Ask a Health Coach: How to Stop the Cycle of Overdoing It

Hi folks, in this edition of Ask a Health Coach, Erin helps out her fellow over-doers with strategies for managing the hustle mentality, overthinking calories, and enjoying the holidays guilt free. Got questions? Share them in the comments or in our MDA Facebook Group.

Cassie asked:

“I always burn the candle at both ends making sure everyone is happy this time of year, but I can already tell I’m burning myself out. How do I get through the holidays without needing a vacation afterward?

Overdoing it is kind of my specialty. At least it has been in the past, so I totally get where you’re coming from. If you’re like me, you have a long history of being highly productive — and wearing a huge badge of honor about it. The more hustle, the better. The less rest, the better. Even to the point of total burn out.

You might also be a bit of a people pleaser, which, by definition, suggests that you’ve got a deep emotional need to please others at the expense of your own needs.https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/sapient-nature/201603/how-not-worry-about-what-others-think-you‘>² Or you care how it will affect your goals.

I’m not here to tell you to eat a whole sheet of sugar cookies or not, I’m just here to help you have a more effortless relationship with food. One where you have a solid understanding of how certain foods work or don’t work in your body. That way you’re free to make choices that support you — or don’t support you. Which is totally okay too, as long as you’re clear on the consequences, which might be anything from feeling sluggish and foggy to having pants that don’t fit.

It’s always your call.

That said, if someone is shaming you for your choices, that’s a totally different topic.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5421368/‘>⁴

So, no. I don’t have any go-to calorie burners. And I certainly don’t have any low-cal diet recipes. What I do have is advice on how to stoke your metabolism and how to stop caring about how you aesthetically show up in the world.

Sounds like a pretty great gift, right? Not caring? Not scheduling in extra workouts to accommodate the holidays? The diet mentality has been hard-wired into a lot of us and one of my goals as a health coach is to help people break free from it. And that starts with three key things:

1. Releasing judgement toward food. Food isn’t good or bad, it just has consequences. If you have a few treats, you might experience a sugar crash followed by more cravings. If you eat a protein rich meal, you might not have to white knuckle it past the candy dish.

2. Learn to listen to your body. Try tuning in to what your body is telling you https://www.marksdailyapple.com/whats-messing-with-your-appetite-three-possibilities/. Learn to recognize your body’s hunger and thirst cues and how to separate physical hunger from emotional needs like comfort and personal growth.

3. Check your stories and limiting beliefs. Think you’re only lovable at a certain weight? Or that “treating” yourself is a bad thing? Pay attention to the stories you tell yourself and see if you can shift them into a more positive light.

Do you have a habit of overdoing it? Got more questions? Share in the comments below.

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