I had an interesting chat with one of my clients recently.

She’s noticed that since all this virus fuckery kicked off she’s obsessing about food even more.

Using it as a reward, a distraction, something to look forward to, an outlet for feeling restricted in other areas such as not being allowed to go where you want/see who you want 😔

Now this is a super smart business woman running a 6 figure business…..all the logic when it comes to business decisions and getting shit done….completely ruled by emotions when it comes to food.

Is this unusual right now (or in fact at any time)?

No.

But many people who are doing this don’t realise the impact it’s having on their ability to get shit done.

Under normal circumstances adults make about 200 decisions about food each day 😳 but only a small proportion of these are under conscious control (14 on average).

So put that on steroids in the current climate and we are looking at decision fatigue.

If thoughts and feelings about food are taking up so much head space it’s gonna affect your productivity, your focus, and your ability to cope with the day to day.

So how am I gonna help my client with this?

I’ve asked her to fill in a daily checklist, which has a list of statements on it that she needs to score by frequency so we can determine how many decisions she’s making with her emotions rather than physical hunger cues……….brain versus belly if you will.

Once we see how much head space this is taking up for her, we can benchmark it, put together a plan to tackle it and execute.

Like a Ninja. 🥷🏼

Are you nodding along in recognition?

Luckily I have my top 5 Ninja tips to help you out….

1. Track your food first.

Often all you need is to see in black and white exactly what’s in the food you’re wanting to eat – a little bit of data to bring you out of your emotional decision making process and put some logic back into it

2. Assess how hungry you are.

Check in with your physical cues…..do you have any tell tale signs?

Is your stomach rumbling? Are you low on energy? Finding it hard to concentrate? Do you have a headache? Are you sure you’re not just thirsty?

Give your hunger a score from 1-10……if it’s less than 5, you probably don’t need to eat.

3. Have set meal times.

Normally I wouldn’t give this advice, as it goes against everything I believe about eating……but we are in ‘unprecedented times’ after all. 🙄

Normally I would recommend eating when you’re hungry, not when a clock tells you it’s time, but having some structure to the way you eat right now will help stop boredom snacking.

4. Distract yourself

Go out for a walk round the block, or a ride on your bike, play a game (yes I know you’ve probably done every fucking puzzle in the house).

Just changing your state can snap you out of feeling like you wanna eat your bodyweight in Doritos…..10 burpees do it for me usually, but find something that works for you (maybe see point 5 😏).

Or put a song on loud, dance round in your pants.

5. Remember how you felt…last time you ate in anger and shoved a load of food in your mouth without thinking.

A bit like an angry wank….kind of enjoyable at the time but instant regret and tears afterwards.

This should be enough to put you off. Unless you’re a masochist of course 😏

What do you think of these tips? Have you got any of your own to add?

Let me know in the comments.