Stress Eating 101 [Episode #474]

This week’s topic is: Stress Eating 101

I know a lot of us are struggling with being home, having the fridge right there, stress eating, snacking all day. There’s a constant stream of jokes and memes all over the internet about it. And today I want to give some of my tools, tips and strategies to support you in this.

It’s hard enough being home all day every day, but it’s a whole other level if we start to feel heavy and gross and bloated. We want to manage our eating right now. We want to make sure we’re nurturing our body and not bingeing, which can be a very easy pattern to get into.

Have you been wondering about this very topic? If you want to know the answer to this question and 3 more sent in by Beauties just like you, listen now to find out!

Remember you can submit your questions at https://mysolluna.com/askkimberly/

[Questions Answered]

Ann – Chandler, Arizona

How do I know if I’m stress eating or if my body just needs the food I’m craving?

Mia – Franklin, Tennessee 

When you crave chocolate, do you ever link it to stress? I’ve been craving more chocolate than usual and wondering if it’s because I have been really worried about getting the virus?

Dawn – Durham, North Carolina

I feel like I have no willpower when it comes to controlling myself around certain comfort foods. Where do I even begin esp. Right now I don’t really want to stop but I’ve gained 10lbs?

Vickie – New York, Ny

My kids are home from school, I am working from home and my husband is an essential worker, working at a hospital in NY. How am I supposed to manage my kids, work full time and be the primary caretaker? I have been snacking 24/7 and getting Doordash often as I just don’t have time to cook like I use too. I feel terrible. Help.

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Other Podcasts you may enjoy!:

• Train Your Brain and Body to Thrive During Stress with Dr. Elizabeth Stanley
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Transcript:

Note: The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate. This is due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. It is posted as an aid, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.

Kimberly: Hey Beauties. Welcome back to our Thursday Q&A Podcast. We have an important topic today on Stress Eating 101. We’ve been getting so many questions. I know a lot of us are struggling with being home, having the fridge right there, stress eating, snacking all day. I mean, there’s a constant stream of jokes and memes all over the internet about it. So, I want to give some of my tools and tips and strategies to support you in this.

Kimberly: It’s hard enough being home all day every day, but it’s a whole other level if we start to feel heavy and gross and bloated. So, we want to manage our eating right now. We want to make sure we’re nurturing our body but not bingeing, which can be a very easy pattern to get into. I cannot wait to hear all the questions from you guys today.

Leave a Review and Subscribe on Itunes

Kimberly: Before we jump in, I just want to give a quick reminder to please leave us a review on iTunes. I say this every week, and I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but if you have not left us a review, I just wanted to say that energetically it is really, really important. It’s really appreciated. It helps other people find the show. We all know how important reviews are. And we provide this show for free. We put a lot of energy into it. We want to keep it going and growing and expanding.

Kimberly: So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for taking two minutes to write us a review. While you’re over there, you can also subscribe to the show, and that way it’s a little lift, a constant boost, inspiration, positivity coming in with our Monday interviews, and our Thursday Q&A podcasts. It’s easy to get swept up in the news right now and all the headlines, but when you see the shows coming in, hopefully, it’s a little lift of positivity and will help keep you on track as a potent form of self-care and continued learning. All right.

Kimberly: We’ve got Katelyn with us, our General Manager of Solluna, which is our lifestyle brand. She has been with me from the beginning, from before we launched the Solluna when we were just The Kimberly Snyder website. Now we have a full thriving lifestyle brand with beauty products and supplements and online courses and this podcast. So, Kay, wow. We’ve been on this journey together. I think that we came together right around when I was writing Beauty Detox Power.

Katelyn: Yes. It’ll be six years full time in June of this year. And then before that, we did a couple of-

Kimberly: Part-time.

Katelyn: … things but we met what? In 2012 I believe. So we’ve been together for quite some time and definitely been on a journey. We actually started the podcast in late 2015 so close to five years.

Kimberly: Wow.

Katelyn: Yes.

Kimberly: It’s amazing.

Katelyn: A lot of changes and developments, and it’s been great to be on the ride. It’s really just the lesson that we’re constantly learning even though we think we know something, we always need that reminder or the community to keep you going. Because as much as I think I know, then I’ll always be reminded, actually, I think I could still learn a little bit.

Kimberly: Well, it just shows that there’s so much depth to what we call true beauty. It’s infinite. Rumi and Yogananda and the yogis talk about beauty from this deep, deep spiritual well. I really feel that my purpose starting off all the stages I’ve been through very insecure, eating disorders, acne, constantly worried about how I look, trying to lose weight, this background voice trying to say the cool things, very aware of my image.

Kimberly: Over the years, all the practices, all this unfolding and teachers and journey to really what I call the true beauty, which is where we’re connected to our unique expression, connected to our center, to ourselves. That is the source of confidence and magnetism and glow and health and a beauty that just can’t be painted on. So it does keep evolving, Kay. All these topics on the podcast, everything that we continue to offer through Solluna. It’s deep, and it’s profound. I love our community, and I love how it keeps evolving.

Katelyn: I couldn’t agree more. I actually feel really connected just last year when we launched our four cornerstones because I feel like I’ve gone through that journey myself and feel very personally connected. And the fact that your vision is now put out in this concrete way and to really support people. Because at first I was just floundering around with food and then really focused on my body and athleticism and I was “emotional well being, what’s that?” And spirituality, definitely not.

Katelyn: That was not even on my radar six years ago where now, I definitely still struggle with meditation. I would be lying if I said I didn’t, but I do take mini-meditations. That’s more my style, and the emotional wellbeing I’ve really worked on. So, I think it’s great. If you guys don’t know what I’m talking about, head over to mysolluna.com and you can get our four cornerstones of true beauty guide. That explains everything. If you’re new, say you’re just tuning in today for the first time over on iTunes to our podcast, you can learn more about that journey and our offerings on My Solluna.

Kimberly: Exactly. It’s something that I too, Kay, I’m happy that we concretized it. We put it into a system. Because even when I was working with all these celebrities and traveling around the world and on film sets these cornerstones is what I was doing with clients. I wasn’t just making their food. There was this emotional, spiritual component, the body component.

Kimberly: So this is the system that I really, from the bottom of my heart, feel gives us the best results in how we feel and how we look. And science is just backing up more and more about the emotional part of this, how much that does affect our hormones, the aging of our skin, our weight, inflammation, all sorts of things. So as Kay mentioned, check out the cornerstone ebook, which is free and action-packed, filled with tips and recipes and all sorts of things. So a little reminder as we dive in here.

Katelyn: I know it’s great especially now if you do find yourself having a little bit more time or say you’re watching a lot of TV or you’re on your phone a lot. It’s something that you could supplement in to do instead. Check that out for 20 minutes and you’ll feel a difference.

Kimberly: Awesome Kay.

Question 1: How do I know if I’m stress eating or if my body just needs the food I’m craving?

Katelyn: Guys, so we have a lot of questions today. Stress eating 101. I’ve definitely stress eat since I’ve moved. So we will see what the ladies are thinking here. So we have Ann from Chandler, Arizona. How do I know if I’m stress eating or if my body just needs the food I’m craving?

Kimberly: Ann, thank you so much for your question. Sending you love out there in Arizona where I’m sure it’s getting quite toasty these days. A food craving is a pretty complex mix of emotions. There’s definitely a psychological component to it. And this is something that I studied and researched and gotten to a lot of detail and depth in my third book, which is when we met Kay, it’s called Beauty Detox Power.

Kimberly: So, I just want to say off the bat if you guys are interested in learning more about the difference in the top nine food cravings and what they mean psychologically and physically, please check that particular book out. As I define it there, as I discussed it there, cravings tend to be chronic. So it’s like we feel that addiction that pull to that bag of chips or to the cookies or the ice cream or whatever it is, it tends to go on and on and it feels addicting. It feels like we need it, we need it. It feels like in the mind.

Kimberly: The difference is if you tune into your body, and I do encourage this, this is a practice that I do now is before I eat, I listen to my body. I ask my body first, I say, “Hey, what do you need right now? What do you want to eat?” If you sit there and you close your eyes and you can even put your hands physically on your belly, over time, you will start to be able to tune in more. Sometimes my body will say I don’t want a raw salad right now. I need a nice hot bowl of soup. Or especially now that I’m pregnant, I need some substance. I need more protein right now, make a Power Protein Smoothie, or whatever.

Kimberly: So it’s in your body. Your body will tell you answers. But we have to make an effort to connect more with our body. Whereas a food craving, again it feels, it can often repeat itself and it feels like it’s addiction in the mind. And a lot of times if we start to track it, if we keep some kind of food journal, you’ll notice the connection between something that proceeded that and wanting the food. Like I just heard a piece of stressful news. I was on the news or I’m feeling really lonely right now. Or I’m just over this quarantine and just feelings that you’re having. Because often with food cravings, we rely on them to shift our mood. So sugar gives us that, something like ice cream or a cookie makes us feel like a hug. It’s sweet, it’s a mood shifter. Something crunchy helps us get out stress.

Kimberly: So if we just heard some stressful news or we haven’t confronted somebody, we may often want that chip to help release. If we start to notice patterns, that awareness is very powerful as well. And then we can start to do things instead of relying on the food. So if we need to shift our mood, if we’re feeling stressed, maybe we go outside, maybe we incorporate some aromatherapy or we call a friend, or we do a five-minute walk or a five-minute meditation or whatever it is. But awareness about patterns is really important when it comes to dealing with cravings.

Kimberly: When I started to understand that my pretzel addiction was because of stress. I was holding in my jaw, and I had to learn to deal with that stress in a deeper way than just eating chips. That’s when I started to heal the craving. And then I started to also implement this practice of asking my body what it needed, which it feels very different. It’s a deeper sense than, “Oh my God, I need that food,” that very surfacy thing that continues to repeat. So those are two things I would say is track your patterns and start asking your body what it needs to establish a deeper connection to your actual needs. Over time, hopefully, that distinction becomes more clear for you as well.

Katelyn: So helpful. I know for me what I tend to do is I wait too long to eat and then I’m really hungry and nothing’s ready and then I’ll just snack. I think that being prepared can really help. So, I’ve started doing some meal prepping, so I have healthy food in the fridge so that I could just warm up versus being like, “I’m just going to grab that bag of popcorn or chips” or something.

Kimberly: That’s true. Good point.

Katelyn: It’s especially easy when you’re home and your fridge is only a few feet away. There’s all those memes on Facebook where people put bikini season’s coming, don’t do it. And like all of these signs on their fridge just to deter them because sometimes we’re just bored too. Find something to do.

Kimberly: Exactly.

Question 2: When you crave chocolate, do you ever link it to stress? I’ve been craving more chocolate than usual, and I’m wondering if it’s because I’ve been really worried about getting the virus.

Katelyn: There’s a lot of layers for cravings as you know. You wrote extensively in your book about it. All right guys, we’re going to dive into a question from Mia living in Franklin, Tennessee. When you crave chocolate, do you ever link it to stress? I’ve been craving more chocolate than usual, and I’m wondering if it’s because I’ve been really worried about getting the virus.

Kimberly: Mia, thank you so much for your question. Absolutely, I think sometimes when you guys ask questions it’s because you already know the answer. Do you know what I mean? We have so much more wisdom I think than we give ourselves credit for. We know our bodies best. And just the way you’ve worded this question, Mia, you know there is a lot of worry and concern about getting the virus and chocolate is a mood booster. It has the bliss chemical and anandamide. It makes us feel blissful. It does make us feel love. It certainly gives us a lift.

Kimberly: So again, this all goes back to the idea of worry, future-based thinking and grasping for something outside of ourselves to make us feel better, which is a lot of what the stress eating is about. First of all, I don’t want to say oh my god, shame on you. That’s so bad. Listen, we’re all eating probably a bit more than usual. I definitely am a chocolate eater myself and I always 100% of the time I have chocolate in my home. So, I think it’s okay to have treats and to have some chocolate.

Kimberly: But when you start to not feel good about the amounts that you’re eating and you start to feel controlled by it, that’s when we know that we do need to shift something to an extent because it’s not serving us anymore. I know you know that in your heart Mia. Just this question makes me… It really feels to me that you know what you’re looking for confirmation of what you already know.

Kimberly: So what I would say about that is, again all of the following the science, staying informed with the CDC, the death rate is quite comparatively low. The vast majority of people that do get the virus are going to recover. I think almost all of my cousins in New York have it right now and are recovering. They’re home and their families they’re together at home quarantining and recovering. I personally know as many of us do, people that do have the virus. Because your question brings up another layer of fear of death and fear of just the deeper consequences. So, I just want to say, sticking to the science and the facts. Of course, there’s people that are affected on a deeper health level, but the vast majority of people are going to recover. So we want to stick to that positive aspect of this.

Kimberly: I will also say, Mia, chocolate is a way to help alleviate some stress. But I would look to other parts of other cornerstones, right? We say if we ignore one of the others, we obsess about one or the others. So food, body, emotions, and spirituality. If we’re not feeling the fear, if we’re not dealing with our feelings or let’s say we don’t have a spiritual practice for connecting inside, we’re going to go to the food. We’re going to get obsessed with the food, right? Because that’s the other cornerstone that’s physical and easy to pick up and easy to see.

Kimberly: For me and for anyone that finds yourself going to food as a band-aid for feeling better, I would encourage you guys to really focus on the emotional and spiritual cornerstones. Get a journal, pick up that journal, do a five-minute meditation, get outside. Again, there’s so much more information to say about this in our Four Cornerstones ebook.

Kimberly: But I will say as someone that has been through many food cravings myself and worked with many clients with this, it’s a sign. It’s a very clear sign. It’s a very clear pattern that the emotional and spiritual side of us need nurturing. Our soul is hungry and we need to give it some support, community, face time with friends, join our online Solluna Circle. Like I said, do meditations, journal, whatever it is, and that will help take your focus off just the food. Which is, again, we smell it, we eat it, we pick it up, it’s physical, but if we don’t deal with the nonphysical things, then the physical part starts to feel out of control.

Katelyn: I think it’s so great to have these other tangible things people can do because oftentimes if you’re thinking I’m stressed eating, then what’s my solution just robotically changing how I eat. Or we’re trying to control our emotions or working out to compensate for eating or the emotional wellbeing and spiritual growth doesn’t even come in. It’s like, “Oh this could be an option for me,” or “This could be a solution to how I’m feeling.” So, I think that that’s a great bridge to gap here in the first half of the show.

Kimberly: Exactly.

Break

Katelyn: All right, Beauties. We’re going to give Kimberly a short break and then she’ll be back to answer the last two questions.

Kimberly: All right, Beauties, we are back on our very important topic. Stress eating 101 which is affecting many of us right now. And we had two more questions for you guys. I cannot wait to hear about how we can support. One thing about these questions is that I know that many of us have the same questions, so it’s really wonderful that the collective energy of our community. When we tune in and we listen to someone’s question, it may be something that touches you in a personal way, relates, or someone in your life you could also pass this podcast to for support. It’s amazing how we’re all so connected, and we’re all going through these experiences together. And the more we share, the more we support each other, the better.

Katelyn: It’s been amazing over the years how many times you’ll see the same questions come up. Or similar questions that just really show hotspots for people where that’s why sometimes shows overlap or we’ll have things that are on a similar base because people just want to keep hearing about it.

Kimberly: Makes sense.

Question 3: I feel like I have no willpower when it comes to controlling myself around certain comfort foods. Where do I even begin? Especially right now, I don’t really even want to stop, but I’ve gained 10 pounds.

Katelyn: All right, so we have one here from Don living in Durham, North Carolina. I feel like I have no willpower when it comes to controlling myself around certain comfort foods. Where do I even begin? Especially right now, I don’t really even want to stop, but I’ve gained 10 pounds.

Kimberly: Don sending you a big hug in North Carolina, sending a lot of love Beauty. So there’s a couple of things that immediately come to mind when I hear your question. Number one there… this is the way I approached it in Beauty Detox Power where there’s the immediate steps and then there’s the longer stacks where we get more to the root. In the beginning or in the short term shall we say, we know this is a challenging time. We know this is a different time where we’re home more than any other time. So you want to make the best environment for yourself so you don’t have to just rely on your willpower. And then if you quote-unquote “mess up,” you feel bad about yourself, your body feels bad, you get bloated, you feel like you have low self-esteem.

Kimberly: So the first thing that I’ll say is because you’re not eating out right now or you’re home, make an effort to not keep all those comfort foods at home. It’s as simple as that. When you go food shopping, when you order food, do it in a space where you’re very clear and very focused. So you don’t go to the grocery store and buy 10 bags of cookies, but you really stick to a shopping list. I think a shopping list is a really great idea, and it doesn’t mean that it’s only fruits and vegetables. But maybe in a clear space, you’ll get one tab of coconut ice cream instead of 10 tubs of full dairy ice cream.

Kimberly: I think it’s important how we set up our home so that we don’t have it all lying around. I mean, it sounds quite obvious but sometimes chips are my thing. And I have been on this path for a while, but the other day my husband brought home a huge bag of corn tortilla chips and I ate a lot of it because I kind of was in that moment and I just did. But guess what? If he didn’t buy the bag, it’s not so easy to just run out anymore. We’re not going to the grocery store that much, I wouldn’t have eaten them. So I said, “Hey, could you not buy that right now?” Because I am home a lot. There’s a lot going on, so I’d just rather not have it in the house.

Kimberly: So I say, Don, on a practical note, make a shopping list based on what you want to put into your body, what recipes you want to make and what feels good and then do include some treats so you don’t feel like you’re obsessing, you’re missing out. It’s too divergent of a split. I think if we vacillate between the extremes, it’s very hard to find balance. So if it’s chocolate you love, get some high-quality dark chocolate. If it’s ice cream, like I said, get some sort of organic coconut-based brand, like NadaMoo! or Coconut Dream or something like that.

Kimberly: So find whatever comfort foods you have, but a better version and go shopping when you’re in a strong, clear, focused mindset, not when you’re feeling really low. And you may end up buying all this stuff around your house that doesn’t feel good to you. I’ll also say the same thing that I was saying to Mia about the four cornerstones, comfort foods, are our way to feel comforted, to shift our mood, to soothe us. So we need to look at our overall lifestyle.

Kimberly: We talked about the food already, body-wise. How even though you’re home over there in North Carolina, can you stick to your morning practice? Can you incorporate a morning walk? Can you get outside, wear a hat, put a little non-chemical sunscreen on, go for a walk, get some sunlight on your skin. Can you breathe? Do a home yoga practice. Take your SBO Probiotics, build up your gut health, which will help with food cravings. It will help cleanse your body. It will help keep you on track.

Kimberly: Emotionally, another huge reason we go to comfort is because we’re avoiding our feelings or we’re not processing them. Join the Solluna Circles, start journaling. Fourth is spirituality. Start meditating. Start finding a way to connect in. If meditation isn’t exactly your thing, maybe it’s just doing some breath work or sitting in nature listening to classical music, just calming your mind, connecting inward. I think if you work on all these little steps or pick one or a few in each of the cornerstones, you’ll start to over time not feel so reliant on food.

Kimberly: Back in the day when I was in high school and I was bulimic. It wasn’t until I started to get into the emotional wellbeing side and spirituality around that time is when I just started yoga and the beginnings of my yoga practice and breathing and being with my body and overcoming shame and all these different things. I was able to heal that dependency on food so it wasn’t, “Oh, I need to strengthen my willpower and I need…” It’s not that per se, just working on that same cornerstone, but I think it’s looking at the balance of where else in my life am I not nurturing myself?

Kimberly: Again, for most of us it’s emotionally, mental, health-wise, spiritually. How can I give more energy there instead of trying to have more will power with the food, which in my experience doesn’t really work that well. Because we still feel over-reliant on food until we find another deeper source of nourishment.

Katelyn: It’s funny that this came up because earlier today I was actually reading an article and it was talking about willpower and people that are maybe more successful than others and staying on track. They were talking about a study that basically said it’s what you alluded to earlier, just backing it by science that they said it’s people’s environment. Because the temptation is always there and willpower is not endless, right?

Kimberly: That’s true.

Katelyn: That basically people that perform better with that have less temptation in their environments.

Kimberly: Exactly. So it’s like a practical step. It’s just don’t keep it around and then the longer solution is seeing where else we can get the nourishment that we need. To me, food cravings, comfort food is a calling out for help from ourselves, from our bodies, I need nourishment. But guess what guys? The nourishment does not come just from food. Again, the emotional side, feeling connected, feeling connected to community, feeling connected to yourself, meditating. These are the most powerful forms of nourishment. So when we have more of that in our lives, the food cravings really start to lessen. I can say this from firsthand experience, it is 100% true.

Katelyn: Yes, I agree too. Oh, so many layers here. A lot of times the topics we talk about, we could just talk about a singular part of the conversation for the whole time.

Kimberly: Exactly.

Question 4: My kids are home from school. I am working from home and my husband is an essential worker working at a hospital in New York. How am I supposed to manage my kids, work full time, and be the primary caretaker? I’ve been snacking 24/7 and getting DoorDash often as I just don’t have time to cook like I used to. I feel terrible. Help.

Katelyn: All right. We have one more from Vicky from New York to round this out. My kids are home from school. I am working from home and my husband is an essential worker working at a hospital in New York. How am I supposed to manage my kids, work full time, and be the primary caretaker? I’ve been snacking 24/7 and getting DoorDash often as I just don’t have time to cook like I used to. I feel terrible. Help.

Kimberly: Oh, mama, Vicky, my heart goes out to you. I hear you. I feel you. I know this is a very challenging time for those of us especially that have children that are not in school. I’m going through something similar with Bubby who is not in preschool right now and it is a lot with one young child and I’m also pregnant. So having multiple kids I can only imagine is crazy. I just think day by day you have to do your best if you’re managing your kids and taking care of them. I don’t know how we can be expected to also work full time.

Kimberly: I’ve been doing my best as you know, Kay, too. I do some work when Bubby goes to bed. Sometimes I’ll do things on the weekend when hubby can help entertain him or nap time. But I do think that this is a time for letting go of thinking we can do everything and just really trying to prioritize. So you know you have to take care of your health and your kids’ health. And that’s number one. And of course, there’s the practicalities of work, but sometimes it’s going to be a little bit more slow and that’s just the way it is. I hear you are not having time to cook. I mean, with everything else going on, that’s probably the last thing.

Kimberly: So I will say that it’s a good idea whether you’re getting food delivery or whether you are actually going to the grocery store to get really quick, easy things that you can make quick meals with and you can snack on. So for me right now that is hummus and baby carrots. Bubby loves carrots. So I keep those around, easy grabs. It is the Kite Hill cream cheese, which I just make quick wraps sometimes for me and Bubby with kale. And he does love kale and so we just have these very easy little lunches that we put together.

Kimberly: And if you can just create simple things making pasta in a big batch, one-pot stews here and there. I wouldn’t beat yourself up too much about DoorDash if that’s your best option right now. You can work that in. But I think any time you can get some cartons of hemp milk, make a quick in a container of a protein shake via protein powder. Just make a Power Protein Smoothie for yourself as a snack. I’m making, very, very fast things for myself right now, just a piece of bread with avocado on it. A very minimally put together avocado toast.

Kimberly: The Miyoko mozzarella cheese. I make vegan grilled cheese with that and the Miyoko’s butter. It’s this delicious brand and I just eat that. Throw some spinach in there. I mean sometimes that’s my lunch. So I think it’s also giving up this idea of complicated recipes. We have tons at My Solluna that are quite simple. But again, it can be even more simple than that, almond butter on celery sticks, lots of hummus and dips for kids to snack on, for you to snack on, making your GGS and batches. So it’s in the freezer. Just doing your best to really simplify and let go.

Kimberly: I will also say, Vicky, listening to your question, I think that there’s so much on the mamas right now. Even in the midst of this, I’ll say self-care is still so important for you, whether that’s a nightly bath or taking a five-minute breather throughout the day to just breathe, have a moment to yourself, do a mini-meditation. When hubby comes home, he’s out in his own stresses. But if he can just watch the kids. So you can have a half-hour of meditating, taking a shower or whatever.

Kimberly: I think it’s really important that you look at your schedule and you do prioritize some self-care time. I find that when I’m the busiest and most exhausted still, I still have to work it in. Otherwise, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind. So, I will say that as well.

Kimberly: I will also give you a huge virtual hug and just say, mama, you’re doing great. You’re doing amazing. This is not easy managing a household, kids, work. It’s a crazy time. And you deserve accolades, you deserve a huge hug. It’s a lot. It’s exhausting. It’s physical. It’s emotionally taxing and you’re doing it and you’re amazing. I’m here. Check out the recipes, check out our Solluna Circle, check out all our articles and blogs about evening practices and self-care, and hopefully some of this you’ll be able to incorporate into your life.

Thought of the Week

Katelyn: Hopefully, this was all helpful guys listening in, feeling strong. Hopefully, after this, if you do have to go grocery shopping or you’re restocking or you’ve been struggling with stress eating, we hope that you can pull a couple of the nuggets from this show and keep them with you in the back of your head. So as always, do you have anything to end the show with today, Kay, what are you thinking about?

Kimberly: Yeah, so I have a quote for you guys that I think important to keep in mind when we’re talking about stress eating and coping with life right now, which is challenging. There’s just a lot of factors going on. This quote comes from Rumi and he writes, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field, I’ll meet you there.” So, I want us to get away from this idea of shame and labeling I’m so bad. My willpower is weak. The shame and oh I’m doing awful right now, beating ourselves up. It really just add the stress. It adds to inflammation. It adds to poor digestion. It doesn’t help anything.

Kimberly: So, I think it’s just important that we acknowledge like I was just saying to Vicky that we’re doing our best and certainly going to be perfectly imperfect right now. Nobody is doing anything perfect. We’re trying to hold it together. We’re taking it one day at a time. So let’s get away from labeling and creating even more stress and more pressure.

Kimberly: Hey, there’s a lot right now. Maybe we gain a couple pounds. Guess what? It’s not the end of the world, and we’re going to get back on track and it’s going to be okay. Maybe we ate a bunch of crappy meals in a row, okay. We’ve all been there. Like I said last week I ate almost a whole bag of chips, the enormous Costco sized bag of corn chips over a few days by myself. And I took digestive enzymes and then I let it go and these things, we’re up and down and it’s okay. It’s part of the flow of life.

Kimberly: I’ll just remind you guys to work on the four cornerstones. Think about your self-care in those cornerstones to ground your life. Do your best when you go shopping, keep a clear head, stick to a shopping list, keep your chocolate in the freezer. All these practices we talk about. Portion size out things, if that helps you into containers. I’ve never been someone that’s that organized to do that, but I know that helps some people. But other than that, I will say all of these other resources, the online Solluna Circle, the journaling, the meditations, that has really helped me loosen my over-reliance on food.

Kimberly: So we can do these practical things in the near term for sure which are going to be helpful and long term because there’s some extra time freed up right now for some of us. It’s surprising how many kids we have at home. But do work on that self-care, do work on the other cornerstones so that you will strengthen your own inner connection, your own resilience, and then you will be less reliant on everything from the outside world, food, outer validation, relying on relationships to make you happy. You make yourself happy. You are the source of strength. You are the source of peace and power within you.

Kimberly: So, I’m going to end on that note, Kay, and thank you so much for gathering the questions. We love to hear from you. Keep the questions coming. We have all the resources including the show notes from the show on mysolluna.com. Kay, can you share with the Beauties where to put the questions or just submit them.

Katelyn: Yes. So you can head over to mysolluna.com/askkimberly or check out our new tab where you can just click on the podcast and submit your question there.

Kimberly: Amazing. Well, Beauties, sending you lots and lots of love and strength and good vibes. We’ll be back here for you on Monday for our next interview podcast. So then remember I’m doing live Solluna circles at noon Pacific Standard Time, Mondays, and Wednesdays on Instagram at @_kimberlysnyder. So we can be together live there. We have all the billions and millions of resources on the website. So we’ve got lots of thoughts going on for you guys, sending you lots of love, take great care of you and your family, hoping you’re safe and cozy and see you back here in just a few days.