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Does crazy in love = crazy weight gain? When we are in love we do crazy things – like finish off a large pizza, french fries, and lava molten cake with our love. Studies show more than 50% of couples in comfortable relationships put on weight. What starts out as throwing caution to the wind and eating anything and everything while falling in love can become a pattern that is hard to break once you’ve become a couple. Let’s consider why this occurs + how to keep it from happening ↓ 3 REASONS YOU’RE GAINING RELATIONSHIP WEIGHT ① You’ve Lost Motivation You feel secure in your relationship, so motivation to look your best wanes. Your partner loves you inside and out so appearance is not as important. Resist the temptation to live in your comfy sweats which can hide those extra pounds, and continue to make that "single-person" effort. Maintaining your weight and physical appearance is a simple way to make you feel good and much easier than the extra effort you’ll have to put forth to undo the damage. ② You’ve Skipped Too Many Workouts With a busy schedule, you may have sacrificed your exercise routine to spend more time with your partner. Now it’s difficult to get back into your workout regime. Be intentional about getting a workout scheduled in. Write it in on your planner and refuse to change it. If you get your partner onboard, go to the gym together. Take a walk after dinner; you’ll be exercising and spending time together. ③ You’ve Eased Into Unhealthy Eating Habits It’s easy to slip into your partner’s unhealthy eating habits during the early stage of the relationship. As time goes on, you may find you’re craving more salt and sugar from "junk" food and losing sight of your former healthy choices. Don’t give up healthy eating intentions due to this relationship. Share with your other half your desire to eat healthy and why it’s important to you. You might be surprised to find your partner eventually joins you on the healthy side. Eat healthy together while also finding time to enjoy sweet treats or savory foods in moderation. You might also find that a lot of healthy recipes can be nutritious and delicious too. Don’t let being in a comfortable relationship override your desire to be fit and healthy. Beware of these pitfalls and get back to the routine you had before as quickly as possible. Ideally, working with your partner to create a healthy lifestyle together would be best. If you’re struggling to find the right balance to reach your goals, you may want to reach out for support. I help couples to define their goals and create a healthy routine to help them feel their absolute best. For more information, schedule an initial couple’s health consult with me.
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When you start looking at ways to reduce your stress levels, you probably focus on how much work you are doing, what your daily responsibilities are, and whether or not you practice good self-care. These are all very important, but don’t forget about the simplest choices you make every day that could be impacting your stress.
A common one has to do with your diet, where some foods can increase stress, while others help to reduce it. In fact, your diet has a much larger impact on your stress levels than you might expect, and your stress can determine what your food choices end up being. This is a vicious cycle that starts with focusing on proper nutrition to fuel your body. Nutritional Deficiencies The first thing that can happen if you have a poor diet is that you have nutritional deficiencies. These deficiencies can affect not just your physical health, but your emotional health as well. DID YOU KNOW? For example, did you know that low folate can affect your mood and lead to feelings of depression? You get folate from foods like eggs, asparagus, spinach, and avocado. Some other nutrients you need to help balance your mood and fight stress naturally are: Omega 3 fatty acids – Healthy fats are important! You can get your fatty acids from healthy sources of fats like salmon, tuna, walnuts, and olive oil. Vitamin D – Do you know why you feel more energized and happier during sunny days? It is the vitamin D from the sun’s UV rays. If you live somewhere that is cloudy and rainy a lot, or it is the winter where there isn’t much sun, you will need to supplement vitamin D through your food. You can get it from foods like fatty fish, eggs, dairy, and fortified cereal. Fiber – For more fiber, eating more fruit, avocados, and whole grains is usually a good place to start. Calcium – While many people get their calcium from dairy and yogurt, you might not be someone who eats dairy. In this case, you can get it from foods like almonds, sesame seeds, tofu, and kale. Iron – You also want to make sure you have enough iron. Iron can help with your mental health, as well as balancing your energy levels. You can get iron from red meat and turkey or vegetarian options such as lentils, chick peas, beans, cashew nuts, tofu, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, kale, dried apricots, figs, raisins and quinoa. My favorite option- Dark Chocolate! :) Protein – You get protein from many of these same foods, including meat, poultry and fish, dairy, cheese, eggs, and nuts. You can also get your fill of protein from a lot of plant-based options including lentils, chia seeds, broccoli, nutritional yeast, quinoa, and tofu. Feeding Emotions with Unhealthy Foods Another link between stress and nutrition is that you can often “help” the stress and emotions with food. The problem here is that you probably go for the more unhealthy foods. Emotional eating isn’t really bad for you if it is only occasionally, after all, you should find something that helps you to deal with stressful situations. However, if you deal with chronic stress or you get into the habit of only using food as a way to comfort yourself, it can become a problem. You might overeat, have too much unhealthy foods, and even be malnourished because you aren’t getting enough vitamins and minerals. Unhealthy Habits from Stress Having too much stress in your life can further encourage you to have other unhealthy habits. Not just having vitamin deficiencies and emotional eating, but generally overeating the wrong foods, not getting enough exercise and sleeping too much, drinking alcohol, smoking, or doing drugs. These can all turn on you and not only not help with your stress, but actually make it worse. The Cycle Continues This is a vicious cycle that is very heard to get out of. Once you start going to unhealthy habits to deal with your stress, you feel that temporarily it is helping, but it is hurting your mental health in the long-term. The best thing you can do is stop this cycle now, start eating right, and look for healthier ways to manage your stress. Don’t feel like you can never emotionally eat, just don’t rely only on that. Try to find healthier habits, such as visiting with friends, playing with your dog, or getting in a little more exercise. If you would like to discuss further- Let's Chat! |
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April 2021
AuthorJennifer Castro is the owner of JAC Wellness Solutions. She is a Health Educator, Nutritionist, and Patient Advocate specializing in Women's Health & Vestibular Disorders. When she was diagnosed with an inner ear imbalance called Meniere's Disease, she knew she had no choice but to step up her game and become a detective for her own health. Coach Jenny is studying to become a Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach while creating course content for health coaches and educators. She created an educational program for preschool teachers called Jump & Roll Fitness. The program provides lesson plans on how to create healthy habits for preschoolers. She also works as an Insurance Broker providing insurance solutions for small businesses, wellness, and medical practitioners. This blog is ALL about health, well-being, nutrition, lifestyle and kitchen hacks. She also tells stories of her own personal health journey. Coach Jenny loves to garden, spend time with her hubby, and loves to bake new recipes. She likes to put her own "healthy" spin on her and her hubby's favorite sweet treats. Categories
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