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Hi, my name is Rodrigo Garduño, Coach and Founder of 54D, if you have been following us for a while, you already know my no-excuses approach towards health. Today I want to share with you 4 tips to help you cope with stress eating and make wiser choices.
When I founded 54D in 2012, it was intended to help people not only to keep their bodies healthy but also their minds. I knew that offering only the exercise part of the program was not enough. I recognized that people would go home after training and indulge in one too many treats once they encountered anxiety during the day or a life obstacle. I wanted to educate and guide people on how to transform their lives with a 180 approach, and nutrition was essential to see a real change.
I know I can’t control what people end up eating in the privacy of their home, but at least I don’t want them to use the excuse of ignorance by saying: “I don’t know what to eat.” My program guides the clients every step of the way so they can achieve maximum results.
This doesn’t mean that I don’t see people struggling with food during and out of the program. I put myself in their shoes, and I know stress eating is around the corner in everyone‘s lives. We can’t ignore that we live in unprecedented times and sometimes the worst food cravings attack us when we are at our lowest point emotionally. It is common to turn to food for comfort without even noticing it.
If you are like every mortal that is prone to emotional eating, I have good news for you! There are ways that you can regain control and continue to build your good habits.
1) Plan your meals
This might seem obvious but planning your meals from ideation to partly prepared and portioned will take the guessing out. It is much easier to grab a healthy meal or snack that has already been planned than grab the first thing you find out of distress. Once the emotional trigger occurs, you will have something healthy and handy that will soothe the stressful moment.
2) Remove Temptation
Do not buy the sweet and fatty snacks! I really mean that. I’m not saying you can’t never eat them, but don’t buy them. If you’re in emotional distress, chances are you will open the kitchen cabinets to find the high-calorie snacks to turn to impulsive eating unconsciously. You won’t even enjoy it! If you don’t have any at home, you have already removed an important part of the fatal equation. Try to have easy and healthy snacks that can substitute the need for binge eating.
3) Stay Hydrated
Maintaining proper hydration is important for overall health and may help you prevent overeating related to stress. Research shows that dehydration can lead to mood alteration which can affect your nutritional habits. What you sometimes think its hunger is water that the body is really asking for. You can pop in a few fruit slices to make it visually appealing.
4) Less is not more
Don’t deprive yourself. If you are limiting calories too much this might lead to an increase in food cravings, especially when you are going through an emotional reaction. Eat satisfying amounts of healthier foods and play with a variety of recipes to help you curb the cravings.
These evidence-based tips above may help you control stress eating but most importantly don’t beat yourself too hard when having a setback. Learn from it and take one step at a time, one day at a time.
About Rodrigo Garduño
The coach and founder of 54D, started in the fitness world after being a former Mexican soccer player and who now trains celebrities from all over the world. His no-excuses approach fitness has gone viral, His social media presence went from barely existent to a million Instagram followers. His videos attracted tens of thousands of live viewers, and then hundreds of thousands more later. Among the celebrities who began doing his workouts regularly were former Yankees shortstop Alex Rodriguez, singer Fonseca, and model Adriana Lima. Rodrigo has been a contributing editor for HOLA! USA for over a year.