Stress Eating?

Has this ever happened to you?

You had a long day at work or at home and 5 PM rolls around. You're hungry, tired, stressed and still not sure what you're making for dinner. So, you mindlessly eat the opened bag of pita chips that are sitting on your counter b/c ... pita chips aren't so bad, are they?



And / or you pour yourself a glass of wine to sip on while you try to pull together a meal from whatever random ingredients you have in the fridge.



And / or you grab the pretzels but quickly move over to a pint of ice cream at 9 PM when you finally sit down on the couch to turn the TV on and your brain off.



This, my friend, is stress eating or emotional eating and it's superrrrr common. We have all done it at least occasionally and we are actually hard-wired to have this type of relationship with food. Because if we eat when we're stressed, we get a temporary bump in the pleasure molecules inside our brain. This makes sense! From a survival standpoint, we would have wanted to store extra body fat during times of stress to have a reserve for whatever might be coming.



But if you have current fat loss and / or health and longevity goals, repeating this pattern fairly often will get in the way of you reaching those goals.



What can you do?



Start by understanding your biology! The extra food is a form of self-medicating. It makes you feel good in the moment, but probably not so much afterwards, right? Bloating, cravings, excess hunger later or the next day, feeling out of control, not accomplishing goals ... not awesome.



Instead, pre-plan some options for ways to "self medicate" that help you feel better right then and there AND later. Excess food won't be it.



Eat a satiating, balanced meal. You might actually be hungry! Fill your body with what it wants and can use well. Protein, fat and fiber. You'll likely feel better right then AND later.


Take a walk. Maybe call a friend or family member to catch up with too, or just grab any and all family members to join. That'll make you feel better right then AND later.


Put on some music, take a few deep breaths, have some herbal tea. Better right then AND later.


It's not that you'll never stress / emotional / overeat again. But if you can cut it back drastically, what do you think that would do for you and your goals? How about your confidence?


Next time you're ready to mindlessly eat or drink, ask yourself what you need and what you can do that'll make you feel good both right then AND later. That's the definition of true self care. It feels good in the moment and still feels good later on.


You got this!


XO,
Tara


P.S. The Early Black Friday deal will start November 17th! The cart will be open for just a few days to enroll for the January round of TRANSFORM: Body + Mind, my 28-day metabolism-boosting course. If you get in for this deal, you'll get access to the whole course and all the materials the day before Thanksgiving. You can dive in anytime and have a nice, big head-start before we officially begin together as a group in January. Make sure you're on the waitlist! The waitlist will get you a discount code. ;-)



P.P.S. If you need some more customization, accountability, hand-holding because of unique medical situations or you just know yourself well and this is how you work best, check out my 1:1 coaching program.

December 2020 = LESS temptation

The year with less temptation.

Ahhhh..... the holiday season is in full effect. Remember when you thought you put on 10 pounds every holiday season because of all the parties and travel? Remember when you said your blood sugar and blood pressure fell victim to the hustle + bustle and lack of time at home?



Well this is likely the year with the LEAST amount of temptations. Less holiday parties. Less travel. More time at home. Less meals out. Less hosting.



So, what gives?



LET'S TALK ABOUT IT. The cool thing about us is that the more we learn and uncover about ourselves, the more power we have to make a change (if we want to).



Enjoy your Monday,
Tara

Why you can't stick to a plan

You *know* what to eat and how to move to make progress, right?

Some people need help with the information, of course, but most people know enough to get them to their goals. So how come the plan you create in the morning falls by the wayside at 8 PM when you're overwhelmed and need a break? How come you can't seem to stick to an exercise routine for more than a week at a time?



It's your VCR.



Let me explain. You have been trying to take valuable information and plans (nutrition, fitness) that are on a DVD ... and play them inside your VCR. (For you young folks, VCRs are the machines that played videotapes and became extinct around the time the dinosaurs say goodbye). 



You have an old operating system and simply need an upgrade. It's a brain thing and it's been going on for years, if not decades! Once you make that upgrade to a DVD player, whichever DVD you choose to run will work.



(Yes, I totally get the fact that DVDs are a bit outdated as well, but I think it's an analogy that you guys will get.)



IN MY LATEST VIDEO, I got into the old operating system you have, the new one you need, and how to make the upgrade. 



If your transformation starts with nutrition or fitness or both without addressing old patterns, habits, thoughts, connections... it won't stick. Band-aids only help when there's healing going on underneath.



Hit 'reply' to this email and let me know if you'd like to learn more about how to upgrade your operating system so you'll be able to stick to the changes you make going forward. :-)



Stay well,
Tara

Comfort eating / comfort sitting on the couch....

It's true that we need comfort right now. In fact, without some comfort in our days, our brain will takeover and seek it out even against your will. Maybe you've seen this in action already? You had every intention to skip the pantry surfing after dark and workout, but instead you skipped the workout and devoured everything in the pantry in what seemed like a semi-conscious state.



Sound familiar? It's something you may be used to doing long before quarantine started. But certainly now it's heightened. Of course... we are worried, bored, stuck at home, not sure what lies ahead, stressed - it's a recipe for comfort-seeking.



But seeking comfort isn't as simple as that. Often, the way we choose to seek out comfort actually leads us to DIScomfort in the future. So, to find true comfort, we need a balance of some in-the-moment strategies that work in the here and now but don't deter from our future selves. AND, we need to do some things that might bring us a little discomfort right now for the sake of future comfort.



Let me explain in this live video I recorded last week on facebook.


Is this something you're dealing with? If so, I have tons of resources that I'd love to share with you. Hit 'reply' to this email and let's chat.
If you'd like to see a quick video sharing more of how I help people (including before and afters - even my own before & after!), check this out.



XO,
Tara




Here's what happened on social:


Dumbbell shoulder workout

Easter morning

Slow cooker lentil chili

Suitcase upper body workout

Salsa dancing - The Left Turn

Bodyweight legs + glutes

The weight of the world

Breathing + COVID-19 

No jump HIIT workout

Quarantine Creativity

Now is as good a time as any to be mindful of getting in enough of the immune-boosting vitamins + minerals.

I'm excited to announce the launch of my Immune Support Meal Plan! I created this meal plan by focusing on balancing not just macros (protein, fats, and carbs), but also made sure that each day has plenty of zinc, selenium, and vitamins A, C, and E.

The plan happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian too. Oh, and I've worked leftovers in so you're not cooking 3 meals everyday.

You'll get 2 copies instantly - 1 regular one with all the mouth-watering pictures, and 1 text-only so you're not cursing me out as you run out of color ink. ;-)

What else do you get? The 7-day meal plan plus grocery list and all recipes.

So whether you're having trouble getting your hands on your usual immune-boosting supplements or just prefer to get the goods through tasty meals instead, this plan will have you covered.

Enjoy!

Are you lying to yourself? (Self-integrity for the win)

The opposite of lying to yourself is self-integrity...

And I want to convince you today that that's exactly what you need more of in your life in order to accomplish your health and body goals. Cool?

Check out my latest Workshop Wednesday video where I'm discussing smoking, addictions, food, fitness, self-integrity, and how you can make a simple (but not necessarily easy) change RIGHT NOW that will put you right back on the path towards your goals.

Does that sound like it's worth the 10-minute video? ;-) 

Enjoy your day,

Tara

P.S. Only 2-ish more weeks left to purchase my healthy holiday desserts e-cookbook before it goes into the vault until next year. It contains 42 delicious, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free recipes that will become staples in your house for years to come! Yes, I'm that confident about these. ;-) There's something for everyone with a variety of flavors and types. Plenty of baked goods like cookies and brownies, but also stovetop, slow cooker, and NO bake options for when you're in a rush to get 'er done.

Grab your copy right here.

Avoiding unwanted holiday weight gain...

Avoiding (unwanted) holiday weight gain...

While the same principles apply to gaining excess weight and / or body fat any time of year, the holidays do bring a unique set of circumstance for many of us.



OVEREATING. This is simply eating more than your body requires for fuel and is the case if you are at a weight or body fat percentage that YOU believe to be greater than you'd like it to be for optimal health and mobility. Emphasis on YOU here because I strongly believe YOU are the only one that gets to decide this.



Here are a few of the reasons weight gan can be accelerated this time of year:

• Baggy clothes help us 'forget' about our body and hide.

• Seasonal Affective Disorder and / or lower Vitamin D levels wreak havoc on our emotions and ability to choose our long-term goals over short-term satisfaction.

• Heightened emotional states - both positive and negative - usually exist this time of year. Where you have big emotions, you will often find overeating.

• A false promise of a clean slate coming on January 1st tends to 'allow' us to throw caution to the wind between now and then.

• Greater access to comfort foods, social events, alcohol, etc.

Here are 4 tips you can start to implement to help right away...


1) Stop over-restricting. When you focus so hard on avoiding certain foods, and then have more access to them (such as this time of year), it often has an 'opening of the floodgates' sort of result. Allow the 'fun' foods to exist in your life at a frequency that you look forward to, but also that allows you to move closer to your goals.



2) Trigger Foods. Remove any food from your house that you just cannot control yourself around. Maybe it's peanut butter? Maybe it's ice cream. If you love ice cream but can't control yourself around it, remove it from the house and just go out to get a cone - or single serving - when you want it.



3) When you find yourself reaching for the food that you don't want or need, ask yourself this series of questions:

• What's going on with me right now?

• Will food help? (If the problem is not hunger, then food is not the solution)

• If not food, then what WILL help right now? (Maybe you just need a break)

4) Delayed gratification. Allow yourself to have whatever it is you're craving....but only after 5, 10, or 20 minutes. Even if you end up eating THE SAME amount of food after that time, it's still a huge win because you are teaching your toddler brain that it won't always get what it wants, when it wants it. In turn, the intense cravings (tantrum) will slowly dissipate, reduce in duration, frequency, and intensity. Win!



I'd love to hear from you now...do you struggle with overeating? I don't know anyone who doesn't at least sometimes! I'd love to help. :-)




XO,
Tara

Breathing technique for fat loss

One simple, free tool to help with stubborn fat loss...

But it's never THAT easy, right?

Here's the short and sweet description: When you are anxious or rushing or stressed, your brain feels uncomfortable. And when it feels uncomfortable, it will seek out pleasure in other ways (food, alcohol, etc.).

You may have noticed this if you've ever tried to go on a "diet" only to find no matter how simple the rules were, you couldn't stick it out as long as you had planned. Sound familiar? You haven't actually changed anything about your physiology! You simply tried to conform to a certain set of rules until it became unbearable. And if I know you like I think I do, you ended up in a binge / overindulgence cycle right afterwards. (How'd I do with that?)

Check out my latest Workshop Wednesday video in which I share a little of the why behind this phenomenon...and end by demonstrating a VERY powerful breathing technique that you can use at anytime to relieve stress and decrease your brain's desire to overcompensate with overeating or overdrinking.

How does that sound?

Tell me, do you struggle with this stress - overeating - fed up - restriction / dieting - give up and binge cycle?? It's soooooo common and happens to be something I specialize in. ;-) Let me know how I can help.


XO,
Tara


P.S. The holidays are coming!! Here in my neck of the woods (Long Island, NY), we've had a few 20-something degree days already! See the red nose above? Haha! The cold weather always brings out the inner baker in me. You too?

If you haven't grabbed my cookbook yet, what are you waiting for? It will be on sale through the holidays, but it will no longer be available in the new year. It's called Smart Cookie: Healthified Holiday Desserts and it contains FORTY-TWO delicious, wholesome, healthy, gluten-free, dairy-free, no refined sugar recipes. But MOST importantly, these desserts taste amazing and have been surprising healthy eating skeptics already these past couple of weeks!

GRAB YOUR COPY HERE
...and be sure to make the chocolate hazelnut spread pictured below. Only 4 ingredients! Take that, Nutella. ;-)

Break up with nighttime overeating: Steps 1 & 2

Do you end up eating more - or differently - than you wanted to after the sun goes down?

This is verrrrry common for a number of reasons. Today, I want to focus on the biggest reason: willpower.


You may have heard me talk about this before. In fact, you may notice that I talk about many of the same concepts often if you've been hanging out with me for a while. The truth is, these things aren't always the sexiest and don't always work as clickbait, but they are real, important, and necessary to address for any and all health transformations to occur.


YOU ARE NOT LACKING WILLPOWER! Seriously, you're not. For argument's sake, let's say we all each start the day with the same 20 willpower 'points'. Every decision you make uses up a point. Skipping the doughnut in the break room, biting your tongue when your boss pissed you off, deciding whether or not to honk the horn when the jerk cut you off on your drive home...point, point, point. We make so many decisions throughout the day (more than we even consciously register), that by the end of a long day, we're all depleted of willpower!


Have you ever noticed that it becomes harder throughout the day to say no to your favorite sweet treat? Have you had those days where you put off your workout 'til nighttime only to skip it in the end and tell yourself you'll do it tomorrow instead? Willpower depleted!


So when it comes to planning for your success, part of your plan needs to include what to do when you're not actually able to stick to your original commitment to yourself. Rather than hope it'll be different tomorrow, "trying" again, or resisting this fact, let's learn how to work WITH the way our brain works.


I want to share 2 important steps in doing just that with you today. There is no video attached in today’s blog because I made a mistake and didn't end up saving my latest video workshop. Oops. But that's ok! I'm still going to give you all of the information today. ;-) If you do prefer to watch or listen instead of reading this, head over to my facebook page and look for last Wednesday's live video recording.


STEP 1:


Think ahead to the time when you normally start feeling out of control with your food choices. This is around 8 or 9 PM for most people, but can occur at other times as well. What are you usually feeling at that time?

• Tired?

• Stressed?

• Overwhelmed?

• Anxious?

• Needing a break?

• Wanting to 'unwind?

Next, ask yourself how you're hoping the food will make you feel in that moment. Are you hoping it will give you a needed break? Help you relax? Numb a certain emotion?



***Important to remember: The only thing food can actually solve for you is physical hunger. Any other feeling or emotion can only be temporarily distracted by food - not solved!



Lastly, ask yourself what you can plan ahead of time to do instead of reaching for the food that will help you feel the way you're looking to feel. It's important that you plan for this ahead of time, because in the moment, you won't want to have any obstacles in the way. They will only act as a deterrent.


Examples: Call a friend (put it on your calendar), read a book (have it out on the nightstand), watch a show on the DVR without a snack or with a healthy option you choose in advance, go for a walk, listen to a podcast, journal, meditate, have relations with your partner.... ;-) Anything (other than overeating) that will help you get to that end goal of relaxation, unwinding, calming down, or getting the break you deserve.



STEP 2:

Delayed gratification. We all have a toddler brain and an adult brain. (These are actual parts of our brains, but obviously not the technical terms.) Our toddler brain wants what it wants, when it wants....just like a real toddler! But our adult brain actually has reasoning capability. Our adult brain can make plans and decisions that serve our greatest good, not just what feels best right now.

When we have the urge to overeat / stress eat / binge eat, it's our toddler brain requesting it. And guess what? It's probably pretty used to getting what it wants by now, right?

No worries! Here's how we start to discipline our toddler brain: we delay our gratification. Next time your brain asks you for a gallon of ice cream at 8:00, give it ice cream at 8:05 or 8:10 instead. You will likely still eat the same thing. You'll likely still overeat. AND THAT'S OK because you've starting doing really important work in rewiring your brain!

That toddler brain will stop thinking it's always going to get what it wants, when it wants it. Eventually it will stop being so bratty. And at some point, you'll be able to delay gratification for long enough that you may end up choosing NOT to eat the ice cream at all. BIG WIN!

These 2 tools are considered steps 1 & 2 in breaking up with nighttime overeating because they are so effective and foundational! Try these tonight - or whenever your toddler brain throws its next tantrum.


Talk soon,
Tara


P.S. Every week I share more content than I could possibly put into a blog on social media. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and / or Instagram for more tips and free resources.

The 5 things you need for a health + body transformation

Hey there,

There are 5 things you need to have a successful health / body transformation.

And it's not kale….or kettle-bells. ;-)

CHECK OUT MY LATEST VIDEO (below) where I cover these 5 'things'.

These are not traits as most people believe, but SKILLS that can be practiced and developed over time. Pour your attention into these 5 areas and watch how successful your journey becomes.

Short on time? I get it! (I really do). Try this: LISTEN to the video instead of watching. Multitask while commuting or folding laundry or stretching.

Or, just check out this brief overview to get an idea...

The 5 things you need for the most amazing health + body transformation to take place:

1) Confidence. Build trust in yourself by taking baby steps and actually doing what you say you'll do. Confidence builds and you can set bigger goals at that point.

2) Discipline. Motivation comes LATER. Before motivation there is discipline - like the less fun but just as effective coworker that seems to always get the job done. ;-) Do the things that you don't want to do (if they will ultimately help you). Go for that walk. Lift those weights. Eat the spinach. Whatever.

3) Perspective. All goals boil down to how you want to feel. No one cares how much you weigh…not even you! What you care about is how you think you'll feel when you get there. Zone in on that feeling you're going for. Connect to it. Stay focused on that.

4) Grace. If you beat yourself up after 'making a mistake', your brain will try to make itself feel better by doing things that aren't serving you (stress / emotional eating, skipping your workouts in favor of Netflix and couch, etc.) Giving yourself grace tells your brain it's not under attack and therefore, it doesn't need to seek out comfort in other ways. Isn't neuroscience fascinating?!?

5) Fail forward. Everything is a chance to learn. Don't rob yourself of those learning opportunities by aiming for perfection. Things WILL NOT always go your way. That's a blessing! Because now, you get a chance to be curious about what went down, create a new game plan, and try that on for size the next time you encounter that situation (think weight loss during the holidays, vacation, illness, busy time at work, etc.)

You DO NOT need to be born with these traits or be a master at them yet. We all have these baby seeds inside of us ready to grow!

I'd love to hear from YOU. Which one of these 5 things do you struggle with the most? Drop a comment below.

Health + Happiness,

Tara

Overeating, stress eating, emotional eating, binge eating...it's more than the weight!

Why is it that you can stick to your plan - or at least reasonable portion sizes - alllllll the way until about 8 PM?
Is there a magic switch that goes off at 8 PM that tells your brain to crave all the things?

Well yeah….kinda.

If you have been overeating - eating more than your body requires for fuel - it's likely that your brain is now on autopilot. You may tell yourself tonight is the night you'll eat nothing after dinner or munch on carrot sticks and hummus only to find your hand seemingly betraying you as it reaches for the chips and ice cream.

Here's the great news: Most of the day, you're not overeating. If someone put chips in front of you at 6 AM, you're probably going to push away the bowl. Do the chips taste any different at that time of day? Nope! But you are simply not in the habit of overeating, binge eating, or emotional eating at that time.

CHECK OUT MY LATEST VIDEO where I dive into this topic even more. Listen out for the 4 questions I mention towards the end that will help you stop your next overeating episode in its track.

This stuff takes practice…and patience, but it is absolutely possible to create new habits that will help you reach your goals.

Oh, and did you know your seasonal allergies may be related to your overeating? I explain that and more in this week's video.

In good health,
Tara

P.S. If you need some help in overcoming a long habit of overeating (or stress eating, emotional eating, binge eating…), let me know. I'd love to schedule a free phone consultation to chat about your goals and how I may be able to help you.

I currently have a beta tester's special going on in which you can receive health coaching, nutrition coaching, AND fitness coaching all for under $100 a month. It's a new program version that's not open to the public yet, so I need some testers for feedback and case studies. Hence, the extra-awesome pricing. ;-) But there are only a couple of spots available and we start very soon! So email me (Tara@TaraAllenHealth.com) and let's get you on a customized, NON-restrictive plan!