Hey there lovely mamas!
I wanted to talk a little bit about nutrition and anxiety today. Food was the first thing I changed when I wanted to stop feeling anxious.
I took a look at what I was doing and eating and I figured food was a pretty simple to fix.
I read the book “The Ultramind Solution,” by Dr. Mark Hyman and nutrition was really what stuck out most to me!
I thought, wow, I have complete control over what I eat. I do the meal planning and grocery shopping and cooking, I can decide what I put in my body and what I keep in the house, let’s do this!
Trickier than I thought!
OK, so it wasn’t quite that easy, there was a big learning curve. I tried every diet under the sun.
At first when I tried gluten free, I had no idea what to eat other than…salad…without croutons.
Oh my goodness!
I thought grains were going to kill me, I tried keto for a while and it all helped at first, but it was like after a little bit of time it just…stopped working…
I almost felt worse…so then I’d remove another food and another food and I would blame every undesireable feeling I felt on something I ate.
For a time I really developed an unhealthy relationship with food and no matter how healthy I ate, I still was feeling some anxiety, now it was more like major anxiety around food!
I removed so much from my diet, it was too restrictive, I began to lose too much weight and stressed about every little thing I put in my mouth…NOT HEALTHY!
I felt tired even though I was cutting out all of these so called “bad foods.”
Grain Free Helped At First…
Initially going grain free really helped!
Here’s why: it reset my tastebuds so I wasn’t so darn dependent on sugar. It also got me to focus on real whole foods. It also helped me focus more on fruits and veggies, not that I wasn’t filling my tummy with crackers and bread type things every time I was hungry.
WIN!
But…after a while my body felt hollow, I needed some carbs!
Actually pregnant and nursing moms really NEED carbs! It’s fuel, (when consuming the right kind), and complex carbohydrates supply your body with the amino acid Tryptophan which gets converted into serotonin!
This is a happy mood chemical!
Complex carbohydrates also provide magnesium, they’re nutrient dense, which means basically that they’re healthy, they keep you full longer which is great for stabilizing blood sugar and they provide energy!
My personal opinion around carbs has changed.
I don’t think they’re horrible anymore…
Now, when moms join the Zen Sisterhood, I bring you through a 30 day program where I have you follow a meal plan that is grain free…but after that, after you’ve detoxed your body, and retrained your taste buds and learned to depend on nutrient dense foods, then we introduce back some healthy complex carbs.
I personally feel that as long as you’re eating the right kind of carbs, i.e. whole grains, organic if possible and sprouted or sourdough versions, then they will support your body and you’ll feel good.
Right now in my life I’m trying to become better at making sourdough bread products. I’ll share more on this as I get better;)
If you don’t want to go through the trouble you can always purchase Ezekiel Brand Bread, which is a delicious multigrain bread made from sprouted grains.
All in all what you need to remember is this…eat real food, whole foods, eat probiotic foods daily, cut sugar, drink lots of water, learn to love fruits and veggies. If you can do these things, you’ll start feeling better and better!
xo
Hannah
P.S. I would LOVE to invite you for a free trial of the ZEN SISTERHOOD. This is the FIRST WORLDWIDE tribe of women who are taking back control of their physical AND EMOTIONAL well-being. I teach you how to eat healthy, take the right supplements, exercise and implement certain relaxation techniques to calm your body and transform stress and anxiety into peace and power. Click on the link below to start your free 7 day trial:)
