đ± Ever notice how a good laugh with friends or a heartfelt chat with a loved one can make you feel lighter and happier? Those positive social interactions can have a direct impact on your mental and emotional wellbeing.
But here’s a connection that might surprise you: strong social connections can also help you make better food choices.
That’s because loneliness often drives emotional eating. When you have adequate social support, it can lower your stress levels and reduce the instances of stress-driven snacking, like indulging in a bag of chips or drowning your sorrows in a bowl of ice cream.
But here’s the interesting part:
Even though many people understand that connecting with others is good for their health, they might still hesitate to pick up the phone and reach out. So, what’s holding us back?
A study from the University of Chicago offered an intriguing answer:
We tend to underestimate how much others care about staying connected with us. đ
When we contemplate reaching out to someone, we often think things like, “They’re probably busy with their own life, and I don’t want to bother them.” Or, “I only have a few minutes for a conversation, and that’s not enough time to catch up.”
Does any of this sound familiar?
Here’s the irony: Most people crave connection. They feel happy and touched when someone calls or texts to check in on them or shares their thoughts and feelings. Yet, many of us feel like no one really cares to hear from us.
So, what do we do instead? We turn to the cookies for comfort.
Why is this study relevant?
The challenges we face with food and fitness aren’t always just about food and fitness. What appears to be a food-related issue, such as overeating, might actually be rooted in a social issue, especially if emotional eating is triggered by feelings of loneliness and isolation. And those social challenges might not necessarily be due to a lack of connections but rather our own inaccurate assumptions.
If you find yourself struggling with emotional eating, take a moment to reflect. What else in your life provides you comfort and support aside from food?
If your social circle feels a bit empty, consider taking the initiative to nurture your relationships. You can even create a list of small social tasks to do whenever you get the urge to eat. For example:
đ± Send a text to a friend.
đŻââïž Arrange a walking date with a buddy.
đ§đœâđ» Hop on FaceTime for a chat.
đ Go old school and write a heartfelt note to a loved one.
Just try it out. You might discover that connecting with someone makes you feel a little more fulfilled (and not the kind of fulfillment associated with indigestion). đ
I hope this helps, and while you’re here, I want to make sure you know that if thereâs any way I can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, Iâm here for you.
I offer online nutrition coaching to clients who are ready to quit dieting and start looking and feeling better, with more confidence and increased energy levels –Â without complicated diets or painful workouts
What exactly is ânutrition coachingâ… and how will it help you reach your goals?
When it comes to losing weight and getting the body you want, âeating betterâ is one of the most important steps. The only problem?
Most of the common diet advice you receive simply isn’t sustainable…
- âAvoid your favorite foods⊠forever!â
- âDonât eat after 7pm!â
- âWeigh and measure every morsel of food you eat!â
If you’ve tried something like this before and âfailedââor just couldnât stick with itâyouâre not alone.
(And itâs definitely NOT your fault.)
I talk to people every day who are trying to muster up all the willpower they can find to diet their way to a better body⊠but they still arenât getting the results they want.
The good news? Thereâs a better way.
My nutrition coaching focuses on strategic, doable daily actions that are designed to fit into YOUR lifestyle. With this approach, youâll learn how to:
- Eat betterâwithout dieting or feeling deprived.
- Lose weightâwithout giving up your favorite foods.
- Ditch the food rulesâovercoming the guilt and shame.
- Feel energized all dayâso you can enjoy all the things you want and need to do.
- Get the results youâve always wantedâand build the healthy habits you need to stay that way for good.
Bottom line: My goal is to help you learn how to âeat betterâ so that it becomes easy, consistent, and automatic.
No restrictive dieting. No weighing or measuring your food. No âone size fits allâ meal plan.
Instead, youâll learn how to bring healthy eating into your lifestyle and get in amazing shapeâwhile building the habits you need to stay that way for good.
How is nutrition coaching different from fitness coaching or personal training?
As a coach, my number one goal is to help my clients reach THEIR goals. Doing that effectively requires me to constantly look for opportunities to learn new skills and hone my craft.
This is exactly why I chose to become a Certified Nutrition Coach through Precision Nutrition.
Iâve now been trained by the best of the best, so I know what works.
(The nutrition method they teach is backed by science and has been proven to work with over 100,000 of their own clients⊠so itâs the real deal.)
The best part? The knowledge and skills Iâve gained can help you finally get the results you wantâand keep them for life.
Through the rigorous training Iâve received, I learned that while exercise is a crucial part of losing weight, feeling good, and achieving optimal health… itâs only half the equation.
The other halfâas you may have guessedâis nutrition.
Iâd actually argue that nutrition is more important than exercise, because while you spend a few hours working out each week, challenges around eating and food can happen anytime (some would say all the time!).
Thatâs why having a coach there to guide and support you is crucial.
Donât get me wrong: Exercise is very important. But no amount of exercise will ever be able to âoutworkâ bad nutrition habits. So in order to help you get the life-transforming results you deserveâIâm excited to be able to offer nutrition coaching in an official capacity.
What I learned while becoming a Certified Nutrition Coach opened my eyes to a whole new way of doing things. And through this science-proven approach, Iâm ready to help you get even better results through healthy nutrition habits.
Interested? Have questions? Letâs talk…
If this sounds like something youâd be interested in, or if you have questions about what this would look like⊠Iâd love to discuss how my online nutrition coaching program could help you get the results youâre looking for.
Click here to get started and Iâll answer any questions you have. Plus, we can connect to talk more about what this would look like for you.
Dedicated to your success,
Nico.
P.S. Just so you know: Iâm offer fitness coaching as wellâand it doesn’t have to be âeither or.â
If youâre in a place where guidance and support from an experienced coach could help you reach your goals, Iâm here to help in whatever capacity will be most beneficial for you.
Simply learn more here and we can talk about the different coaching options I have available.