Still need junk food? Just remember "G.A.T.C.H.A"!
Hi dear! Are you eating more junk food than ever since COVID-19?
If so, you’re one of many. There are so many emotions you go through during this uncertain time; anxious, scared, worried, overwhelmed, and STRESSED.
Yes, having more stress can increase the chance of turning to junk food for a quick reward. Junk food lowers our immunity when keeping it high is so important right now!
In an ideal world, going cold turkey on junk food makes sense, but it’s not that simple for many, right? Without any mindsets and habits shift, it’ll just increase your stress level and lower your self-esteem.
While there’re so many chemically added things I like to avoid, here’s a list of 6 basic ingredients I’d try hard to stay away from, aka “G.A.T.C.H.A”!
-Artificial colors (Blue nos. 1 and 2, Red no. 40, Yellow no. 6)-GMOs (Genetically modified organisms)
-Trans fats (hydrogenated oils)
-Chemically created artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, like Splenda)
-High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS...
8 ideas to avoid emotional eating and stay strong mentally and physically in Corona craziness
I live in Kirkland, at the heart of pandemic, and wow...it was different this time than all the other viruses I’ve heard/lived through.
We were very careful from the beginning as I had other info from Japan, and my parents who are in their 70s are with us here. We’ve kept our kids from school days before they finally decided to close. We stopped going to our Yoga studio and cafes. We’ve isolated ourselves and stuck together, full house with 6 people. It was quite a stressful shift for me, who was used to having a quiet space 8+ hours/day, but now I have a lot less stress and am still enjoying all sorts of healthy food with pure joy.
So, here I am sharing some ideas that have been working for me to keep the stress low (high stress weakens your immunity!) and not turning to food.
1). Block off a 15 min slot to yourself daily (if it means getting up earlier, it’s worth it) and write down/type up all the stressors.
2). Find out what you can do about them and write/type. Put it where yo...
The more diets you did, the more you gained?
Are you good at following rules?
If you were, chances are you’ve committed to many diets and ended up gaining weight.
Why? Because no one diet works for everyone.
So, that diet or those diets didn’t work for your unique being. Just like we have our unique abilities and talents, our body is so unique and different to individual. You probably didn’t blame the diet(s) you tried, but blame on yourself and your self-esteem totally dropped. Am I right?
If you can relate, tell me why are you still on diet if you are.
Also, come and join us in the “Mindful Eating Support ~Reframe Your Eating Story~” FB group where you will feel safe and connected in a nonjudgmental environment.
Once Brene Brown said, “connection is the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”
That’s what I hope to give to all those who are struggling with emotional eat...
NEED to be on a diet or SICK of being on a diet?
If you’re trying to lose weight but emotional eating always gets in the way, I have a question for you.
Do you NEED to be on a diet all the time so that you feel “safe” and “under control” (while it’s working out for you)?
Or, are you sick of tired with all the diets so much that by seeing/hearing “diet” want to make you rebel?
I was both. I had believed that I needed a diet (AKA “Rigid Rules”) to follow to lose weight. But nothing worked. The more I did, the more I gained. I trusted all those diets and gave my 100% commitments, energy, money and time for them, but they betrayed me. They repeatedly did that to me. I was so lost. I got angry and felt disappointed in me many many times. I started repelling. I ate all the “I-can’t-eat-this-food”. I binged and binged. And felt awful and so hopeless.
Can you relate? Connect with me if you want to talk about ways how I break the vicious diet cycle and keeping my healthy body without a diet.
(Instagram @HealthCoachKanna).
Do you want...
HOW you eat matters!
We tend to focus on WHAT we eat, but HOW we eat is also very important.
We wouldn't really put all 24 Oreos on a plate and spent 20 minutes at a dining table for truly indulging them, rather gorge them in from the bag in 5 minutes in your room....at least it was my case.
So today, I have a challenge for you.
Put one meal (or snack) you are to eat on a plate, nicely display with a placemat, add a candle or flowers if possible (just grab some from the street or park, lol), use knife and fork if the food is supposed to be eaten with them. Maybe put down your cell phone and play calming music, like jazz or Spanish guitar!
It doesn't matter what the food is to me at this moment. If they need to be Oreos, put them nicely on your favorite plate, and sit at a dining table, and chew 20 times instead of swallowing. ENJOY them.
By doing this, it will makes a huge difference on your soul satisfaction level.
Remember, whatever the food is, it's ok.
You don’t need to pretend that you are eating...
I was so embarrassed when my parents didn't recognize me
My parents didn’t recognize me after gaining about 50lbs.
I attended a high school for a year as an exchange student in the U.S.
It was those days with no internet and international calls were crazy expensive. So, I wrote some letters to my parents occasionally but I don’t think I included any photos.
A year passed and I was super excited to see my parents back at Narita airport, Japan. I saw them, I’m waving frantically but they were giving me some frown faces. I thought..that’s odd...
So, I ran to them and gave a big hug. They finally recognized that it was their daughter waving and hugging them!
My over the top excitement instantly became a huge embarrassment.
I lived with the embarrassment, the body shame, too long. I should have asked for help, I should have focused on my inner beauty, but couldn’t.
I shouldn’t have valued others’ values and opinions but that’s all it mattered back then.
Cultural ideals and norms totally won over me, too strong that I didn’t know ...
Why adding more works
No, you don’t need to feel deprived anymore.
There’s so many, soooo many nutritious and delicious foods you can enjoy while trying to break free from emotional eating.
I will NEVER EVER ask you to diet and restrict your food. Because I know it will only backfire at 9pm tonight.
I’m so proud of you trusting a diet giving a 100% go, followed by another, and another...but, did they end up giving you extra weights and stealing your self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth?
This is why adding in works rather than taking away to start overcoming emotional eating. Start adding delicious smoothie, whole-foods, healthy and fun looking salad! High quality dark chocolate (cacao 70%+). Also start adding more joy from non-food sources like relationships, career, dating, parenting, exercising, movements, hobby, community, spirituality and many more!
Once you add so many 'nutrition-rich-things' in your life, you'll start craving less and less of junk food you have been binging on to feed y...
I thought I needed to be a supermodel to speak up
“Are you a supermodel? White? Well, then at least, naturally blond?
If not, come back when you’re - otherwise your opinions/knowledge/research/passions don’t matter…”
These were the typical comments I often got in Japan when I called the authorities and influencers about stopping diet culture and creating a safe space for emotional eaters when I became a registered holistic nutritionist back in 2007.
For a long time, being able to openly talk about diets and body images, I needed to be a supermodel (not even close, I’m 5’2” and shrinking!), Caucasian (the only part it’s white is probably teeth, but not even), or blond (well, I could dye and color my hair, but that would look weird on me).
Those “requirements” in Japan felt so hard to break ...and still is.
I’m really passionate about ending diet culture and unhealthy messages toward health from the media, even if they are from my favorite celebrities (then she/he won’t be my favorite anymore), but I struggled to do so for my own...
A helpful coping mechanism
One of my best friends from elementary passed away a few days ago - when I received the news, my heart started beating fast for sadness, pain, fear, anxiety, and…..panic. The death felt so close and real to me, and I knew I had to sit with these emotions and go through them, instead of suppressing/avoiding them, like I used to do with food.
This time, my coping mechanism was journaling, and so grateful for it.
I write two journal books everyday.
In the first journal, I'd write about;
a) 5 grateful things (I was for sure very grateful to be healthy and alive after the devastating news)
b) write about my 10 dreams repeatedly with the sentences as if they have already happened. It is very helpful to keep the highest vibes going and keep moving forward.
The second journal is to throw any thoughts/feelings, but I always start with 3 wins from the day before to practice gratitude, including something very small like (“I scooped my cat’s poo!”).
Then, some sentences could be giving wh...
Are Emotions Good or Bad?
When you hear the word of "emotion", what do you think of?
Is it a good or bad thing?
Do you judge an emotion or embrace it?
Growing up in Japan, showing emotions were something that was forbidden it felt like.
To me, it was a sign of weakness if I cried in front of people (I remember hiding in a curtain in the gym at elementary school when I just couldn't hold my tears anymore).
I remember mastering a poker face at the age of 13 (even when I was deeply hurt). I thought this was the best technique I ever obtained/needed.
Fast forward, suppressing negative emotions didn't serve me well.
We can't selectively suppress the emotions and I lost the positive/happy emotions for a long time.
By the time I realized it, I didn't know how it felt like to feel happy or what I wanted to feel happy for. It felt all the emotions were all the same - numbed.
Well, good news is, emotion is not a "good or bad thing"!
It's an absolutely important information we need.
The very important, one of t...
Do your overwhelmed, stressed and/or bored feelings lead you to emotional eating?
Do you think your food and/or will power is the issue?