I used to stress eat. Not all the time, but when I was under acute or chronic stress, I would turn to food. I knew I was doing it, and I did it anyway. It brought a lot of shame, as I was doing this as both an undergraduate and graduate student in Nutrition, and after completing my studies. I ate healthy food almost all of the time, but stress brought me back to my childhood comfort foods. Can you relate?

I would mostly go to fast food drive-thrus hoping nobody I knew would see me, and then hide the evidence. This caused weight gain when the stress was ongoing, but not so much when it was an acutely stressful situation.
But, I finally put the pieces of the puzzle together and this time, when acute stress hit, I did not go back to my old habits. Here’s the moment I knew, in my bones, that it was different…

I got married in 2012 and we wanted a low-key, stress-free wedding. We planned it in Hawaii and I had visions of getting married while ocean surf broke nearby. I had been eating a healthy diet, with organic food and balancing my blood sugar the best I knew how at the time with my then health conditions. I’d done a lot of inner work to get to that place where I wasn’t overeating or craving. As a result, my eating routine was good enough to keep me from craving all the time. My food routine and health both improved dramatically months later, but that’s a different story (read about how I fixed my blood sugar issues and lost 20 pounds HERE).

Anyway, I wanted a simple dress, it was a beach wedding, I’m not fussy if you know me. After 3 months of searching (I don’t enjoy shopping!) I finally found a dress that fit me. I’m super picky about how clothes fit. I’m also long limbed and curvy thanks to my parents. Dad was tall and lanky and mom curvy so I got both, which made it hard to fit into clothes–especially if I have extra weight like I did at that time.

So, I finally track down a dress I feel good in, and it happens to have some stains on it. I’m told they will be removed before I take it home as it was the last one available in all of Nordstrom’s or by the manufacturer’s website. Despite my doubts about the stains, I trusted the clerk. After all, she knew how important this was, right? So, on the day I went to pick up my dress, I also got a letter in the mail. Mind you, it was a week before we left for Hawaii to our low-stress wedding with a few family members and close friends. This letter was telling me that I owed business property taxes on property I don’t own.  The county assumed I owned about $100,000 of property because the doctor upstairs did. I sent in the paperwork explaining that they were mistaken months previously, so when I got the notice, I didn’t pay much attention to it.

It turns out that I had to make an emergency payment to not get reported to the credit bureau for property tax on something I didn’t even own, and then wait 3 months to get a refund. I had to max out a credit card.

So, on this same day, I go to pick up my dress, and the first thing I see are the stains. I got an almost instant migraine like headache (don’t normally get those) and started looking for another dress.

I share the details of this stress, so you know why these things are so important to me. It was important for me to be comfortable in my wedding dress, it was important for me to have good credit as I hope to own a home some day. So, this was incredibly stressful to me, especially as I’m preparing to leave my practice for 2 weeks (first time ever!) in order to get married.

The great thing was, I realized as I was dealing with all of this, and figuring out how I would sleep at night with all the emotions and stress, I realized this:

“OMG, I haven’t once thought about food or had any urge to turn to food to deal with this stress like I used to!”

This was a turning point. I had arrived. I had done enough Acupressure, enough coaching and enough inner work to see a change in my response. I had cleared enough of the pathways of my brain, so I could have a different experience and take different action. I had ways to deal with my stress without food–and they were now automatic. I had also balanced my blood sugar enough and given my body the nutritional building blocks it needed so that I was not thrown into stress cravings and overeating, due to nutritional lack.

And 2.5 years later, I can say the same thing, that was the day I realized I had turned a corner, turned over a new leaf and I was different. My response to stress was different and has been ever since. Back then, I could deal with the stress in the moment and didn’t have to deal with the added stress that overeating creates and I still don’t.

It’s not like I don’t still have stress in my life or enjoy treats, it’s just that I don’t NEED food to deal with stress. I eat treats when I want to enjoy them and I make a conscious choice to do so.

The good news is, it all worked out. I paid that ridiculous fee, got my refund, preserved my credit, found that dress somewhere else, got it fitted, packed bags and left for Hawaii all in the span of 1 week. We had a beautiful wedding, it was magical.

So why am I writing this to you? I want to encourage you to keep going on your journey towards peace with food. Don’t give up. Stress is one of the biggest blocks that comes up for people along their journey to peace with food. Life happens, people close to us die, kids get sick, cars get wrecked, people get married, life happens. And, if you keep working on what triggers your cravings and overeating, develop new ways to handle stress and create a foundation of happiness in your life, when unexpected stress hits, you too will find other ways to handle it and won’t think about food. I can show you how, as I have done it myself. If you want to know more, please sign up for a consult HERE and we can see what’s possible for you.

All The Best,