How to Reset Instead of Overeating When Life Feels Out of Control | TMOHP Episode 164

Hey, everybody, welcome back to the podcast. Let me just preface this episode by saying that this is a stressful and uncertain time in the world at the time I'm recording this podcast. And whether you're reacting to global events or to a personal crisis or a time in your life that feels out of control, this episode is designed to help you take care of yourself.

and avoid overeating when life feels out of control or crazy. And reaching for food is both the thing that you really, really want to do and also the thing that you want not to do.

Life can send us into autopilot habits sometimes. In the midst of emotions and conflict and worries and pressure and responsibilities, it can be a real challenge to stay grounded and to balance our reactions or feelings or stress with self-care and with peacefulness in a way that allows us to function at our best, to show up at our best.

So questions that I'm hearing a lot are how do I take care of my eating? How can I not be overeating right now? How do I get a grip? How do you do the things that are helpful for you that feel helpful for you when you feel stressed and when you feel overwhelmed and honestly going and getting some chocolate just sounds easier.

Where and how do you anchor yourself? Right. Pull yourself in. How do you take care of yourself? As a member of Your Missing Peace, which is my group coaching program said this morning, we had a coaching session this morning.

She's in the midst of worrying about her actual job security in the midst of all this uproar of unclear policy changes. And she said, you know what? I have decided that I need to focus on what I can control. I'm trying to do the things that I can even if it's all very imperfect. Even if there is a whole bunch of stuff that I'm worried about and that I'm unclear about.

She showed up to the group today as a part of re anchoring herself. As a part of resetting. And I want to point out that the first part of this reset was a mindset reset. It was a mental one. It was this idea of, okay, I need to just take a step back and think about where I want to focus my mind. I want to focus on what I can control.

Another part of a mental reset is when life feels out of control, it is really helpful to pull yourself back mentally to the fact that you matter. That your mindset matters. That your clarity matters. That your feelings matter. That your needs matter. Also, your responsibilities matter, and your relationships matter, and all those other priorities matter, and you taking care of you is also important.

Whatever you are feeling, or needing, or wanting to say, or wanting to make happen today, only you are able to show up to do it as the best version of you. And the thing is to show up fully and to accomplish the things that you want to accomplish, whatever they are, you have to be primed. You have to be ready to go.

You cannot be your most amazing self and bring your own unique set of strengths, your own skill set to the table. If you are distracted, if you are off balance, if you're in a sugar haze, if you are sleep deprived. You matter. That is one of the most important mindset resets that you can make. You matter. You belong. You are important. You deserve time and energy.

Those are some great mindset resets to start to experiment with., and I'm just going to repeat myself a little bit here that you cannot show up with confidence. You can't show up with clarity if you have a mental soundtrack. We all have a mental soundtrack, but if your mental soundtrack is one that is constantly calling you names, or blaming you, or putting you down, or telling you that you're not doing enough, or, and setting you up for burnout.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for yourself, for your coping, for your performance, for everything, is to reset. One way I like to think about this is, I hope it's not just me, but I often look up and I cannot believe how many windows I have open on my computer, right? And you know when you get too many windows open on your computer and then it just stops working?

Or it starts going really slow? And you need to clear your cache. You need to restart your browser. Sometimes you need to completely reboot your computer. Sometimes we need that too. Our brain is saying there's so much to do, or this is all so crazy, or I just need to keep going, or what do I do? What do I do?

Sometimes we need to reset. So what I want to talk about in this episode are ways that you can clear your head. Get grounded. Wipe the slate clean. And reset. Choose your setting. So that you can keep moving forward as your best version of you and so that you can make choices that don't leave you standing in the pantry with your hand in a bag of something that you both really, really, really feel like you need to eat and really, really, really don't want to eat. And are mad at yourself for falling into that pattern one more time.

Okay? So here's some ways to clear your head and to get grounded and to reset. One of the most basic and ignored is sleep.

Did you know that sleep can actually clear out toxins in your brain? The flow of the cerebral spinal fluid in your brain increases when you are sleeping and that flow washes away harmful waste proteins that build up between brain cells during your waking hours. I love that image. You are cleaning your brain when you sleep.

We know so much and so little about sleep, but what we know is that it is an essential human function. Getting adequate sleep is essential for focus, for creative problem solving, for resilience, for your ability to optimally manage stress. The temptation is to just plow through your need for sleep during times that are stressful or when you have too much to do.

Right? Maybe stay up a little longer so you can do a little bit more or, keep going and you'll give yourself a break at the end of the day. And, oh, you'll use sugar or something to fill in the cracks or to energize yourself or to keep yourself going.

And actually, inadequate sleep literally physically causes you to be hungrier. It's a setup. When you need a reset, when life feels overwhelming, if you can resist the temptation to stay awake, to power through, if you can choose sleep or rest instead, it will make a dramatic difference in your life. In your wellbeing in your brain functioning. And in your eating and in your Ability to avoid overeating and emotional eating. So sleep is a big one.

Another way to reset and to get anchored is to practice the pause. Try it right now Just take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Take another deep breath. If you can picture yourself in a peaceful place, that's even better. How does it feel? Just taking that pause, a mini escape, can help you feel calmer.

Guess what? The other thing that happens when you take a pause is you have an opportunity to become aware of what you are feeling and what you are needing.

When you take a pause, when you take a breath, when you check in about what's going on inside your body, what am I feeling? What am I needing? What am I wanting? This gives you the power to actually take care of yourself. This is how you notice that you've let yourself get too hungry, or that you are getting hungry.

This is when you notice that you are getting really stressed and unproductive, and you just need to walk away for a minute. This is the moment when you have the ability to recognize that you are tired, and you're getting spun up. And a walk around the block or a quick nap is going to make all the difference.

You cannot respond to yourself if you don't know what you need. You cannot take care of yourself if you don't know what you need. And pausing is a power tool to help you do that. And also to give you an opportunity to make choices instead of ending up in an automatic overeating or emotional eating habit.

Another way you can reset an anchor is to set a goal to do something that is rejuvenating or nourishing every day. Do not let your perfectionist brain make this too big. Just how can I feed my spirit today? It might be a super small thing. Taking the time to do a facial treatment on yourself or moisturize your cuticles. Listening to some music. Getting some fresh air.

Some days you're not going to have the energy for something major, but that is okay. Make it a mental priority. Set that mental Do the mental reset that I am going to rejuvenate myself every day. Right? Step outside and take a breath of fresh air before that next meeting.

Appreciate the beauty of something around you. A sunset. A sunrise. The snow or the ice pattern on your window in the morning, right? If it's super cold. Listen to music that you love. Move your body. Find a way to get a good laugh. It doesn't have to be huge.

Being kind and compassionate with yourself, recognizing the importance of nourishing yourself in ways that are not food, sets you up to be strong and powerful. And that's what you need when life feels crazy or overwhelming, or you're in the midst of one of these storms.

Something else that is incredibly important when life feels overwhelming, if you are trying to stay out of a cycle of overeating and emotional eating, is to think about changing the station. Whatever it is that is getting to you, make sure that you spend some time every day focused on something else. If you can limit the thing that is getting to you, right?

If it's, if it's an outside situation, if it's what's going on in the world and you can limit your news, if you can limit your doom scrolling, do that. If it's, something that is happening in your own life, something that is in your face all the time, make sure you spend some time every day focused on something else.

I'm sure you've had the experience where your best ideas pop up in the shower, right? Or when you're out for a walk or when you're driving in your car. That is because You have allowed your brain to relax. Constant vigilance, constant focusing, constant reacting is exhausting. It is stressful. It is a road to burnout, and also to overeating and emotional eating, to soothe and to numb and to escape that constant vigilance.

So if you can program some time away from whatever it is that's getting to you every single day, and give yourself permission to leave it alone for a while. That is going to be incredibly important.

You can't talk about changing the station without talking about screen free time. Right? The world is in our face 24 7. And the temptation is to always be checking, always be looking, always be scrolling. Give yourself a break from the phone, from the feeds, from the emails, from the alerts. Take an inventory of what alerts are on your phone, and can you turn some of them off?

Can you start implementing a practice of blocking out some screen free time? It doesn't have to be an entire day or an afternoon, but can you give yourself an hour or a half hour? Start with 15 minutes if it's difficult, where you are freed from your screens.

So wrapped into all of these strategies that I'm talking about and one of the most important things that you can do is commit to a mental or a mindset reset. It is so important to pay attention to the things that you are telling yourself. The stories that go through your head on repeat, the way that you are talking to yourself all day long.

We all do this. So stop and take an inventory. What are the thoughts, the beliefs, the stories, the phrases that are going through your mind all day that are not serving you? That are not helpful? That are bringing down your energy? Or that maybe are contributing to your stress or your overwhelm and even your overeating?

And then ask yourself, what would be more helpful? This is not going to be the same thing every day. You're not going to come up with one answer here. I have a mindset reset program that my clients use. It's available in my online store and I will put the link in the show notes in case you're interested.

What I want you to know is that it includes a variety of mindset resets, right? So there is a mindset reset for stress. There is one for overwhelm. There is one for getting mentally focused, getting clear on your priorities.

And there's one for building up your confidence and showing up as your best version of you, feeling unstoppable. They're each very different. So much of what is helpful starts with you asking yourself, what do I need? Taking that pause, right? What do I need? What are the reminders that would be helpful to me?

Take an inventory, pay attention, play with these ideas. And then use all of these ideas and strategies to figure out what the reset formula that works best for you is going to look like.

I hope this helps, and I will talk to you soon.