Anxiety can feel completely uncontrollable at times. If you're anything like me you may feel like you have been tossed about on the waves of anxiety for years and you just can't seem to get a handle on things. There will be spans of time where things are actually going pretty good and then there's those spans of time where you feel like you can barely keep yourself afloat.
Everything is fine...
Maybe you've been in therapy, even been put on medication, but you're still struggling. Something I've learned from being in and out of therapy as needed over many years is that there are other things that will make a big impact on your anxiety levels.
Sometimes they seem to be more impactful than talk therapy.
Stay with me here. I'm talking about things like how much sleep I'm getting, my nutrition, my activity levels, and my self-care practices. While I'm very much so an advocate for therapy and medication I do NOT consider them to be the best or only methods to overcome anxiety. They are simply 2 of the tools we have available to us.
There is a TON of evidence showing that good quality sleep, healthy nutrition, exercise, and self-care practices will help reduce anxiety. In fact, you can read about how exercise can be just as helpful as medication to reduce anxiety HERE.
What does all of this mean?
It means there are TONS of tools you have to help yourself feel less anxious!
So, if you've been feeling defeated, stuck, and ridiculously frustrated by anxiety despite your best efforts- take heart!
Keep your eyes on the JL Wellness blog because I'll be going over all kinds of things to help with anxiety in addition to things like therapy and medication.
Today, let's dial in on one area...
We're going to talk about 5 nutrition habits to reduce your anxiety naturally.
Your nutrition choices and habits will either support your sanity or lead to you feeling more jittery and anxious. In this post we're going to focus on habits, however if you'd like to dive into WHAT to eat this blog post will dive into that some more. So, let's talk about the 5 nutrition habits that will help you to feel more grounded, calm, and energized!
1- Don’t skip meals
There are a few reasons this is important.
👉 When you skip a meal because you're busy, or you simply forget, that means at some point you're likely going to grab whatever is easiest because you've reached ravenous levels of hunger and it's probably not going to be the healthiest option.
👉 Another thing that can happen, if you skip a meal, is that when you're energy dips you grab that delectable mocha latte full of caffeine and tons of sugar which will likely wake you up, but also make you jittery and ultimately result in a sugar crash.
👉 Then there's the potential for HANXIETY (that feeling when you're so hungry you're getting anxious and irritable). The best way to avoid it is to maintain fairly stable blood sugar levels by not skipping meals AND eating healthy food options that will keep you satisfied.
2- Give yourself adequate time to eat
It's not great for your digestion to shove food into your face at the speed of light. Plus, that rushed feeling when you're trying to force feed yourself too quickly coupled with the discomfort your body will likely experience won't be successful in helping you feel grounded and satisfied.
3- Plan and prep your meals ahead
Thinking about this may feel overwhelming, but you don't need to make it super complicated! Take 10-15 minutes to plan what you want to eat for the week, see what you need to get at the grocery store and make a list, then go get it!
If you take some time to do this then you don't have to think about it on a Tuesday night when you're just SO done with your day and don't want to even think about cooking anything. It also means you don't have to rush around trying to get things together when you're running short on time Monday morning. AND it means you will be more likely to eat healthier more often because you have it packed with you already so you don't have to run through the drive thru on your lunch break.
Again, don't make meal planning and prepping super complicated! It's possible even if you need variety (like me!). Here's my process in brief:
Pick 2 different sources of protein- It's usually chicken and beef
Pick 2 fruits- My go to's are berries, grapes, melons, and mixed frozen fruit
Pick 2 veggies- Usually carrots and broccoli, but I change it up
Pick 2-3 snacks-A mix of protein bars, cheese and crackers, nuts, Greek yogurt with granola, protein smoothie
I am not an amazing cook, nor do I really enjoy cooking so anything I make, you best believe, is gonna be simple and pretty easy. Prepping doesn't take that long. You can cut up some veggies or cook some pasta faster than you get done scrolling social media. For real. Also...
Your crockpot is your beast friend!
I throw chicken in the crockpot and have a variety of meals I can make from it such as:
Chicken and protein pasta with sauce
Chicken wrap with shredded cheese, pico, and greens
Chicken with protein mac and cheese with greens
Don't let "I don't know how to cook" be a reason that you don't provide yourself with healthier meals.
You are choosing to not know how.
And when you do that it's more so rooted in "I just don't want to" and, quite frankly, that's a self-defeating way to approach your health and wellness.
4- Stop defining foods as good and bad
This one is a heavy one and could really have a post all to itself, but for now I will attempt to keep it brief...food has no moral value. It has nutritional value. Some foods have more nutritional value than others. And you aren't "bad" because you've eaten something less nutritious than another thing.
Labeling foods as good and bad only induces unnecessary guilt and can cause anxiety around food choices that is completely avoidable.
Side note: In the sea of nutrition info out there in the world today it's important to have your BS radar on at all times. If someone is saying a certain food is going to give you cancer or it's poison then your BS radar should be going off. Especially if they are trying to sell you something at the end. Plus, dosage matters.
Anywho...
There are no foods that are good or bad. They are simply more nutritious or less nutritious.
And just because they are less nutritious does NOT mean you have to avoid them entirely. There is more to food than it being fuel for your body. Your preferences matter. How your body digests food matters. There's the enjoyment piece, cultural things to consider, family traditions, and more that impacts food choices.
Nutrition is a personalized thing. What works for you won't necessarily work for someone else.
5- Get enough sleep so you are better equipped to make healthy food choices
When you're tired you're going to take the path of least resistance which means eating what's easy- fast food, microwave dinners, packaged snacks. While eating these less nutritious options every now and then isn't a big deal, over the long haul you could find that, in abundance, they'll likely have a negative impact on your body and your mind. When you sleep well you will have the energy to make better choices AND to take action to eat healthier things more often.
Our daily habits have a big impact on how we think, feel, and act. If you tend to not get good sleep, skip meals, eat whatever is easiest to grab as quickly as possible, then it's likely that you're exacerbating your anxiety. If this is resonating with you, then now is the time to make a change and start taking your power back! Choose one of the above options to start making a small shift with and see how it impacts your anxiety levels.
Maybe you read all of that and you know you need to make changes in one, a couple, or maybe all of these areas, but you aren't sure HOW to actually do it. If that's the case, then I have the method to overcome the madness!
My SNAP Method will enable you to take back your power and feel more calm and in control of your life. We look at Sleep, Nutrition, Activity, and Personal self-care practices and find out how to optimize all these areas so that you can reduce your anxiety and stress for the long haul.
No more feeling scattered and overwhelmed and jittery!
If you want to find out if my program is a fit for you simply email me "SNAP METHOD" at janna@jl-wellness.com.
Perhaps that's not for you right now and that's okay! Stick around my blog and social media to keep learning more about how to reduce anxiety and stress naturally!
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