and get it OUT of the body by detoxing it through our liver and kidneys.
So, drinking just 2 alcoholic beverages will slow down your metabolism by 80% (!!) for the following 4-hours. That’s why you tend to gain a lot of fat when you drink too much—hello beer belly!

Recommendation: Overall, if you want to lose fat, you are more than likely going to severely cut back on all alcohol. It was recommended to me to limit it to just 2-3 glasses PER MONTH.

2. CAFFEINE: So, this one is not ALL bad news. But the deal with caffeine is that the chemical causes a huge rush of the “Fight or Flight” hormones to cascade into high gear for up to 14-hours! That is, Cortisol, Adrenalin and NorAdrenalin. These hormones by themselves ultimately SLOW DOWN your Fat Loss because these stress hormones go into “Sugar Burning” mode instead of “Fat Burning” mode. (Jade Teta, Metabolic Effect)
SO, if you OVER CONSUME caffeine, you might be sending your body into “Fight or Flight” mode quite unnecessarily, all day long! UNLESS of course, you consume caffeine and then actually go and USE YOUR BODY, for something like, WORKING OUT! Stress hormones in the presence of Human Growth Hormone and Testosterone (those hormones that are produced when you weight train) actually HELP in Fat Loss. So it does have a nice condition.

Recommendation: Overall, cut back on caffeine unless it’s just before your workout. Green Tea is a much more metabolically stimulating drink of choice!

Your Daily Dose of Caffeine should be 2.5mg/Kg of your Body Weight.
For women of child bearing age, it is recommended to limit yourself to about 300mg/day.

Here’s a little research I did to put this in perspective for you:

3. SLEEP: We have all heard this one a hundred times, but sleep is SO VERY VITAL for so many things, including your Fat Loss efforts. One interesting thing however is that you have to be careful not to get TOO LITTLE sleep (anything less than 7 hours) or TOO MUCH sleep (over 10 hours) both have adverse metabolic affects on your hormones.

Also, ever wonder why those all-nighters made you so hungry? Studies have shown that getting too little of sleep affects your HUNGER Hormones by increasing your hunger-producing hormones (ghrelin) and decreasing your satiety producing hormones (leptin).

The benefits of sleep is not only in our energy production for the next day, but during our sleep we also experience our HIGHEST Growth Hormone levels and Testosterone (mainly for men) that significantly boost the FAT BURNING machinery in our systems.

Recommendation: Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. To help yourself fall asleep and stay asleep, avoid caffeine in the afternoon and avoid your TVs and devices 1 hour before bed time (the blue light in them activate our “awake” responses in our Circadian Rhythm clocks). Try to go to bed and wake-up at the same time every day, as this has been shown to help you get in the proper Circadian Rhythm cycle flow.

4. REFINED SUGAR: Refined Sugar, or any sugar that causes a huge Glycemic surge, is an Fat Loss nemesis. The more the food spikes our blood sugar, the more it will send in a rush of insulin, and essentially slow fat-loss. Then, as your blood sugar gets too low (which inevitably happens after the bad rush of Glucagon to break down the insulin), this triggers a the HUNGER hormones (ghrelin) to come in full force again! This is why, when you eat refined sugary foods, you are not full for very long. It is burned quickly and makes you hungry sooner, all while NOT Fat Burning.

Recommendation: Eat foods lower in Fructose and low on the Glycemic Index charts, meaning, more complex and fiber rich starchy carbs. A great resource for low-glycemic foods is HERE. I copied a graphic from Low GI Health website too that I found really helpful.

5. FOOD INTOLERANCES: This one was a surprise to me, but I learned very quickly after my bikini competition that I became very food sensitive and intolerant! I began experiencing very painful digestion issues that caused me so much issues that it’s taken over 2 years to truly figure out all of the “issues” I have (which are far and above just digestive issues by the way!).

But the reason why food intolerances can affect your fat loss efforts in a variety of ways. If our gut lining in unable to break down certain foods or the gut lining ins compromised in some way (leaky gut syndrome, for example) then it will limit the ABSORPTION of the vital vitamins and minerals (which is done predominantly in the intestines). Our vitamins and minerals are HUGE factors in making Fat Loss happen because they are the agents that “turn on” all of the “machinery” needed for Fat burning.

Not only that, but our guts also are huge factors in our stress responses (I carry my stress in my gut which has a huge factor on my digestion too!) and even our cognitive thinking!

RECOMMENDATION: At some point in your life, I recommend doing an Elimination Diet. I prescribe a specific one in my Health Coaching program (Module #3- Nutrient Based Eating) but there are many others. Whole 30, the Daniel Plan, Metabolic Effect, and Precision Nutrition all have varying programs. My friend Lisa Suazo, owner of also hosts a “CLEAN CLUB” that goes through this elimination process too she learned about from the book by Dr.Alejandro Junger, CLEAN.

Overall, these 5 factors can have SIGNIFICANT delays and negative delays on your Metabolism and Fat Loss efforts if not carefully considered.

With ALL things for your body, start with just ONE AREA and determine some new, healthy habits to focus on for a few weeks consistently. Then, as you get those down, add on another habit or two. Soon enough, you’ll be stocked full of all kinds of new habits that will start to really add up to some SUSTAINABLE, HIGH METABOLIC Fat Loss success!

As always, feel free to comment below or email me at amanda@amandawrightfit.com with any questions!

Tags adrenalin, Alcohol, bikini show, body, caffeine, clean, coffee, cortisol, damage, Eating, elimination diet, endurance, fat loss, Fitness, Food, food intolerance, ghrelin, glycemic index, Health, hormones, junger, lean, leptin, lisa suazo, metabolism, noradrenalin, nutrient, nutrition, sleep, starbucks, Stress, sugar, tea, woman

Food & Nutrition

Intermittent Fasting: Why I Do It and How I Do It (W)Right

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date August 18, 2015

The first time I heard of someone doing this, I thought they were crazy and were going to send themselves into starvation. I mentally judged them, immediately, and came up with a ton snippets of “health tips” that would disprove their practice as fallacy! Ha!

Cut to about 3 months later, when I decided to take a quiz from one of my favorite teaching blogs on all things Metabolism (Read: Fat Loss) related, Metabolic Effect, and guess what this quiz advised me to do? The VERY act that I so ruefully mentally judged others in the fitness industry for doing! Typical, right? (God was listening ;-))

So now, every day, I don’t eat my first meal until about 11am. I eat my last meal by 7 or 8pm. Basically, I eat in a 8-9 hour window.

WHAT IT IS:

So, I’m talking about Intermittent Fasting. Let me start by saying that I hate the term “Fasting” because anytime you say that, it makes people think of either a spiritual prayer practice (which is good, but not related), or a detox or cleanse. Which again, those two things can be good for you (if done right), but all these words seem to spark up a lot of “judgey judgertons” just like I admitted to being.

Intermittent Fasting is just a term used to describe going an extended period of time, every day, without eating. We ALL fast every day. This is called sleeping. So, intermittent fasting is a way to just extend the “non-eating” phase of your day because it essentially extends the Fat Burning period of your day.

Studies (and HERE) have actually shown that the TIMING of when we eat can have a bigger impact on our weight that the actual amount of calories we eat! In fact, I talked about this rat study on my blog on NUTRIENT BASED TIMING, HERE. The most recent study published in Cell Metabolism Journal, essentially tested two groups of rats who both ate the exact same amount of calories but one group ate all day long while the other group only at in a 10-12 hour window. The results showed that the group that ate at all hours of the day got obese while the intermittent fasted group of rats stayed at a normal weight. With the exact same amount of food!

The way our fast paced world has been operating lately, we can easily fall into the trap of GRAZING all day, every day. We need a snack at all occasions! I truly believe this contributes heavily (no pun intended) to the deathly serious overweight and obesity epidemic we have on our hands.

WHY I DECIDED TO TRY IT:

So, back to my decision to bite my own judgement and take the advice from the Metabolic Effect quiz I took. First, I have already done a lot of research on the Metabolic Effect website, read their books and know they are Doctors with credentials I trust. This is the most important part about taking advice from any health hack out there (myself included!).

Second, I had already been eating in a 12-hour window for 8+ months at this point. This was something I knew I needed to do not only because I had heard about that rat studies but also just by pure math. I have a large appetite and so if I don’t pay attention to the times and quantities I eat, I can (and have) eaten several hundred more calories than I need to in a day.

Third, the reason why this quiz advised me to push this fasting period back even further is because I had already taken several steps in the (w)right direction for my health and this was just the next best step in the (W)right direction for ME. Meaning, I was already eating a Nutrient-Based diet of clean, holistic foods CONSISTENTLY. While also regularly looking into different meal reviews so I have the option to change my meal plans up a little while still eating the healthy sustenance I need. I has also already practiced short periods of intermittent fasting first before by eating within a 12 and 10-hour window. I was also already active and healthy. I just had stopped seeing results, so it was time to try something new.

HOW IT’S BEEN WORKING SO FAR:

So, I decided this step would be something worth trying to see if it worked for me!

The way to TEST any new dietary change is to monitor 4 areas *H.E.C.D.* (a modified tool from Metabolic Effect as well): 1. Hunger 2. Energy 3. Cravings 4. Digestion. So as I made the change to move my first meal back to 11am and as I ate my meals, I monitored those 4 categories. I told myself I would try it for a full week to let my body adapt and get a real feel for how it was working (or not working).

PROS:
SHOCKING!

-My HUNGER actually went WAY down over the course of the day. I had been used to eating 5-6 meals per day and my body had been conditioned to get hungry when I had been used to eating. So where I thought that I would be building up several more hours of HUNGER from not eating at those times, I was SHOCKED to feel substantially less hungry. I believe this tactic helped to mellow out my hormones (ghrelin and leptin are your hunger and satiety hormones) . I don’t have the exact science as to why, but this is how it turned out for ME.

-Moreover, I actually had less CRAVINGS for sugar and other food items I normally crave as well! My hardest part is still at night more than in the morning, so I do still have a sweet tooth but I manage that with other tools anyway.

-My ENERGY felt about the same! I often found that by overeating so often before, I would put myself into a food-coma and feel lethargic. Now my mornings are my most productive time!

-My DIGESTION is on par. This one relies most on the quality of foods I eat, but going longer between meals helps move things along much better for my body!

On top of all of these factors, the other benefit of doing this is in those months where I was not really being careful about WHAT I ate (I had a ton more sugar, frozen yogurt, and BBQs during the month of July) but I still stuck to this 8-9 hour window, I DID NOT GAIN WEIGHT. At all. So this proves to me that the rat test they conducted is in fact on par with my this human body works too!

Overall, I AM eating enough food (almost the same amount of calories) just in the tighter time-frame. This is VERY IMPORTANT that I’m not starving my body as a crash diet. I am only changing the timing of my eating, not the quantity of food. Since I love big meals, this works great for me too.

CONS:

There are a few things I had to adjust and some ways to trouble shoot this that are not the easiest.

I rely more on coffee and caffeine in the AM. I have been getting up by 5-6am to start writing and working, so I’m tired of course, but also that is a pretty long window of being awake without eating. So, coffee (without cream or sugar) and tea are my solutions to keep my stomach calm. If I do experience stomach growls, I’ll drink more water first.
I had to move back my workout time: I was a morning workout girl for a long time but decided that working out fasted is not the smarted idea for me. This worked out though because I needed my mornings for productivity and writing anyway. It will always take an adjustment period to get hyped up enough for an afternoon workout. It also is harder to avoid the excuses of getting “too busy” to go to the gym. Good thing I only do 30-45 min workouts now!
Breakfast is my favorite meal: The absolute hardest thing for me is going out for breakfast with friends and family and not eating. Maybe this is the O.C.D, way TOO self-controlled part of my life, but I am just a person that once I commit to something, I commit to it and stay as consistent as possible. So, when in a situation where we are out to eat or my husband and I are traveling and he is eating breakfast, I will have coffee and enjoy the company and order a meal to go if I have to. I admit this is challenging but only because of the social pressure and because I love breakfast food. Not because I’m hungry, surprisingly.

The (W)Right Way Of Intermittent Fasting:

So, if you are interesting in exploring what this might look like for you, I encourage you to take the following steps:

START 12-HOURS: Start with a 12-hour window of Intermittent Fasting FIRST. This is my Nutrient Based Timing strategy that will work wonders for you if you have not already been eating in this window of time. Stick with this FIRST for about 6-12 weeks. See if you get desired results and good H.E.C.D. results.
SMALL STEPS: If you have already been eating in a 12-hour window, push back your eating window by 2 or 4 hours at the most. You can decide if you want to push back your first meal of the day, or stop eating earlier in the evening. Pay attention to the clock and adjust it if necessary according to your plans that day (dinner out, etc).
STAY CONSISTENT: I don’t advise doing just one day here or there of intermittent fasting. I think this is how you start to confuse your hormones and metabolism into thinking you are indeed ‘starving’ on certain days. If your body thinks your starving, it will go into shut-down mode and slow your metabolism. No bueno.
SATISFY YOUR BELLY: Eat well and eat enough! For the above reason, you should make sure you are eating enough food! You reasonably can have 3 solid meals and maybe one snack all within that 8-9 hour window. Eating causes a BOOST in your metabolism because you have to burn calories to digest. So a large BOOST followed by an EXTENDED FAST (Fat-Burning) period is why this science works.
STAY TRUE TO YOU: If your H.E.C.D. is all off after trying this, then I don’t think intermittent fasting is for you and your body type. Some people with higher metabolisms will just have a harder time with this because their bodies need more energy more often. This is GREAT to learn and important for you to listen to! I think intermittent fasting works for me because I have a endomorphic/mesomorphic body type. (More on this another time!).

I’d love to hear your thoughts and/or experiences you have encountered with intermittent fasting! Every body is different and I’d like to hear what you like, didn’t like or if you are going to give it try and why!

Tags Eating, fasting, fat burn, Food, Intermittent Fasting, metabolic effect, metabolism, nutrition, Timing

Food & Nutrition Uncategorized

5 Ways I #RITUALIZE My Meal Planning

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date August 9, 2015
1 Comment on 5 Ways I #RITUALIZE My Meal Planning

This week I continue on my quest to share some of the ways I #Ritualize my health! As I’ve explained, #rituals are just how I find ways to attach greater enjoyment from the regular health habits I’m trying to make second-nature. If I add a *MANDI STYLE* to some otherwise boring health habit, I find that it ups the “reward” center of my brain to thinking what I’m doing is fun and enjoyable instead of boring and horrible “healthy” stuff.

You will never learn to live a healthy life FOREVER unless you find some way to enjoy it! It is simple psychology and patterns human behavior! You have to change your brain chemistry to ENJOY being healthy and change any part of your life!

I believe RITUALS are the #1 WAY to find greater enjoyment. Being MINDFUL and INTENTIONAL with your rituals is so effective to making your rituals the healthy ones instead of the unhealthy ones.

So, as we have probably all heard, the solution to ANY PHYSIQUE change you desire for your body is going to come down to 80% NUTRITION CHOICES.

While working out is amazing and wonderful, if you don’t change your food and beverage habits, you may never see any weight loss, muscle gain or whatever your desired change may be.

YOU CAN’T OUT TRAIN A BAD DIET. It is that simple.

That does not mean you take the “well why even bother!” approach and stop working out or putting in effort for exercise! Fitness brings FAR more benefits to your health than the aesthetic reasons we workout including psychological benefits, emotional stress relief, the metaphorically motivating aspects, heart health, disease reduction, and FUN, to name a few.

NO, my point in always pointing out that 80% of your body goal is dependent on your nutrition is to be sure you get the message that NUTRITION IS REALLY IMPORTANT so you don’t shirk responsibility in managing what you allow in your body.

I don’t advocate being a ‘perfectionist’ eater at all (that usually makes us suffer the consequences of an “unhealthy mindset” which renders us unhealthy overall), but I do want to empower all people and my clients to take proper responsibility for the “temple” that is their body.

Eating healthy is HARD because so much of it is dependent on things that we humans don’t manage very well–our emotions, stress, money, and planning. And not forgetting that most of us like to add extra salt to our meals to give it a heightened taste.

But this is actually bad for your health. Even though the likes of salt and sugar taste nice in our meals, it is unhealthy, and can even create a lot of health problems down the line, especially if you eat more than you should. The salt vs sugar comparison is an ongoing debate about which one is worse for your heart, and which one is likely to bring on a heart attack. The truth is is that they’re equally as bad as each other, and you should take great care when it comes to planning your meals, and how much of each ingredient you add.

I believe just implementing a solid set of RITUALS to what you eat, how you plan and cook your meals, and how you make decisions while you’re dining out will make ALL THE DIFFERENCE in you feeling more REWARDED for taking the positive responsibility of governing your body with love and care.

Alas, here are my TOP 5 MEAL PLANNING RITUALS that I love! Use them to think about your FOOD RITUALS and how you can implement more HEALTHY associations and less unhealthy ones.

Top 5 Meal Planning Rituals

1. GROCERY SHOPPING WITH A HOT TEA AND A FULL STOMACH:

You’ve probably heard this one before but it’s a huge one for me–don’t grocery shop while hungry! If I decide to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach I will have eaten half a bag of grapes by the time get to the checkout counter as well as will find 3X more food especially in the form of chocolate, processed snacks and a lot of other things that just “looked” good at the time.

My goal while grocery shopping is to not get too carried away with spending (hello Whole Foods!), to buy mainly Holistic food choices (i.e. whole, unprocessed foods) found on the perimeter of the grocery store, and to purchase the satisfying variety of foods that will keep me eating Nutrient Based for all of my meals the next few days.

While I am a person that actually ENJOYS grocery shopping (I know not everyone does) to further increase the “reward” value I’m feeling, I will make myself a nice HOT TEA (or cold if it’s really hot out) to sip on while I walk. My favorite tea is Jasmine Green Tea. All green teas have this wonderful affect of just a little bit of caffeine matched with fat burning antioxidants AND this palette cleansing effect. It really helps to curb any cravings I might be having. Thus, as I’m walking by the chocolate aisle I’m less likely to wander in and overindulge. Any type of quenching treat is a great idea for all!

2. VEGGIES/FOOD PREP TO SOME MUSIC:

When I get home from the grocery store, it is always best if I go ahead a chop up all the veggies and produce and put it into containers on the shelf that is at eye level. First, having the veggies pre-chopped makes them more accessible and will help me EAT THEM. Then, I know if I keep them in the bags and put them in the drawer, I’m must more likely to FORGET about them and then they go bad and I have to throw them out (which I really hate wasting food!). So I put them at EYE LEVEL to prompt me to eat them.

SO, I don’t usually have a whole lot of time to chop up veggies since I’m always feeling “behind” in something for my business. Sometimes I will time myself to see how quickly I can do it. Other times, I’ll just plan this for my “break” time that I do about every 90min-2hr of work. I put on some jams on the speakers and get to choppin’! It becomes pretty stress relieving and will make it a much more enjoyable activity! Once or twice a week when I do more extensive food prep (like bake chicken breasts or baked sweet potatoes) I especially implement the music/dance party! I know that food prep is a boring, mundane task but it’s something that has to be done unless you use a meal kit. If you’re interested in learning more about meal kits, it might be worth reading this hello fresh vs blue apron review page. I can certainly see the advantages of meal kits so if the prep is something you dread every week, this might be an option for you. Just make sure you’re eating healthily.

3. FOOD PLATING AS ART DESIGN:

I think the “prettier” your food is, the more appealing it is to eat. I have started engaging in some meal planning tactics that help to make for “prettier” plates.

The more colorful the food is, the prettier it is! Thinking about this helps me first buy the array of colorful fruits and vegetables that will help me get a nice NUTRIENT-BASED variety that is really, REALLY important to True Health. Then I just make sure they get on the plate and I will eat them!

Also, if you really want to enforce this one to your “reward” center of your brain, take a picture of your food! I know the whole “food posting” tendency is slightly controversial and gets a lot of slack, but I personally find it a very valuable step in showing others that you are healthy and to give others ideas of meals! Why not shine the light?!

4. FOLLOW A PLATE GRAPHIC:

Metabolic Effect Food Graphic

This kind of piggy backs on the last ritual, but this one works for me because I get that feeling of “reward” when I actually feel organized in something. If I make an effort to consciously organize my eating without having to resort to things like measuring food or counting macronutrients, I am still finding a way to monitor my portion sizes but in a less rigorous way.

I am not against such practices of counting and logging food– in fact, I do it during certain seasons of strength training and I do ask most of my clients trying to lose a certain amount of fat to implement this habit for themselves. But for my very busy life right now, I appreciate just using a plate graphic to help hold me accountable. This is my LIFESTYLE way of doing this because I believe no person can reasonably log their food for the rest of their life.

Using a plate goes as follows:

1)Choose the proper plate size for your meal. This is dependent on your body size (the smaller you are, the smaller the plate should be and vice versa) as well as the # of meals you eat per day. If you eat 3x per day, you can have 3 bigger plates. If you eat 5-6x per day, you should be using 5-6 smaller plates. It just helps you eat the proper amount for you.

Choose Plate size based on # of Meals and Body Size (I chose the smaller plate)

2) Fill at least 1/2 of the plate with veggies. If it’s a green veggies, especially lettuce, fill the whole darn thing! Make sure you get some colored produce on there too (a nod to my Ritual #3). The “heavier” the vegetable, the more likely it is to have some fiber in there and make you feel full. I recommend a lot of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy etc.)

Colorful Cauliflower, Carrots and Celery

3) Fill just under 1/4 of the plate with a starchy carb source (sweet potato, brown rice, corn, beans, oats) OR fruit.

Added baked sweet potato slices which I like because they are naturally sweet and don’t need butter added.

4) Fill just over 1/4 of the plate with a lean protein of choice (fish, chicken, turkey, sirloin, bison, shrimp, egg whites etc for those that eat meat).

I’ve really enjoyed lean ground Bison lately, it has higher Iron and lower fat than Beef.

5) Add a “dollop” of fat in there (about the size of your thumb or two). If you cooked your veggies in a fat, that counts. If you are eating a higher fat source of protein (like bacon, ribeye, salmon,or whole eggs) that counts too. Otherwise, grab some guacamole to dip your veggies into, some olives on the side, or some coconut butter for your fruit or starch.

Today, I chose guacamole! Yummy polyunsaturated fat source!

5. PRACTICE THE SAME MODEL WHEN OUT TO EAT!

Whenever I eat at a restaurant, I actually try to follow the same principles of #4! Now, I won’t get the chance to actually plate my own food, but I will ORDER as best as I can to this same degree. For this reason, I will order a la carte A LOT or will just ask for exactly what I want (which a smile and respect of course!). 🙂

1.VEG: I start with veggies and this usually is just me asking for a side or two of whatever the chefs vegetables are that day or maybe get a side salad. Sides are usually always cooked in oil (as is everything when dining out!) but I’ll see if they can do light oil sometimes. For salads, I always get dressing on the side to avoid them dousing the thing with way too much.

2. PROTEIN: I’ll always find grilled fish or chicken as an easy go-to.

3. STARCH: For starch I’ll do brown rice or a sweet potato if they have them. If not, I’ll go for fruit for dessert–helps with my sweet tooth! If I plan on going for chocolate (which I do usually for one meal per day) I’ll just count that and try only 2-3 bites! If I’ve decided to have a glass of wine I count that as my starch too (only 1 glass though).

4. FAT: Since most restaurants already use way more oil that I do at home, I assume I’ve already had more than enough fat to necessitate extra fat sources. Therefore, I try to avoid adding extra “fat” options to my meals on purpose.

This is has HUGE reward incentive in the RESULTS I actually get. We travel all the time so we are eating out all the time. We’ve got no choice to so we have made the changes we need to make it work for us both health-wise and financially. For example, my other half has an AMEX Gold Card because she found it was the best option for people who eat out a lot and we also make sure the places we eat are healthy. If I DON’T implement this ritual, I will put on weight really fast. Sometimes its worth it and I’m perfectly find accepting that! But the rest of the time, I try to follow a the same steps to keep things as consistent in my eating as possible!

These are just a few ideas of some meal #RITUALS I have been implementing lately! I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing!!

Tags carbohydrates, Diet, easy, eat, Eating, effective, fats, Food, Health, meal planning, nutrients, nutrition, ordering, practice, protein, ritualizing, rituals, skills, tips, variety

Food & Nutrition Goal Development Health Coaching Spiritual Health Uncategorized

7-Steps to Conquer Emotional Eating (Part 2)

Post author By Amanda Wright
Post date April 30, 2015

“I’m not hungry but I really need something sweet right now. Well now that I’ve had one bite how about another bite…. and then….ok just one more.”

This is essentially my inner monologue several times per week. I am thinking these thoughts usually in the evening, after I’ve had a healthy dinner, my body feels satisfied, and I could easily go to bed content.

But, I don’t.

Why? Because usually at that time, I also have this little nagging feeling in my head, mouth and stomach. As though there is this little creature that is screaming “I need something sweet! I need a treat!” Sure enough, I wind up in our pantry munching just for the sake of munching. I’ve learned to have healthy sweet treats on hand, thankfully, but when we are away from home, forget about it! I get myself into some precarious, overeating situations quickly!

I know I’m not alone with this little creature in my head. For me it’s all about the sweets. For you, it might be salty/crunchy variety. But we can all easily suffer from CRAVINGS for food that is not about hunger at all.

Yesterday, I wrote about reading a very relatable book called, ‘Made to Crave’ by Lysa TerKeurst, where she wrote about her journey of trying to refocus her Cravings to God instead of the junk food she felt controlled by.

Her book and scriptures prompted me to take a deeper dive into what the bible actually has to say about food and cravings too! Surprisingly there was a lot! It made me feel more “normal” knowing that if God uses food as an example in the Bible, then I’m not the only one out there exploiting and idolizing the role of food in my life. It also gave me Hope because it gave me some scriptural places that I should be focusing my attention and cravings:

The Word of God
His will for my life (i.e. My Greater Purpose).

This begs the question, however, how do we apply this to our every day life? How do we actually take such a challenge and convert it into applicable, every day ACTION toward lasting success?

For me, the answer is easy because I’m going to use the same strategy I implement for ALL changes I want to make in my health and in my life.

Make a goal out of it.

Not just any goal, mind you. No, as a woman of Faith, I know that this kind of challenge (which clearly has some Spiritual depth to it) means I need to make this a SURREND’hered goal!

I will use my 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goal Development that I will use to effectively plan and implement this new way of health to defeat my affinity toward emotional and overeating.

I recently offered an 8-day workshop explaining all 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goals to an amazing group of individuals that included daily emails, examples, resources and videos of me explaining each step. Sorry if you missed it!

Lucky for you, however, because I have actually turned all 7-Steps into an Ebook that I am now offering for FREE to all email subscribers. The book includes an in-depth look at all 7-steps to succeed in any goal, a list of books and references, PLUS a bonus of my fillable forms and charts that will help you effectively plan your own success! You’ll see more of those is this very article.

Click this link to receive your FREE copy of this Ebook here!

My 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goal Development are:

So, while you get the full in-depth explanation of all of these 7-Steps in my Ebook, I wanted to offer a living example of these 7-Steps to SURREND’hered Goals as they apply to this goal I have of overcoming my emotional and overeating!

Step 1: SURREND’her It:

As I explain in my ebook, this step is all about offering my goal as a living sacrifice to God. This is recognizing that I will need to depend wholly on God’s strength to actually be able to conquer this dream. To effectively practice this art of SURREND’hering I know I will need to do both PLANNING + PRAYER. From one of my favorite books, The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson, I have to do as he advises:

“Plan like it depends on me, but Pray like it depends on God.”

Also, even the Bible reinforces that to achieve any dream there is much activity required.

“A dream comes through much activity, and a fool’s voice in known by his many words.” Ecclesiastics 5:3

So, I’m not going to be “all talk,” or even “all prayer”, I am going to make a plan and put it into action!

Step 2: DREAM It!

As I also explain, while I say my goal is to “not overeat or be an emotional eater” I know that this is not actually how I am to phrase my goal. Nope, my goal needs to be AUDACIOUS, S.M.A.R.T., stated in the POSITIVE and PROACTIVE tense, and is BALANCED to include not just BODY goals but also MINDSET and SPIRITUAL goals too! (You’ll have to read up to know what all of these rules mean!)

So my dream is actually:

To go 6-months straight of emotionally disconnecting from my food, intentionally “eating to live,” only eating until I’m 80% full, planning and eating on a timed schedule, and use the act of eating to draw me closer with God, my Greater Purpose and His Word. I will measure my success by body measurements as well as journaling/emotional comparisons.”

You can see that my above dream is measured and includes BODY, MIND and SPIRITUAL aspects to conquering this dream.

Step 3: DIVIDE It!

As you’ll see, again, in the ebook the purpose of DIVIDING your ultimate goal is to create short-term “Phases” of goals that you focus on. This will help not only help avoid the feeling of “overwhelm” by such an audacious goal, but it will also provide opportunity for the very important REST periods and CELEBRATIONS after I accomplish each Phase Goal.

For this ultimate goal, I will divide all 6-Months up into 6 Phases:

Phase 1 (Month 1): For 70% of the first 30 days of “eating to live,” only eating until I’m 80% full and eating on the planned schedule, and journaling and praying for each meal.

(*note* this will be broken down into “Mini-Goals” for this first Phase as is covered in the ebook)