To begin, and please don’t skip this part as this opening paragraph may be the most important of the entire series of blogs on this topic:

“Don’t mow the grass while the house is on fire”

What does this mean? It can mean several things but to put it in a super general format, don’t get caught up in the minor details when the larger more obvious things are screaming at you!

If your response to nutrition advice that you ask for is “I know, I know” then you need to take a step back, let go of the handle on the lawn mower so it will turn off, and call the fire department! Look at it this way, if the fire department showed up to your house being on fire and said, “We need to put this fire out”, would you respond by saying, “Well, I read online that if you start from the bottom of the fire and work your way up, that it will be faster…”. No. I don’t think you would. I believe you would trust the expert and allow them to direct you back to the most important aspects of the issue which is that your house is on fire.

Since the internet makes us all instant experts, it’s entirely too easy to get caught up in the details, and focus on the wrong things. Looking at society as a whole, research has actually shown that the general cycle of jumping on different bandwagons or fads, and then failing, leads to frustration, self-criticism, and poor results.

Constantly identifying with your nutritional or fitness approach as you would approach your world view or religion, is not healthy. Identifying as “I’m paleo” or “I’m vegan” or “I’m keto” or “I’m a triathlete” is not the same as identifying as a Christian or any world view for that matter and it should not be treated as such. This, often times can be where it begins for emotional eaters. And let’s face it, most of us are emotional eaters. If not for anything it’s simply because of the abundance of calorie dense foods and how good they make us feel. Couple that with highly stressful life styles and you’ve got a recipe for a chocolate craving that could rival a cocaine addiction.

So remember, put the fire out first. Don’t get over worried about what supplements to take if we are struggling to control how much food we eat at each meal.

So, if you are struggling to have enough energy in the late afternoon to play outside with your kids but your are worried about whether not drinking non-alkaline water will give you cancer, here are a few things we can do together from nutrition coach to awesome BFP Family member (Yes, this is where we start for emotional eaters):

1: Recognize you are a part of or your issues are a part of a common humanity. Meaning tons of people have issues with emotional eating and searching for the immediate fix (mowing the lawn) is something everyone does. Honestly, it makes sense. We all want to solve our problems as quickly as possible so we can then move to the next thing we don’t like about ourselves and solve that. In an industry like mine where the marketing techniques constantly point out insecurities and self-inflicted flaws, it can be natural to look to fitness experts on the internet for these quick fixes. Again, be ok with this, everyone does this.

2: Use an accountability coach, such as one of your awesome BFP Coaches to help guide you back to your priorities “your house” and be ok with that as well. Keeping your focus on the few main priorities rather than being pulled in 5 different directions grasping at straws can be freeing and stress relieving. If we know anything, we know that high levels of stress lead to more emotional eating. 3: Stay calm and remember, “Knowing is not doing”. We can all google as much as we’d like but it doesn’t generally lead to our focus being where it should be which is, the house on fire!

If you’d like to learn more about keeping your house from burning to ashes check out our Memorial Day Meltdown Challenge that kicks off April 28th. In this 4 week challenge we will give you everything you need to start developing some awesome habits that will carry over into everyday life and help put that fire out. Click this link to learn more: BFPNC.COM/MEMORIAL

Stay tuned for next week’s blog as we dive further into What emotional eating is, why it happens, and discuss a way to begin to end it!

Your Friend,

Coach Joe Rouse MS, USAW1, ACSM-CEP