Happy Valentine’s Day! I wanted to address dietary responses to stress that I have notices more and more of my clients discussing with me. This is apporpriate for Valentine’s Day because I think we all look to our loved ones to rescue us from these emotions. This creates a lot of stress in our relationship and will ultimately leave us disappointed and dependant. This Valentine’s Day I am inpiring you to be strong and deal with stressors in your life directly so that your nutrition is not adversely affected.

We all have different emotional responses to stressors in our life. Some of us go within, shell up, and hold all of the stress inside. Some of us over react to be heard. We whine or explode on those close to us so we will be heard and helped possibly. Neither of these reactions are healthy and both are versions of our “weaker” response to stress. One tactic is to avoid whatever stresses us in life and hope it will go away. The other tactic is to create a lot of commotion so we can get help from those close to us. Both are survival tactics we have learned at a young age that probably worked for us in childhood when we didn’t have control of our life.

Guess what? We are adults now and the best way to solve our problems is to confront them. I am speaking about this because our eating habits are directly tied into our emotional state if we allow them to be. If you find yourself picking at food mindlessly or constantly craving food when you have balance already instilled in your regimine; then there is something else going on emotionally. (I emphasize balance because we all need a cheat meal here and there after being strict for so long)

To that same point; if you have no appetite and feel nausous spiratically without a virus or other sort of medical illness; then there is something you are avoiding emotionally. This is a part of health; the psychological side. It absolutely plays a role in our physical health. It will afftect our appetite for food, sex, and physical activity.

You may be perfectly fine at this moment. You may find this blog useful at a future date or you could be experiencing theses “avoidance” tactics right now. We are best when we are strong, confront our issues, and handle our problems ourselves. Of course, lean on loved ones for support and guidance. Most importantly, we must make our own situations better to feel empowered. Our healthiest state of mind is when we attain a high level of self efficacy. Practise make perfect. Go out there and do it!