0:00
hello and welcome back to the lose
0:01
weight by eating podcast I'm Audrey
0:03
Johns we're here on a very warm summer
0:07
day and admittedly I did not know what
0:10
we were going to bring to the podcast
0:11
today so I did a shout out on Facebook
0:14
and thankfully Mary came back with such
0:17
a great question that I was able to do
0:20
not just a full podcast on it but a
0:24
little add-on and we will talk about
0:26
that as well so this week I want to talk
0:29
about stress eating why do we do it and
0:32
how can we stop doing
0:34
it the science behind stress eating is
0:38
pretty vast I um not just pulled some of
0:41
the own my own data that I have
0:43
researched over the years but I also
0:45
kind of wanted to see what's the new
0:47
data out there and so I went to the harv
0:50
Harvard Medical journals just so I could
0:53
really understand perhaps pieces I was
0:55
not understanding and what really
0:58
surprised me and I would love to hear
1:01
from any men out there because what
1:05
genuinely surprised me was Harvard
1:07
Harvard Medical journals stated that
1:09
women are more likely to stress eat
1:12
while men are more likely to stress
1:14
drink so for men out there if it's
1:17
stress drinking that is your problem
1:19
this will absolutely work for you as
1:21
well just anytime I say stress eating
1:24
just replace it with stress drinking and
1:26
if you're a woman and you tend to have a
1:28
glass of wine because you're stressed
1:30
out and you want to stop doing that um
1:32
you can absolutely do that as well so in
1:36
one study stress caused weight gain only
1:42
overweight let me say that again in a
1:44
different way in this study that Harvard
1:52
referencing the only time people were
1:55
stress eating is when they were already
1:58
overweight in this one study
2:00
okay so and I'm quoting now one theory
2:04
is that overweight people have elevated
2:07
insulin levels and stress related weight
2:10
gain is more likely to occur in the
2:15
insulin now first of all before I lose
2:19
half of you guys I I want to really
2:22
really reiterate that this was just one
2:24
study and everyone stress eats or does
2:30
something that is soothing when stress
2:35
happens so you know if you only have you
2:38
know five pounds to lose or you're just
2:40
trying to maintain weight you know this
2:42
obviously can happen to you as well but
2:45
what I really want to talk to you about
2:49
and this is the piece that came from my
2:51
own research over many years was that
2:55
back when we were hunters and
2:58
gatherers when we had stress what was it
3:01
due to cuz it wasn't due to a crappy
3:04
boss or a deadline or traffic right what
3:10
was stress back then stress when we were
3:12
hunters and gatherers
3:17
food I haven't eaten in three days
3:21
or you know winter is coming we better
3:25
get enough food together or there's a
3:27
you know big scary lion outside or
3:29
something like that of course you know
3:31
it's it's it's hard to Envision all of
3:34
that but this is where we started as
3:36
hunters and gatherers so it's only
3:39
natural that when we are stressed
3:42
out we go for stuff that packs on the
3:47
weight back when we were hunters and
3:49
gatherers we did not always eat every
3:52
single day we ate when we could find
3:56
food when we were hunters and gatherers
3:58
we didn't eat three meals a day that
4:02
luxury of course as we evolved as human
4:05
beings all of that changed but that does
4:10
mean that this habit that we have this
4:14
survival mechanism that when we're
4:16
stressed out must pack body with as much
4:19
fat and you know must put on some
4:23
weight because when is our next meal
4:25
going to be I love to talk about
4:30
sugar and if you have sweet Cravings or
4:35
if you have Savory Cravings either way
4:38
you know this is an important
4:40
note sugar or Sweet items there are and
4:46
please feel free to correct me if I'm
4:47
wrong but lots of different research I
4:50
have done over the years is there is
4:53
nature that is poisonous that tastes
4:58
sweet nothing in nature that is
5:01
poisonous tastes sweet so when children
5:07
sweets this is very evolutionary this is
5:12
just it's safe sweets are
5:15
safe does this make sense I know I'm
5:18
really bringing us back to hunters and
5:19
gatherers but this is where stress
5:22
eating started this is why when you are
5:25
stressed out you want a burger or fries
5:30
and yes that all sounds amazing but this
5:33
is why you crave it when you're
5:36
stressed it's it's a survival
5:39
mechanism so how can we overcome it now
5:43
that we understand why it's happening
5:45
perhaps it might be a little bit easier
5:48
it first of all before we get into here
5:52
or a slew of different things you can do
5:55
instead of stress eating I really want
6:01
that if you've already listened to the
6:03
weight loss secret episode of this
6:05
podcast this is going to be you know old
6:07
hat for you but it's always a really
6:12
reminder part of losing weight part of
6:16
eating healthy part of exercising
6:19
regularly a piece of that puzzle is you
6:23
up you're going to have something wrong
6:26
to eat you're going to miss a workout
6:28
something's going to happen and derail
6:30
you it is part of the journey there's no
6:33
way around it you just need to accept
6:35
that if you start a new diet at some
6:37
point you're going to screw up and
6:38
that's okay like I'm not giving you a
6:41
free pass to go screw up but I'm telling
6:43
you it's part of the journey and it's
6:45
not the mistake that you make it's what
6:48
you do after so I really do recommend
6:51
listening to the weight loss secret
6:53
episode of this podcast if you have not
6:55
heard it yet so let's talk about some
6:58
alternative stress Believers and if none
7:02
of these work for you this would be a
7:05
great activity to do tonight to sit down
7:09
and think about what can I do that does
7:11
not re revolve around eating that will
7:14
help me reduce stress what feels good a
7:18
few here that are kind of all over the
7:20
Internet and pretty well known are
7:23
meditation exercise Community is a big
7:26
piece of it so calling a friend or going
7:30
setting a meal plan is one that I'm
7:33
adding in there and we'll get to that or
7:36
having an quote unquote indulgent snack
7:40
waiting for you either for your on your
7:43
way home or as soon as you get home and
7:46
I'm kind of giving you a little hint
7:47
hint listen to the chocolate diet
7:49
episode but what I'm getting at
7:52
is could you have one square of Dove
7:56
chocolate in your lunchbox that you know
7:58
this is what I get to eat on the way
8:01
home right or could you
8:05
have a bag of grapes or an apple or
8:09
something delicious that you love if you
8:12
crave the salty foods you could choose
8:15
some vegetables to eat on the way home
8:17
so good with a little bit of lime juice
8:20
oh my gosh crunchy delicious takes a
8:23
long time to eat a carrot that kind of
8:25
stuff so you can have a snack like go
8:29
ahead and give yourself that snack on
8:30
the way home just choose something
8:32
healthier and purchase it and have it
8:34
waiting for you so that well if I don't
8:37
need it then I've just wasted that money
8:39
there's no reason to go spend more money
8:42
drive-thru and you can also set a daily
8:45
goal that you will not stress eat you
8:49
can wake up in the morning and you're
8:50
going to say you know what no matter
8:52
what gets thrown at me today I am going
8:54
to make the decision that I am not going
8:57
eat now I know what you're thinking well
9:00
I'm going to make that goal for the
9:01
whole month and of course that's good
9:04
but big goals are really hard
9:07
to achieve when you're just starting
9:10
it's easier to start out a small goal a
9:11
daily goal so today I'm not going to
9:14
stressy and if I screw up then I've got
9:16
tomorrow today I'm not going to stress
9:18
eat so set that daily goal I will not
9:21
stress eat I will meditate exercise call
9:24
a friend or a family member you know
9:27
have a healthy meal waiting for me at
9:29
home because I have a meal plan or have
9:31
something really delicious but healthy
9:34
waiting for you in the car go ahead and
9:36
feed those Cravings so if it's a sweet
9:40
feed that craving with fruit or a little
9:43
Dark Chocolate Dove square that you
9:45
could just toss in your lunchbox and
9:47
you've got it waiting for you when you
9:48
get in the car it is hot enough I do not
9:50
recommend leaving it in the car right
9:52
now but you know come winter if you're
9:54
listening to this a few months from now
9:55
knock yourself out so set those daily
10:00
goals and find a way around them
10:04
so now I have a question for
10:07
you is it really stress
10:10
eating could it be something else like
10:13
we all have stress in our lives so of
10:16
course it can be stress eating but is it
10:19
so I want to ask you a few questions and
10:21
I want you to really like Ponder them
10:24
just think on it for a moment is it
10:29
is it just a habit you always go through
10:32
that drive-thru on the way
10:35
home are you snacking due to hunger or
10:39
fatigue this is a great opportunity if
10:42
it's one of those then that is a quick
10:44
easy fix and it does not happen in a
10:46
Drive-Thru well it does but not in a
10:48
healthy way or are you being influenced
10:52
others now let's dig down into these a
10:55
little bit if it's boredom eating try
10:58
one of the alter atives we talked
11:01
about one tip I love to give people and
11:05
obviously this won't happen like on your
11:06
drive home but say you get home and
11:08
you're still stressed and you're like
11:10
the kids have chips aoy in in the pantry
11:12
and screw it I'm gonna have one I I
11:15
bottom I'm G I have one right we all
11:18
moments making yourself
11:21
something can actually help with that
11:24
boredom so what I love to recommend is
11:26
make yourself a cup of tea is zero
11:29
calories unless you add cream and sugar
11:31
you know I'm not a fan of that so it's
11:33
zero calories for me it might be 50
11:35
calories for you just the act of boiling
11:39
the water steeping the tea bag letting
11:42
it cool down long enough or putting it
11:45
over ice if it's super hot out but just
11:47
making yourself a cup of tea alone can
11:51
help you with boredom eating if you find
11:54
that it's boredom eating and you know
11:57
this is something you can try like I
11:59
think it's stress eating but hell Audrey
12:01
said make myself a cup of tea so I'm
12:03
going to make myself a cup of tea and
12:04
see if it works there's no harm there
12:06
and if you really want to boost weight
12:07
loss do a green tea because a green tea
12:09
will naturally boost your metabolism it
12:14
hunger and it's a great little pickme up
12:17
in the afternoon you can also get a
12:19
decaf if you are really sensitive to
12:21
caffeine or you don't drink it now if
12:23
it's a habit let's create a healthy new
12:26
habit that's fun right like let's sit
12:30
down and make a plan so you could take a
12:33
walk or go to the gym on the way home
12:37
work you could call a friend on the way
12:40
home from work check in with your
12:42
mom you can listen to a motivational
12:47
podcast or you could set a new habit of
12:50
manifesting on the way home and we're
12:52
going to get to that and I know I'm
12:53
getting a little new Agy here on the
12:55
podcast but hey I'm trying to show you
12:57
guys who I am and this is who I am
13:00
so the next one is if you are hungry and
13:03
fatigued so if it's not stressed and
13:05
it's hunger or fatigue and I know what
13:07
you're thinking well fatigue doesn't
13:09
make you hungry it does if you're not
13:11
eating enough you will find that you are
13:13
fatigued and food is fuel and so if you
13:17
don't have the energy your body is going
13:18
to say hey I need a piece of bread I
13:21
need a protein bar give me some freaking
13:23
food right because your body needs that
13:25
fuel so if you're hungry or fatigued
13:29
like I mentioned you can have a healthy
13:32
snack on your way home from work or even
13:38
it and have a healthy snack about an
13:42
hour 45 minutes before you leave it's a
13:45
really good way to be like all right H
13:47
stretch here I'm going to have my snack
13:50
so if you have sweet cravings and I'm
13:52
going to put some links in here for you
13:53
as I always do you could try my low
13:55
calorie high protein
13:57
cookies or a little square of Dove
14:00
chocolate or grapes I the grapes are so
14:03
good right now so I know I'm leaning
14:04
heavy on that or you know an orange or
14:07
something healthy and and I know that we
14:10
are so hyperfocused on sugar but I do
14:12
want to re remind all of you that fruit
14:16
naturally boosts metabolism so it's not
14:19
bad it's good and especially better than
14:21
going through the drive-thru okay now if
14:24
you have the salty Cravings you could do
14:27
a low calorie dip with some Veggie
14:29
sticks that'll take you a nice long time
14:30
to eat put a good amount of salt within
14:33
reason depending on your dietary needs
14:36
or lots of citrus juice into the dip and
14:39
you kind of get that it almost feels
14:42
like you're having I mean it doesn't
14:44
feel like you're having chips but it
14:46
curbs that craving because it's crunchy
14:49
salty or as I noticed have a snack
14:52
waiting for you in your car if it's too
14:55
hot keep it in your lunchbox or pick
14:57
something that will not
14:59
cook itself melt or ruin your car while
15:05
office and finally if you're being
15:09
others if you're being influenced by
15:11
your kids so say on your way home from
15:14
work you pick up the kids from daycare
15:16
from school and they're screaming in the
15:18
background and that you're already
15:19
stressed from work because your boss was
15:21
just really leaning on your heart today
15:23
and now the kids are yelling and oh my
15:25
gosh it's too much to handle and they
15:27
say but mommy mommy I really really just
15:31
please that's when you are being
15:34
influenced by someone
15:36
else you can ask your kids for
15:39
help if it's an adult you can also ask
15:42
them for help or set a boundary so let's
15:44
start with the kids you can say listen
15:47
honey I know you really love McDonald's
15:50
but mommy is trying to eat healthier and
15:53
I already bought all this really yummy
15:54
food that's at home so if you can help
15:57
mommy eat healthy all week then we will
16:01
definitely go get McDonald's on Sunday
16:04
Saturday so ask for help I asked my
16:07
daughter for help all the time we were
16:09
in a really bad crumble cookie Loop it
16:13
was bad it was every week and yeah we
16:16
would get one cookie and we cut it up
16:17
into like six pieces and only have one
16:19
little bit but I finally told her I said
16:22
listen babe I've got to stop this is a
16:24
bad habit so how about once a month when
16:27
there is a crumble cookie we cannot live
16:29
without trying then we will get that one
16:32
we will have it on our free day or on my
16:36
say and just enjoy it so I asked her for
16:39
help and so every week she'll she'll
16:42
send me a little text message or she'll
16:44
come downstairs she's like okay is there
16:46
anything good on the crumble menu
16:49
because yeah I have the app if you don't
16:51
have the app please do not download it I
16:55
it's too good to be true don't do that
16:57
yourself um if you already haven't
16:59
cannot delete it like me sorry but ask
17:04
for help I asked a 14
17:07
year-old kid who's just now getting into
17:11
teenage hood and all of that attitude
17:14
that we all knew we had at that age and
17:17
I asked her for help and she has my
17:19
back asking for help
17:23
works and if they give you crap about it
17:26
you can just say no sorry I'm my answer
17:34
adult women out there men love to be
17:37
asked for help hey honey can you help
17:41
me I I really need to stop going through
17:43
the drive-thru at home so please don't
17:45
ask me to get Chick-fil-A on the way
17:46
home from work every single day can we
17:49
please eat at home you know six days out
17:51
of the week and then we will absolutely
17:53
go and get you your favorite chicken
17:55
sandwich you know on the weekend or on
17:57
Friday night like have fun with it right
17:59
I'm all for a free day but ask for help
18:03
or just set that boundary of you can go
18:06
yourself I love you but I'm not going to
18:10
continue to allow both of us to eat
18:14
unhealthy I love you so much that I am
18:16
not going to buy you that junk food and
18:20
I love myself enough to say no so you
18:23
need to stop asking me and set that
18:25
boundary so there are different options
18:27
when it comes to being in influenced by
18:31
others now if it happens on your way
18:35
home from work now we're getting back to
18:38
the stress eating so you're on your way
18:41
home from work you're stressed out and
18:44
every single day you go through a
18:46
drive-thru or you pick up something that
18:52
healthy there are a few different things
18:54
that you can do to make that unhealthy
18:57
food be a little bit available first
19:00
thing is if you can take a different
19:02
route home that alone is changing up
19:06
your daily routine so part of the
19:08
problem could be I always eat something
19:12
I maybe wouldn't allow myself to eat on
19:15
a regular basis but if I'm stressed I
19:17
give myself a free pass so now you've
19:20
created this habit of anytime I get
19:22
stressed out I go to crumble cookie like
19:26
I'm totally calling myself out everyone
19:28
I I want you to know that nobody is
19:30
perfect and that's why I keep bringing
19:32
up crumble and because this is our week
19:35
try to be naughty um but try just taking
19:39
a different route home if you can that
19:42
alone is a really big shift in your
19:45
routine that can help you stop
19:50
this less than ideal behavior let's not
19:53
call it bad behavior cuz these things
19:56
happen but less than ideal Behavior
19:59
sometimes that's enough to you know
20:02
change your habits and you will not be
20:05
driving past your favorite drive-through
20:07
spots so if that's possible even if it
20:11
takes you an extra 10 minutes even if
20:14
cost you a tiny bit more in gas I mean
20:17
hell you're not going through the
20:18
drive-thru so you're saving at least $10
20:21
so does that really matter and does the
20:22
time really matter cuz it's going to
20:24
take you at least 10 minutes in the
20:27
Drive-Thru so maybe you take that longer
20:32
route you listen to a motivational
20:35
podcast call a friend take a little bit
20:38
more time doing what you want in the
20:43
car you can and this one's fun I just
20:47
finished recording it I got to make it
20:48
all pretty for you but you can use my
20:51
manifestation so I'm I'm All About
20:54
manifesting right now I'm I'm reading I
20:56
believe her name is Cassandra Peterson's
20:59
Memoir um if you don't know who I'm
21:02
Alvar and this woman had a
21:06
life like 30 lives before she even ever
21:11
became Elvira um but manifestation is a
21:14
big piece of her life and
21:17
um so I'm a little into that right now
21:21
but it is something I have done whether
21:23
I knew I was doing it or not my whole
21:26
life I remember thinking
21:29
I just want a job where I can wear jeans
21:31
every day and then I got one and then I
21:35
just want a job where I don't have to
21:36
wear shoes like I'm so a Barefoot girl
21:39
and now I work from home and I'm totally
21:41
not wearing shoes right now while I talk
21:43
to all of you and then the other day
21:46
maybe a few months ago I said you know
21:49
who's lucky enough to have a job they
21:50
just like lay on the couch and watch TV
21:53
all day and here I am running a podcast
21:56
about cooking reality shows watching TV
21:59
all day I mean I have either been
22:04
or deep into manifestation to where I am
22:07
saying you know this is what I want and
22:09
I'm going to go after it and so in my
22:12
drive home manifestation I help you kind
22:15
restructure what you want and really
22:19
help you break those habits so give it a
22:22
try it's only about 10 minutes long it's
22:25
perfect amount of time for a drive home
22:27
to still be able to give you that time
22:28
time to call a friend or listen to your
22:31
list um as I mentioned um podcasts are
22:35
great on the way home especially if it's
22:37
something motivational I I really love
22:39
to take something that maybe I don't
22:42
love to do driving home in traffic and
22:47
doing something really valuable with
22:49
that time like listening to a podcast or
22:52
making that phone call that I just I
22:54
keep putting it off and I go ahead and
22:55
get it done um if you listen to the
22:58
podcast every week you know that I
23:00
typically I when I do my cardio every
23:03
day I'm responding to questions on
23:05
Facebook so I like to you know double
23:08
those up I take a few things that are
23:10
just you know work-based or you know
23:12
time consuming and I shove them together
23:14
so you can listen to a podcast that is
23:16
really inspiring if you have a friend
23:19
who's maybe been struggling a little bit
23:21
you can give them a call and you know
23:24
most cars have got the Bluetooth speaker
23:26
if not just put it on speaker phone
23:27
because we want to keep our hands free
23:29
and make sure we are not putting anyone
23:31
else at risk um trying to create these
23:34
new habits but give your friend a call
23:35
and just say hey what's up how you doing
23:39
you know you seem a little off or if you
23:41
don't even want to bring it up like
23:42
maybe they lost someone in their lives
23:44
you just want to say Hey you were just
23:46
on my mind I wanted to chat with you
23:48
what do you up to this weekend you know
23:50
what's going on in town it just seems
23:51
like there's nothing fun to do that I
23:53
can find what do you recommend you know
23:56
you could do that as I mentioned you can
23:58
create a a playlist on
24:01
Spotify you could do a lot of different
24:03
things with that time so before I leave
24:07
all of you and I know this one's a
24:09
little bit short and mostly because uh
24:11
my voice is already going out and I just
24:14
I must have recorded that manifestation
24:16
like six times because I didn't like it
24:17
it wasn't good enough for you so I
24:20
really hope you love it if it's just
24:22
give it a try even if it's way new Agy
24:29
healthy it's it could be really healthy
24:32
for your brain can I like seduko or
24:35
sodoku somebody help me with that one
24:38
but it's a really great activity just to
24:45
notes I really want to reiterate no
24:48
matter how hard we work
24:50
at giving up stress eating it's going to
24:55
happen and either when it happen happens
24:59
I want you to jump back on and listen to
25:01
this podcast or just fast forward we're
25:03
at 25 minutes in and listen to me tell
25:06
you it's okay it's part of the
25:10
journey it's part of the
25:13
journey you will screw up or you will
25:17
fall off plan or you will miss a healthy
25:20
meal or like whatever you want to call
25:21
it it's going of happen it's part of the
25:24
journey and it's not that momentary
25:28
going through the drive-thru like say
25:31
you've got six whole weeks and you
25:32
haven't done it and then you do it and
25:34
you don't give up look at all that
25:36
you've just done even if it's only six
25:38
days look at all that you've done that's
25:40
okay give yourself a free pass and say
25:42
you know what it wasn't ideal but it
25:46
happened and I'm not going to skip my
25:48
next meal I'm not going to punish
25:52
myself I'm just going to keep going like
25:55
it's fine the this is part of the
25:59
right get back up on that horse and keep
26:02
going so it's what you do after that
26:06
really counts and bonus homework if you
26:10
if you choose to do it what can you
26:14
that there are lots of different things
26:19
accidental eating something unhealthy or
26:22
skipping a workout how do you feel not
26:26
in the moment that you're eating it we
26:27
know it tastes a ious or not in the
26:29
moment that you're lying on the couch
26:30
instead of going to the gym it feels so
26:31
much better but 2 hours
26:35
later I'm so bloated I feel terrible uh
26:39
all this indigestion
26:42
right or the next day when you're like
26:45
man I need to get some Fiber going right
26:48
or when it comes to the gym you know I'm
26:50
just I have less energy or you know I I
26:54
don't feel like it's as easy to get down
26:56
on the floor and play with the kids or
26:58
play with the pets so extra homework
27:01
don't have to do it because just getting
27:04
past the mess up is is enough in my book
27:07
but if you want to take it to the next
27:09
level what can you learn from it and
27:12
finally I really do recommend if you
27:15
have not already listened to the weight
27:16
loss secret podcast episode and the
27:19
chocolate diet podcast episode they
27:21
really coincide very very well with this
27:23
one and I'll make sure to put links in
27:24
the show notes so you don't have to
27:25
scroll through finally
27:29
if you need something to do on your way
27:31
home and your drive is over 10 minutes
27:35
long check out my manifestation it is
27:39
will be the very next episode after this
27:41
um I've made sure not to add any ads to
27:44
it it's just clear and easy and if I can
27:47
get the sound working I will even add a
27:49
little bit of music in the background so
27:51
thank you so much for giving me a little
27:53
bit of your time I would love to hear
27:55
your thoughts and your feedback and I
27:58
100% sure that there are people out
28:00
there who have gotten past stress eating
28:03
who have tips for all of us please share
28:06
please let us know if you know you find
28:10
that the meditation exercise calling a
28:13
friend setting a meal plan or having
28:15
that indulgent healthier version of a
28:17
snack waiting for you is not working and
28:20
you have found something else please let
28:22
us know like this is the place where I
28:24
want all of us to come and learn myself
28:26
included so thank you so much for
28:30
spending this time with me uh please
28:32
tell your friends about the podcast we
28:34
want to keep it going um and be sure to
28:37
tune in to the next episode of the lose
28:40
weight by eating podcast and one last
28:42
thing if you are looking for more fun
28:44
podcasts to listen to on your way home
28:46
because I mentioned it check out the
28:48
who's reality cooking podcast with yours
28:51
truly I've got all kinds of cooking
28:53
reality stars on there telling us the
28:56
real secrets that happened when the
28:58
cameras go off all right I will talk to
29:00
all of you next week be kind to yourself
29:04
and if you mess up just keep going
29:07
you've got this I'm proud of you bye