- Sara Woodard
7 Ways To Eat Healthy During Divorce
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” ― Michael Pollan
Divorce is a very stressful time to say the least. And what do we do when we are stressed? If you said "throw all the sweet treats away and hop on the treadmill" then you are a super woman and should start some sort of class or something. I think most of us would say that we tend to eat comfort foods when we are stressed and any fitness plans we may have been working towards are thrown out the window.
One way to Love Yourself Through Divorce is to use this time to take care of yourself by eating healthy and exercising. Today, I'm going to focus on eating healthy and building your own healthy eating plan that is unique to you. I also wrote a post about creating a killer exercise program that you might be interested in.
The good thing is that in order to eat healthy you don’t necessarily need to count calories and carry around a reference manual to know how many points are in the food you plan to eat. You don’t need to shell out $100-plus on a healthy eating guide. If those things work for you, then by all means, go ahead and do them. They didn't work for me, though, so I had to figure it out on my own. If shelling out hundreds of dollars and counting calories hasn't worked for you either, then keep reading for some tips to develop your own unique healthy eating plan.
It's time to create your healthy eating plan!
Why do you want to eat healthy? Obviously, the main reasons for eating healthy are to feel better about ourselves and look beautiful (or smokin' hot, whichever adjective you would like to use). But as women who are going through divorce, we have a deeper reason to eat healthy, right? What’s your reason? To build your confidence back up? To feel your best while you’re going through divorce? Spend some time and dig deep for your reason and motivation to eat healthy.
Gather tips and advice to help you on your way. Bad days are bound to happen. Temptations are going to pop up. You will have a crazy day and not be able to make that home-cooked meal like you planned. Filling your Healthy Eating Toolbox with strategies to help you out of these situations will keep you on track. For instance, if you work in a building that has vending machines or if your co-workers regularly bring in treats, you could keep a stash of a healthy treat alternatives in your desk so you are less tempted to stuff your face with a piece of cake.
Figure out your hurdles. Do you have a sweet tooth (like me)? Do you love anything made from dough (me, as well)? You can find healthier recipes for these foods by searching for Paleo bread or healthy cupcakes or diabetic chocolate. Check out my Yummy & Healthy Pinterest Board for more ideas.
Try mapping out stages of your healthy eating plan. Stage one could be reducing desserts down to one per day. Then stage two could be switching that one dessert to a healthy alternative. And then stage three could focus on managing healthier meals. This way you can take one step at a time.
Write down all the healthy foods you love. I love honey, strawberries, apples, meat, Brussels sprouts (yes, you read that right), mushrooms, lemon water, salad, this homemade dressing I make, (I could really go on and on). And you could probably go on and on too. There are probably tons of healthy food you love. This list will help you focus on what you can have instead of what you can’t. It can also be an exercise for you to match up these foods to make yummy meals.
Keep your motivation high. Going through a divorce is an extremely stressful time, so it's going to be even harder (and sometimes impossible) to stay on track. Don't be too hard on yourself and strengthen your defenses. Gather photos, quotes, people, and recipes to help keep you wanting to eat healthy. It’s difficult considering all the crap food that’s thrust in our face every day. But you can do it!
Take a break. You don’t have to eat uber-healthy. Every. Single. Day. You can give yourself that Moon Pie or Oreo or ice cream sundae every once in a while. If you do eat a "forbidden food," don’t treat it like you’ve fallen off the wagon, never to return again. Treat it like a break. As long as you get right back on track there’s really no harm done.
Try not to allow your separation or divorce throw you off your healthy eating plan. I know at times it seems impossible to thrive, but at the end of the day you will be so much better off if you take the time to focus on yourself and do something healthy.
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