35 - [Mindset] How To Overcome Emotional Eating

Johan Vesters: 0:32

What's up? Welcome back to Talking Nutrition episode 35. Today, another q&a. We've been catching up. And I think we're getting towards the end of our long list of questions. So we're doing our best here. Plus we just like Q and A's. But before we get into it, what's up, Kristine?

Kristine Andali: 0:52

This Well, well, no, a lot is off this morning was I'm just having a crazy busy morning. So what I've done is I've I've got like a route right now I've 31 clients. And that's usually like, my max is like 35. But like right now, even like, this was a lot for me. It just kind of depends who's on your roster, honestly. But what I did was I used to do like, a smaller amount of check ins each day, right? So Monday to Thursday or no Sunday to Thursday, I would do check ins. What I've done is I've I still do check is each of those days, but I'm slowly dwindling Monday. So like Monday, I only have like two check ins. And then I use that as a day to work on my business. And so what I've done is I've like really filled Wednesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday. And so far, it's heavy.

Johan Vesters: 1:58

I feel Yeah, that's That's Monday and Tuesday for me, like, I used to just, I tried to knock them all out on Mondays. This is like a thing, like a year and a half ago, two years. And I was like, I can't do this anymore. Because like, all day, you're like doing check ins and shit, you know? Yeah. And I was also talking too much back then. So I would sometimes do like 2030 minute videos, you know? So it was a long day, you know? Now I'm trying to stick to like Mondays and Tuesday. I prefer that just kind of I do people who check in on Sundays. I'll do them on Monday, people will check into Monday I'll do Tuesdays and kind of like the rest of the week. We still emailing uh, stuff, but I'm focusing on content writing stuff creating shared, you know, yep. And building out the educational part, which has been going pretty good. Knocking out a couple of videos, like, a week like 1123 Let's, let's call it you know, from like, mid December, like since December I should say so it's getting there. Nice. I just like doing that stuff. It's fun. It's also like a lot of a lot of work, but it's just rewarding. No, it's cool. Yeah, yeah. Did you get your new website up?

Kristine Andali: 3:13

No, not yet. done the process. Okay. It's in the process are still building it out right now. Cool.

Johan Vesters: 3:20

Unrelated. I was thinking about this on the way back from the gym just now. Have you been watching any series recently?

Kristine Andali: 3:27

No, no, no.

Johan Vesters: 3:30

I've been really addicted to if you've watched the Yellowstone at all?

Kristine Andali: 3:35

Well, I try but I just fall asleep. I really, I have a really hard time staying awake. And watching shows like anytime at night, like we'll start something at like seven. And I'm like falling asleep.

Johan Vesters: 3:51

I've had those moments recently as well. No,

Kristine Andali: 3:53

but air. I just loved Yellowstone. It's great.

Johan Vesters: 3:56

Yeah. I've been to that. And then that was like the first show. I've been like, in a long time, you know? So I'll get to do like a spin off. Which is 1883. Watch that. Which was even better bench dad. A couple days basically was like weekends, you know? Then

Kristine Andali: 4:16

sometimes, though?

Johan Vesters: 4:18

Yeah, it's good. I'm like trying to force myself to take breaks, because it's been a lot recently. Yeah, for sure. I just got like physical symptoms from stress, like last December. So I had to like, dial it down just a little bit, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But then they did another spin off, which is 1923 which is even better. So I'm just, yeah, I've been binge watching a lot of shows recently. It's good rice. Yeah, weather's been shit. My mice Flipboard has been catching dust. I know how to winters over there. I know. I'm like all over the place. Here. We're just catching up. But like, I was looking at this winter, you know, I'm in a good spot with business. You know, I don't have to like work like all day, every day, like until the evenings to ship. I'm gonna go skeet more, you know, or splitboard I should say. And then the weather's just shit. Like we got a whole bunch of snow and then it's like rain the next day and it's gone again. Then freezes over. We get snow and it's just like, it repeats you know,

Kristine Andali: 5:25

geez, uh, sucks.

Johan Vesters: 5:29

So I'd like to go outside more but it's just been inside and out. Watching series. Yeah, it's rows breaking down your studio.

Kristine Andali: 5:38

Yes. Can you can you cross? Start All right. Yeah, she's, she choose metal. She loves the taste of metal.

Johan Vesters: 5:54

She's okay. And I'd have random stuff. Tonight today, so we'll we'll try to run through these relatively quick. We are going to start with a question about emotional eating.

Kristine Andali: 6:13

Okay, is that the one we're starting with? I thought we're starting with a supplement one. Okay, okay. Um, I just moved. Okay, got it. Okay, so, emotional eating this question was simple. And I put this sorry, I'm all over the place this morning. How to Overcome emotional eating? Loaded question. Because this is very dependent. Just with the person and you know, kind of what they're going through. What I will say is that, you know, emotional eating can be, can stem from negative experiences, and it also can stem from positive experiences. So like, for example, I have a client who kind of deals with both. So he's a hockey coach. And like, when they when he, he doesn't, we've worked on this, so he's come so far with it now. But like, he would emotionally eat when they won rice, like a celebratory kind of thing, right. But same type of thing when when they lost, so he was experiencing both. So you can definitely experience both, um, you know, this can happen on like, birthdays, and like, whatever it is. Um, but when it comes to emotional eating, like, really like, the truth is, is that it actually is normal. It's like a normal process, but it isn't, like, inherently bad. I think we get this like, and we instantly think that emotional eating is bad, but it is a normal human response. I'm hearing myself. Okay. My bad.

Johan Vesters: 8:17

It's okay. Until now, like that whole time you were talking, I couldn't hear you as I was trying to figure out.

Kristine Andali: 8:23

Okay. So like, I think, obviously, you know, if it's really, really impacting someone's life, then yes, it's gonna be something that's, you know, a negative experience for them. In terms of like, how to cope, bringing awareness, I talked about this a lot. I mean, it's with any situation, honestly, awareness, and mindfulness around those types of situations is so important, because if we don't know, what is causing it, how are we really supposed to come up with like, some sort of solution, right, so we have to like really observe what is happening. And that can be hard, you know, when you're in you're kind of in this emotional state. Something that I've used a lot with clients, I think I've talked about it on this podcast before is like this 20 minute tool. And again, it's a skill, right, it's something that you you get better at in in time, but I've had many many clients that have dealt with emotional eating and we've implemented this and it's really helped a lot because it gives you an opportunity to observe and like work through emotions and create space between like emotion and you know, acting on that emotion essentially. Right so the 20 Minute tools like say you find yourself getting really emotional it's almost the if then planning is can come into play here to say yourself, you find yourself in an emotional spot. So if I'm emotional, if I find myself emotional, I find myself starting to gravitate towards food. I'm going to you can literally like set a timer, like a 20 minute timer and you're so you Within that you delay the action, or the behavior that can come, you know, with being emotional. So within that time, really, you start to just become a more aware of like, what's going on, right. And like you You're, you're able to deal with the emotions or may not maybe not like deal with your emotions, but become more aware of like how you're actually feeling. And a lot of the time, after that 20 minutes, we'll see a decrease in those emotions, usually, like peak emotions, they'll start to decrease after that 20 minutes. And so usually, after that 20 minutes, we tend to feel like we actually don't need the food. And within this time, you can, you know, do something to kind of remove yourself from the situation. So you could go for a walk, for example, or like, you could call, you know, a friend, and you don't even necessarily have to talk about what's going on. Like, you definitely can, if you have someone that you trust, and kind of just talk about it. Or you can grab a piece of pen and paper and start writing about it. And that way, your your deal, you're starting to understand what's happening. And really like taking an inventory around, you know, what's been happening to like another big reason we can find ourselves emotional eating is like lack of sleep. Like that's a really big one that like a lot of people don't put two and two together. So it's like, okay, did I you know, have poor sleep, or like what's going on? Right? So anyways, you're delaying that time. And so this is a good, this is a good tool, I really, really like it, it's helped a lot of people. This is kind of similar. So it's called the stop method. So it's stop, it's called like SS for stop. And then T is for take, and then O is for observe. And so when you find yourself coming into that those emotional feelings, you know, stop, okay, if I'm emotion, stop, take, take a few breaths. Okay, get in tune with your breathing, and then observe. So again, it's very similar. This is just an actual like method in research. So what are your thoughts? Or what thoughts are going through your mind right now? What is your focus? What is your focus of attention? What are you reacting to? What's the station's Do you notice in your body, rest of your you're taking? You're getting away from the emotional part. perspective. So what what's the bigger picture? What is another way of looking at this situation? What would a trusted friend say to me right now? Is this a thought? Is this thought a fact or an opinion? How important is is how important will it be in six months? And then proceed? What is the best thing to do right now for me, for others for the situation? What can I do that fits my values? So your your, I mean, these are all questions that you could ask yourself, right, and it can really, really help in kinda like that heat of the moment. But I think, you know, with emotional eating, it's so so important to figure out where it's coming from. That's really the first step. So these are definitely these are definitely things anyone can implement, but it's still going to be definitely, you know, dependent on on that person.

Johan Vesters: 14:16

Awesome. I think that's all super useful. Because it's really easy to let emotions take over. Yeah, and stress and kind of like, I mean, before, you know, it should happens, you know, harbourside being able to stop yourself there. Like that's, that's going to be difficult, but like, if you can, if you can practice that, and also know like, Hey, I'm going to attempt to do this. A maybe the first one to three times, you won't even manage. That's okay. Right? Yeah,

Kristine Andali: 14:49

exactly. Like yourself yourself. No, no, like if say, you put these tools in place, and then you still end up eating. Listen, that was that was still progress, because you put these tools in place. This, this is something that improves over time. It's like people with binge eating disorders. Like, it's not about just stopping the binging right away. It's about creating more awareness around it. It's about Okay, did I feel like less guilty this time? It's about Okay, now we're hot. We're seeing binges further apart. It's not just you stop binging right because I think a lot of people, again, we live in this world of like, kind of extremes and they'll have these expectations of Like, I need to stop binging tomorrow. It's like, no, like, that's not that's not how it works. Right? We really have to build awareness around these things. Slow down, practice more mindfulness, like, observe your thoughts. observe what's going on.

Johan Vesters: 16:19

You Yeah, like that's, that's exactly why I mentioned it, because we can expect to fix things right away. And for that reason, like, you need to be aware of that too. For a reason, you're, you need to be okay with that too, which is, again, even harder, maybe Hido. Because then you're gonna try something. And maybe not get it right the first time, and that's okay. But I love all this stuff. Like I even like, I learned some new stuff here, too. So like, I'm definitely going to steal some shit. Oh,

Kristine Andali: 16:51

there's another one here, too, that I want to mention. It's called cargo. It's called cognitive reappraisal. So this is an evidence based practice for combating emotional eating, and promoting like emotion regulation. So step one is awareness. So you label the emotion, and you want to be more, you want to be more specific than than vague in this, okay, so the more more specific, the better. So basically, you distinguish between primary and secondary emotion. So like the first feeling when something happens primary, and then the feeling about that feeling secondary, right? So like, what's a good example here? I'm trying to think of one. So like, I say, like, my emotion is, you overeat, that makes me sad. And then the secondary emotion, it's like, I'm a failure, because of that, right? Like, there's two, there's a primary and secondary emotion there. Usually, the secondary emotion is more controlled, but often more dangerous, right? Because it's feeling that a certain emotion is right or wrong. So step two is like redefining what those primary emotions mean, noticing any fixed mindset language here, right? And then understanding that you don't have to act on emotions, and that they can just be there. Same with thoughts a big one, we don't have to always act on emotions. Right. And that, again, that is where the stop method comes into. And where the the 20 Minute tool there, I mean, they're the same type of thing. And then the last step, and that is like really accepting the emotions, right? So being being emotional as part of being human, this is the same as like having bad body image days. Very normal and part of being human. Right? It doesn't matter, we're going to experience it, we're going to experience this stuff, right? So suppressing them only makes things worse, allow them to be felt, but be wary of that second emotion. Right? And then how do you want to react to emotional situations? Right, like you can basically, again, if then plan for this, so you can plan for when this emotional time comes up? And how we're going to respond to that.

Johan Vesters: 19:30

Love that? You know what? Because we were going to keep it short. Anyway, today, like let's just stay on this topic. Yes. It's, it comes up a lot. And I see this too, with our in our community, like, people answer questions, you know, when they join, and there's a lot of stuff that's emotional. Oh, yeah. A lot of stress eating and, and like how to overcome that and how to overcome like binge eating. And I think more and more like, it's, it's cool. I think that things like journaling, things like meditation, these kinds of tools, like they're getting more and more like known, like, slowly but surely, you know. Yeah. And it's, like, the mindset side of things. Like that's why we did that course together. Like, that's a hardship. Really, it's not macros. It's not, you know, like, it's like going to the gym like, sure that's, that's a big part of what we do, but the mental side of things. And I talked to you to my client about this in the interview we did, which basically launches tomorrow for us, but it's an less episode for the listener. So episode 34. We talked about that stuff to lecture like we're achieving body composition goals. But that's only part of it, like the changes we can eventually eventually achieve. If we work through stuff and you'll, you might might want to because she she worked through, like, you know, burnout and like there's a lot of stuff along the way. As hard as that stuff is, you need to somehow figure out with help with these kinds of tools, how to stop yourself, like how to not let that emotion become like a thing, because you've made a very good point. Like, it doesn't have to spiral into, like, a big, you know, thing. Yeah, just easier said than done, let's be honest with you, we do need to sometimes also kind of not let it go too far. And just be aware of that. And depending on the scenario, and like, not always feel so sorry for ourselves, like kind of holding our shit, you know? Which again, like, it almost sounds harsh, saying that, like, you know, I even had those moments myself too. Yeah, I just had to pull myself like, pull myself together be like, Hey, calm the fuck down.

Kristine Andali: 21:56

You're like, yeah,

Johan Vesters: 21:58

don't let this over, like, overtake everything, like, work through it. So you get some really good, good tips here to do exactly, that works through those emotions work through emotional eating. as uncomfortable as it is.

Kristine Andali: 22:14

It's a very uncomfortable process. And, but it's either you get uncomfortable, and really start to overcome this with these these tools, or you stay uncomfortable. for who knows how long, right? It's, it's kinda like, you know, with with nutrition and stuff, right? Like, what, like, choose your uncomfortable, choose your hard, you know, it's like, yeah, it's gonna be hard for a while, but then it's probably going to get easier, or you're going to, you know, potentially end up with like, disease if we don't take care of our nutrition, right. It's like, choose your heart, like now or then kind of type thing. So yeah, I mean, I don't want to come off insensitive, because this is, this is a very sensitive topic. Because we just don't know what people are going through. There's like trauma and like, just so much stuff that can be popping up there. And so yeah, there's kind of two, two sides to that coin. But another thing, another thing is being careful with identifying ourselves with these things. Yeah. So like, I actually get this is a, this is something that I struggle with, because I've dealt with so many health issues over the years, like with my gut issues, or like, you know, just different things like that. And so, like, I start to identify, or say, like, I'm never gonna get over this, or like, I'm, I have a gluten allergy. So I'm, you know, just like you're identifying with this thing. I have gut issues, and, you know, they're never going to get better. So,

Johan Vesters: 24:05

on this case, like, I am an emotional eater.

Kristine Andali: 24:09

Right, exactly. So, identifying with that is, in it's a fixed can be a fixed mindset, and it can also keep you sick. Right, it can keep you there, you're identifying as an emotional eater, right? That that can definitely have an impact on your progress forward. There's a difference between I am, and I, I'm, I'm emotionally eating right now. And I am an emotional eater, right? Because you can be emotionally eating while also making progress. Right? So, you know, those two things can exist at once. But I think the labeling is something that we have to be careful is

Johan Vesters: 25:00

true. And to go back to your point of like, not being too insensitive, like for sure. Like, that's why I use myself as an example. Like, they're just kind of like, again, we don't know it's context knows that it's a person but like, sometimes we have to do that. And ownership sometimes, obviously, it's we just have to kind of figure things out regardless. But it's a really good point again, that you just wait like I'm currently working with someone she recently joined and it's it's been quite a lot to figure out in terms of capers so we've got issues definitely on the on the mental side of things are just definitely some some stuff we got to work through. You know, that's not easy. And we're looking at okay, let's, you know, what was wait, just Joe's a lot a lot of stuff. Also, an Dimitrios is like there's, there's a bunch of different moving things here, you know? And it's been, I want to say five or Six weeks now. And she has lost a couple of kilos already. Even though we are not even focusing on being a deficit. And I told her to like, look, you're already losing weight, like, that's your main goal here. Like I know, right now currently, things have been pretty hard. And she's oh, by the way, she's also doing shift work. So there's a lot of stuff. Yeah, that's hard. And there's so many different things to work on. And then it gets overwhelming. And that's where I also think that it's good to work with someone, maybe not even coaching, maybe even, you know, therapy or something, but like working through stuff, because that other person can actually show you and Hey, say, you know, we're actually already working through stuff. Yeah. And that person can help you there and stop you.

Kristine Andali: 26:54

It's chapter. That objective outlook.

Johan Vesters: 26:58

Yeah. Because in this case, I could stop her basically, and tell her Hey, like, look, we're already working through a couple of things here. And you are already making progress in terms of Hey, you didn't binge last weekend? First of all, you know, she's, she's currently on a like, what we what can we call this like a non whinging streak, if that makes sense? You know, like, it's been the longest, since she's done that in a very long time. And she had one moment where it kind of happened, but also kind of didn't, because it was way less than before, like, even those moments. Yeah, huge. And those things you got to remember to like, as you work through the stuff. Also be aware, or maybe even have someone who can actually show you that should be like, Hey, we're actually already making progress, you know, right. Because, again, it's not easy. And it's even for us as coaches. I feel like that's the hardest part. I walk us through those things. Everyone could do macros.

Kristine Andali: 28:06

It's it right? Yes, that is where the art of coaching comes into play.

Johan Vesters: 28:15

When to present? And then going back to AI like that. She's also not going to be able to do that. I think, Gosh, we'll see. I don't think so at least, but either way. No, I think I think for because I do have to go to be honest. Yeah, me too. For it's been. Yeah, I got you got a meeting as well. But it's, this was a great episode. Yeah. And you, you brought up a lot of good stuff. So thank you.

Kristine Andali: 28:42

I think this is something that we definitely want to continue this conversation because there's there there's a lot that goes into this, like, you can I mean, there's even more in terms of like, people who are, you know, chronic dieting and the emotion, the emotional eating that comes with that. Like, you know, again, like I said, it's not always a negative experience. It's a positive thing to work we can be, we can be technically emotional eating, too. So there's lots of different things to touch on within this topic. For sure.

Johan Vesters: 29:15

And again, so many people are struggling with this kind of stuff. So that's for sure. Do another one. Yep. Amazing. So to the listener. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to share it on your stories. Drop us a quick review. As always, you know where to find us if you have a question. Like I said, we are catching up now in terms of our q&a, so we can actually answer your question pretty quick after submitting it. Yeah. So that being said, I'll talk to you soon, Kristine, thanks for listening. Good day. And thanks for listening.