I didn’t know whether to laugh or throw up.
Can I just wrap up in a warm blanket & eat Texas Roadhouse rolls all day???
Quarantine hit. My workout routine was ripped from my life. Anxiety hit. The thoughts of past self sabotaging behavior started to creep up.
Should I restrict?
How many more steps do I need?
Fugggg I can’t sweat.😩 I’m gonna pack on 20lbs, better cut food.
What if my “safe” foods are taken away?
When I began specializing in gut issues & primarly women’s relationship with food & body image, I saw a pattern. I LIVED the pattern — basically an obsession about control over food & exercise.
We deny we have an eating or behavioral disorder — we DO, sister. But you don’t have to stay there.❤️
Signs include:
- Feeling panicked when sick, injured, or vacation jacks up our workout routine
- Feeling like walking “isn’t enough”
- Restricting or allowing food based on exercise that day.
- Feeling we have to “earn” food.
- Fear about gaining weight
- Feeling worthless if any weight gain occurs, obsession with the scale & letting it dictate our attitude for the day
One client said, “I feel like I MUST control & workout everyday. If I don’t, I feel worthless & obsess about it until I do workout.”
We talked about how that disordered need for control is taking over our ability to intuitively listen to our body’s cues to rest. It also affects our energy, hunger, sleep, digestion, hormones, & bluntly— our ability to give a shit.
This relationship with food & exercise tends to make us miserable. Paralyzing us from enjoying the important things in life.
Here’s how I help clients (& myself) establish a better relationship with our food & exercise:
- Disconnect the connection of “perfection” with food & exercise to our worth & obsession with having to earn food.
I used to count every calorie I consumed, down to the gum I excessively chewed. I only ate the calories I burned that day. I only ate diet food, hoping to save calories & carbs. I was chained to numbers. My macros were shackles. My mindset & perception of my methods & myself were the enemy. It wasn’t the food or exercise.
When we were young, we knew when we were hungry & we stopped when we were full. Because of environmental & emotional factors, getting stuck in cycles, many of us lose touch with our true hunger cues.
This is where I find intermittent fasting & or setting a meal schedule or eating window is helpful, teaching us when we’re actually hungry & preventing mindless/emotional eating.
Also viewing food as fuel for our day & workouts instead of a reward is a helpful way to rewire our brains from earning to nourishing.
2. Focus on simply moving your body.
Workouts should be enjoyed. Walking IS ENOUGH. Shoot for 10k steps per day or simply increasing your steps by 1k each week till you reach your goal. If you have a good relationship with food, there is no need to kill yourself in the gym 7 days per week. Spend adequate time eating at your true maintenance calories. You should not be dieting more than 1-2 times per year.
Before quarantine, I would walk, CrossFit &/or bodybuilding 5 times per week with one rest day and one active recovery day. I love the community & push of a group Wod.
Intra quarantine, I don’t have access to the equipment or facilities for specific workouts. I’ve worked out at home 3 days per week with minimal equipment and walked.
Haven’t gained, inflammation is actually down, & I’ve become more in tune with my body, hunger cues, & how to adjust my food & eating schedule based upon what my body is craving.
3. Surrender to the seasons. We aren’t meant to look the same.
Binges, disordered eating & body image, cravings, & anxiety for control flare up when we’re living in a chronic deficit &/or chasing a size we’re not meant to naturally be.
Your hunger &/or lack of are signs your body is simply trying to survive. Lack of resources trigger our bodies to down regulate systems, cycles, & hormones. Wonder why you lost your period or you’re cold all the time, you plateau on 1200 calories & gain when you eat anything above 1600? BINGO. Don’t be afraid to Reverse Diet. Invest in a coach!
We’re really chasing a feeling, not a number. We want to feel worthy, loved, significant, safe, heard, seen, & happy.
These are all a state of being my loves.
It didn’t matter if I was 100lbs or 160lbs, happy was a state I FELT about my life at whatever season. If you don’t do the inner work & address the root cause, it’s like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.
You’re afraid to surrender because you don’t want to give up control. Especially for my fellow Type A’s.
Guess what?
You never had control, you became you’re own prisoner.
One of my favorite IG accounts, @maryscupofteaa wrote a new blog post for you: 7 books about self-love every woman needs to read.
CHECK IT OUT!
Educate yourself. Self love is a skill we sharpen. Surround yourself with people & environment full of positivity. Everything you consume, down to social media makes an impact on your perspective.
Cut the toxicity & self sabotage.
Food & body freedom are just one decision away.
The decision to choose YOU. ❤️
Whether you’re struggling with gut issues, trying to learn macros, fuel for your workouts, or fighting for your food & body freedom, I’m here for you.
Xoxo Coach K