Your Food Mood
Rough week at work? Not feeling like your head is in the game? Feeling unmotivated?
Have you ever considered how your food may be affecting your mood? What about how your unmanaged stress is holding you back from reaching your goals?
You may be thinking, “how does the food I eat affect the mood I am in?!” Well, studies have shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables, modest in lean protein, and void of many processed sugars and foods is associated with a 25-35% lower risk of depression when compared to a typical “westernized diet”.
Ever further research has shown us that a westernized diet as well as a diet high in sugar can:
- Cause chronic inflammation
- Impact your immune system
- Decrease focus and memory
- Increase symptoms of anxiety
- Increase fat accumulation
Odds are you have experienced mental fog or fatigue in a work week or even spouts of feeling unmotivated. It’s important to set a mental reminder that triggers any time you start to feel this way. It should set off a thought bubble, asking, “What did or didn’t I eat and/or drink that could be making me feel this way?” You may start to find that when you’re feeling unmotivated or fatigued, it’s because you haven’t had enough water to drink or perhaps you hadn’t eaten enough carbohydrates to fuel your activity. It’s important to keep in mind here that events or non-events from the previous couple of days could also be having an impact. For instance, maybe over the weekend you drank too much alcohol (event) and didn’t eat enough vegetables (non-event).
When you start analyzing your diet and routines, you’ll most likely find some low hanging fruit that’s impacting your food mood. One of the keys to being happy and energetic is establishing routines that keep your hormones and blood sugar balanced. The second those things start to get out of whack, is the second you’ll start feeling off.
Unfortunately, there’s not magic pill or energy drink that can solve this for you. Talk to your coach about diving into your routines and nutrition habits, so you can start operating at your absolute best. Life’s short and you deserve to feel amazing!
