Are you Overeating and Overstressed? You’re Not Alone

Feeling overworked and under-appreciated?

Having trouble staying consistent with nutrition and fitness because of life’s demands?

Wondering if you’ll ever be able to find time to achieve the body and health you want?

If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of those 3 questions then this article is for you.

Putting others’ needs before your own? For lots of women, it’s an everyday reality.

Whether you’re a high-powered professional, a mother, a caregiver, a partner, a worker, a daughter, a friend, or all of the above and more…. ….if you’re a woman, you’re asked to do a lot.

From a man’s standpoint it seems that women tend to spend much of your day putting out fires 🔥 —- that us men probably started.

On top of that, you have...

• handling to-do lists,

• wiping little noses,

• meeting deadlines, and

• making sure other people are fed, safe, and happy.

• Natural caretakers...

**(After running some interviews of these ‘HIT Fit Female Working-Warrior’ women, this is how you feel...)

Here’s the thing…

With putting so much time into caring for others, and juggling all of your responsibilities, how can you find time for yourselves?

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

You can feel healthy, fit, and good in your own skin.

You can regain control of your schedule and your body. You can overcome emotional eating and cravings.

You're about to learn:

➡ How to overcome the ‘getting healthy and staying in shape’ obstacles to get the body — and life — you want.

Something that I figured out for myself after watching my lovely wife is that she likes her organic wine and either chocolate or a salty potato chip treat are… unfortunately you ladies have it harder than us men who sometimes act like children. Lol. Those treats don’t always love you back.

After it was explained to me,...

The cycle often looks like this.

• Feel stressed, anxious, upset, etc.

• Overeat.

• Feel guilty and ashamed for overeating.

• Feel more stressed, anxious, upset, etc.

• Vow to “do better”.

• White-knuckle a new diet, and/or make rigid “rules”.

• Feel stressed, anxious, upset, etc.

• Overeat.

• Repeat the cycle. (Extremely common!)

Solution: “Break the chain” exercise.

Simply notice, observe, and record what happened leading up to any food cravings, emotional eating, overeating, and/or any other times that feel “out of control” with food and eating.

Because here’s a secret:

Those feelings and behaviors didn’t come out of nowhere. They aren’t random. Something led to them.

Now you get to be a detective and figure out all the links in the chain.

✅ Break the Chain exercise, or think through the exercise below.

1. Start with any recent food or eating-related episode that troubled you. (For instance, eating too much, eating foods you didn’t want, feeling out of control, etc.).

2. Write down all the stuff that was happening around you just before that episode happened.

For instance:

• Where were you?

• What were you doing?

• What were you thinking?

• What were you feeling?

• Who was with you?

3. Now see if you can go back even further.

Maybe a few hours. Once again:

• Where were you?

• What were you doing?

• What were you thinking?

• What were you feeling?

• Who was with you?

Try to capture as much detail as possible.

4. Now, look at your data. Are there any patterns?

If you don’t see any connections right away, no worries.

Try this exercise a few times, and then start looking for links between what was happening in the days or hours before you had a serious food craving or emotional eating episode.

5. If and when you find patterns, be curious about them.

Don’t worry about fixing them right away. Just notice them.

“Hm, that’s interesting. Every time my mom calls me, afterward I want to hit the chocolate.”

“You know, I actually feel fine most of the month, but the week before my period hits — watch out.”

“It’s been a long, stressful week at work. Give me that wine before I stab someone.”

6. You might notice solutions right away.

“OK, I’m going to go for a workout after I talk to mom, to get some of that energy out.”

“I’m going to mark my ‘woman cycle’ days on the calendar so I know about them in advance.”

“I’m going to walk home on Fridays, to unwind.”

Or you might not notice solutions. You might feel stuck at step #5, noticing the patterns but not sure how to change.

Either way, that’s OK.

The important thing is: Now you’re aware of what’s happening. (Reminder: you can download a printable version of our Break the Chain worksheet here. Use it to practice working through the above steps.)

Let us know what you think follow us on:

Instagram: http://instagram.com/hitfitnesswarehouse

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hitfitnesswarehouse

Twitter: https://twitter.com/hitfitness954