Why You Crave Junk Food When You're Stressed: The Gut-Brain Link Behind Anxiety & Emotional Eating

Welcome back, fearfully and wonderfully made human. I'm so glad you're here today and I pray that wherever you're listening from, you're reminded that you were created on purpose for a purpose. Today's episode is a meaningful one because I get to introduce you to someone I met at the South Florida Clinical Collective networking event hosted by Amanda and Venina, two women doing amazing work in bringing local clinicians together.

After chatting with today's guest, I felt deeply aligned with her understanding of the food mood connection and the gut brain access. This is something I personally learned decades ago while dealing with my own health issues. And I'll never forget how eyeopening it was to hear Dr.

David Bernstein explain the connection between nutrition and mental wellness. If you haven't already, check out episode 22 of this podcast where he and I dive deep into his wisdom. The truth is, many of us don't realize how much of our mental health is influenced by what we're putting in our bodies.

We live in a society hooked on quick fixes and magic pills. But healing requires real understanding, intentional choices, and grace. My hope is that this conversation gives you tools, insight, and a fresh sense of empowerment that your body is not the enemy and healing is possible.

Now, let me introduce today's guest, Sarah Weiss. She is a registered dietician and founder of Weiss Choices. I love that. A functional nutrition practice that helps women break free from dieting and transform their health from the inside out. After losing over 60 lbs and leaving her career as a stock broker, hi Miha.

Sarah dedicated her life to helping others heal their relationship with food and their bodies. With over a decade of experience, Sarah brings a compassionate, no BS approach to wellness. Through her coaching programs, she helps people uncover the deeper why behind their eating patterns so they can finally feel good in their bodies.

She teaches that food is more than just fuel. It's information for your brain, your mood, and your hormones. Sarah, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. What a great intro. All right. All right, girls. So, I love to begin with people's story.

Like, what inspired you to pursue functional and integrative nutrition and how did your personal journey shape the work you're doing today? Yeah. So, you hit a lot of the big points, but I always have a little extra in my back pocket to share, I guess.

Um, going back to where I come from, I grew up in Indiana on a big family farm. And when I say that, people picture something that's very much not aligned with the reality. Um, there was a lot of chaos in my environment and that led me to emotional eating.

Um, so food became a place where I felt comfortable. I felt connected. I felt happy and sadly that led me to a lot of weight gain. And um, I was starting college and I realized this is getting out of control. And I remember stepping on the scale and seeing my heaviest weight and I was almost 200 lb and I just thought, "How did this happen?"

Right? I've been living this way, not really looking at it. And I carried on like I was okay with it, but deep down I was so insecure. Didn't like what I saw in the mirror, how I felt in my clothes. Um, so I started making changes.

I just started moving my body. And you know, everyone asks the magic magic fix and I'm like, "Well, move your body, eat better, right? It's it's that simple." Yeah, we all know that. But it was small changes for me. Yeah. So, it was sneaking in healthy foods that I never ate in my life.

I I hated vegetables at the time, or at least that's what I told myself. Um, so it was like sneaking them in like I was a kid until I actually started liking them and the weight was coming off and uh yeah, I was at the time in school for finance and became a stock broker and hated it.

How But how stressful that job? I mean, I hear about how stressful that could be. A stock broker, accountant, a lawyer. I think I've had quite a few different uh careers come across my path that that's why they come and see me because they're so stressed out.

So, tell me a little more about like, you know, with your story. You became a stock broker. You hated it. That must have caused a lot more stress, too, that you would stress eat. Yeah. I think at that time I was starting to get a handle on my health, right?

I was already I had already lost the weight by the time I was in that role. But the reality is I didn't realize it was the emotional eating that led me there until many years later, right? I knew that I needed to change my habits, but the emotional connection came so many years later and it was just this aha moment of like this is that missing piece.

Yeah. But to answer your question, yeah, the the the job was stressful. It was not not my cup of tea to each his own, right? I thought it was a really cool title, but to sit in that desk every day was miserable and I knew I had to go do something else.

Yeah. And and so let's talk about the emotional eating part because I get it even though I'm a flakita you know people are you know but I know that eating too like when I was a young girl I I even noticed now because sometimes that's what we do like we we create these um neuropathways and even though and I I created them with food I created them with drugs I created them with with alcohol.

I could keep on going on with the list how how you know so it's like the gut brain access the understanding of um neuroplasticity and stuff like that the the food and mood uh you know what what does the science say what have you learned because I know what I've learned but what have you learned and let's teach the the audience what we both have learned yeah I mean I think it's great because I've lived both

sides of that food and mood right the the poor foods and the poor mood and then the other side of it and that's truly the passion that that lit in me to pursue this career was I felt so good after the weight loss not just confident but energy mental clarity to wake up every day and have good clean energy was so amazing to me I'm like I need to go teach this to other people um so

my experience I I have looked both sides and I think that's really important for me to share with my clients or your listeners right is I do know both sides but the science science is there right yeah if we we know that there are certain nutrient nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are needed to create dopamine and serotonin, these feel-good hormones.

But if we're eating this processed food or food-like products really that don't offer those, the body is getting depleted and how is it supposed to produce happy hormones if those things aren't available to create them. Right. Right. So, I think that we go into just lacking the nutrients.

Then there's the side of inflammation where that inhibits that production as well. And a lot of these junk foods and highly processed foods trigger inflammation. And then we go to the gut and the blood sugar. And I mean, there's so many pieces to it.

It's not even just one thing. It's so many pieces of the puzzle in the body that we just can't produce those happy hormones. And then we end up with worse anxiety and depression because of it. Yeah. And I noticed too like um people know my mom just passed in February and I realized that I went into the emotional eating part.

Um and it was just automat it was weird. It but it's because back in the day when I was sad it it was like a vicious cycle, right? It happens. This is how addiction happens too. It's a vicious cycle. you feel a certain way and then your brain is sitting there go, "Hey, don't you remember when you felt good when you ate that whole bag of chips or pork rinds or uh I I wrote about it was Tate's gluten-free cookies."

I'm like, "Oh, it's gluten-free." But I ate the whole flipping package. My husband's like, "You didn't even offer me one." But I felt like crap after because I was already feeling sad. My body and and then it's hard because I'm sure you've gone through this where you realize like, "Oh, I just did this.

I just fell off the wagon or whatever it is."

And then it's like okay no I know healthier ways like and I have to be aware of like why why did I do that without the guilt and shame right and so why do you you know why do you think we crave these things you know your story is kind of highlighting one of the big things I think there's a couple parts to why we crave it um one is that relief that you're talking about right

we want relief whether it's a traumatic experience that we're going through this emotional thing or even during your workday, you've been bogged down with work for 3, four hours non-stop.

You need relief from the computer, from from grinding so hard and we end up in the pantry and we're not even hungry, but we're seeking that dopamine hit. We're seeking that relief and we are wired and we've created that cycle of I'm stressed, I need relief, I go to food and get that dopamine hit.

And sadly, it's a cycle that's not even solving the real problem, right? We need a break, not food most of the time, right? I think the other side of that is the fight or flight. You know, we flip into fight orflight mode and the body knows in that mode we need energy because we're running from a lion or that's what we're supposed to be doing that mode, right?

We need quick energy and the body loves quick energy from carbs, sugar. It knows it can convert and use that quickly. So, I think there's a couple things going on there, too, of why we have those cravings during during these moments. Yeah. Wow.

So, right on. And it is like recognizing and real because I've I've done so so much work in my own therapy and I am a therapist. So, I do this work with others. And so, it's like recognizing that like I recognize it was the hurt little girl from back in the day, you know, because I I like to practice internal family systems.

I'm not totally certified in it, but I've studied it enough where I try and, you know, challenge. I am cognitive behavioral therapist. So challenging the thoughts um you know so when when someone's dealing with situations like I just mentioned or life like there's a lot of people that listen that are just wanting to feel better and they really don't know how.

They really don't know. They have chronic fatigue, irritability, low mood, you know. How do you approach identifying these root causes from a functional nutrition perspective? Yeah, I'm all about getting to the root cause as much as we can. Um, you have to look at the whole picture.

You know, in what I do, people think I'm just looking at what you eat, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Um, if if you do start to work with me, I'm going to look at what time you wake up, how you wake up, how rushed are you to get out the door, how do you go to sleep, when are you snacking?

I want to know everything. What's going on at work when you crave a snack? Because I think we have to look at those I don't want to say surface things but more surface things of like are you eating early in the morning? Are you waiting until late lunch?

Right? Those things that we can modify we have to smooth those out and get those out of the way as possible causes to know how much further down we need to dig because if we solidify everything the foundation that we need where we quote unquote should feel good and you're still not, we need to keep digging.

Maybe there's a hormonal issue, maybe there's gut imbalance, right? We need to keep digging. So, I kind of start from that surface. What's your day look like? And then we go from there. How far do we need to go? We'll go as far as we need to till we figure it out.

Yeah. Do you do you have your clients like uh journal like 3 days? Cuz I know when I first like when I talked to you about Dr. Bernstein, that's a long time ago, but I was like, what? I'm not going to sit there and write three days and I did and it made a big difference of it is it's becoming aware because a lot of this stuff is stored in our subconscious, right?

You know, we're doing these things and and we're running and we live in a society where it's just like go go go go go and then we're women. Hello. So, it's even more go and if you have children then it's even more, you know, and so it is, you know, and we're trying just to find that quickness and you know, do what what do you do?

Like if I were to come to you um as and you're my coach and and it's all about just this, right? nutrition and wellness and gut. What would be like the first thing you would ask me to do? Yeah, I think you you said awareness and I just lit up because I think that's the missing piece so often is we're on autopilot.

Go, go, go. On autopilot of what we normally do. So, I think it's how can I coach you in a way that you almost discover it yourself. It's not me discovering it. You're bringing awareness. Um, so I'll have you walk me through your full day.

Tell me how you wake up and what time. I'll have you walk me through the entire day. as that starting point so that not only do I understand you better and know how to help you, but you're recalling it and you start to say, "Oh, wait.

I didn't realize I do that." Or you start to see those red flags in your day that might be contributing to the way you feel. Yeah. So, it's really doing a full analysis and and bringing that awareness. Yeah. Do you utilize like blood work and stuff like that, too?

Sometimes. Yeah. Kind of going back to like the surface level versus going deeper. If we can address it on the surface and you don't need to go out and spend extra money on labs, great. A lot of people have had recent labs and they'll send them to me and we just analyze from there.

But if we need to go deeper, yeah, sometimes the lab testing is important. Yeah. So, I mean, people talk about food and mood and gut brain access and and they really don't understand that at all. Right. The gut brain access. Can can you describe what that actually means?

Yeah. I mean, I don't think anyone truly knows, right? We're still figuring so much of it out, which is wild to me. I think the gut is so fascinating. Um, you know, I used to teach a group about the gut in substance abuse.

I used to work in substance abuse centers for about eight or nine years teaching nutrition. If you know that population, you know, you need to make nutrition kind of fun in there or they're not going to be engaged. So, they'd call it my poop group, which I love.

I have a whole chart and everything. So yeah, we Yeah, let's talk about the chart because I know about the chart and people don't. So this will be a great new thing for to teach my listeners, right? Are you talking about like a number three, a number four, a five, six?

What was the name of the chart? Uh Bristol Myers stool chart, I think. Uh but to be honest, I use a cute little cartoony one. Um because again, I want to make it fun. We we have to be able to laugh. Everybody poops.

We have to look at it. Um, but I would always start the group by saying, you know, think about these common sayings that we use like gut instinct or butterflies in my stomach or go with your gut. We don't stop and think about why we say something like that.

But it's it's talking about that connection. The gut and the brain are communicating all day long. We've probably all heard the term Vegas nerve. That's that communication channel. That's that highway. Um, but I think what's really fascinating that people don't realize is 90% of your serotonin and about 50% of your dopamine are produced in the gut.

So, we want these happy feelings and to feel great and deal with life, but our gut is destroyed from the way we're living. Doesn't make sense. So, I always say if you have a crappy gut, you're going to have crappy thoughts because not supported.

I usually say it differently, but I'm censoring myself for your podcast. Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't want to put another disclaimer. I just I just recorded yesterday and I'm like, "Oh, I got to I got to say our disclaimer and tell my editor."

So, I'm like, "Oh, okay." Yeah. Well, I'm still I'm still fascinated by the poop group. That's that's as far as I'll get with the vulgarity. No. Well, honestly though, I'm going to put that in the show notes. Um that Bristol um because it's important because to me, like I know it sounds weird and gross and everything, but this is your entire system.

This is why I'm the holistic counselor. I actually talk about like how you pooping, how you sleeping, how you doing? And then they come to me and they're like, "You're the weirdest therapist I've ever had in my whole entire life." And I'm like, "No, because you're you're an entire being, a biology, a theology, and a psychology, right?

It's like it's all together. And so why can't we respect the whole all your cells? They want to love you. They want to love you. So, can you like um describe three accessible nutrition habits people can start right now to support their mood, energy, and overall emotional well-being?

Just three. Hey girl, listen. We have another half an hour. So, if you want to just list and list and list, I'm all about that because I just 75. No. Um, yeah. I think like looking at the start of the day, number one is like I kind of mentioned, how are you waking up?

Are you rushing out the door for work? Your cortisol is already high in the morning. Now you're scrambling to get out the door. Uh we don't want that. So, can we slow it down? Carve out an extra five or 10 minutes to have a little more gentle morning.

Uh on the nutrition part of that, I think we need to frontload our day more than most of us are. So many, especially women, we either skip breakfast or we go really light, right? And it it's like, oh, less calories, I'm going to lose weight and all this.

It's a terrible mindset that we have to change. And that's diet culture. That's put that in your head. Yes. We need to frontload it. And and also what I've noticed when I was working the school systems and back in the day when I was younger with a lot little kids and everything, we we want that easy grab.

So we go to the Starbucks through the line and we get that Frappuccino along with that. And it does it it wakes you up and you're like, "Woo!" And then you're feeling like crap by 12:00 and 3:00 you're really plummeting. So So yeah, I'm sorry.

I I just wanted to make sure people understood that and it's not about guilt or shaming you if you do that. It's just becoming aware and understanding like you want to feel better. So, we have to figure out how to do better and give resources out.

Yeah. No, I agree. And and the Starbucks line is a great example. You know, especially like busy moms, it's just easier. Um so, that's one of the things I try to teach is how can we make it just as easy, if not easier, because we know that Starbucks line is long.

Make it easier to have a good meal to start your day. Let's prep it ahead of time. Let's find a strategy there. But frontloading the day with a good breakfast is super important for that stability through the day for good energy levels, mindset, etc.

And I also think the way we break our fast with that first meal is also important. Right? If we're starting with cereal, and don't get me started on that. Oh, don't get me started. Standard American diet, you think about our average breakfast is all starchy, sugary stuff.

Mhm. That's the worst thing we need to be doing. That that's nothing we should do in the morning. So, focusing on good protein, some healthy fats and fiber in the morning to break your fast. Yeah. Making it a substantial actual meal, you will see that 10:00 a.m. snacky feeling kind of goes away and your energy is more stable and your mood's more stable and you can you can handle life a little bit differently.

So, I think that's number one. That was probably a long- winded number one. No, not at all. Like, listen, I that's the most important. Like we said, that's the most important. You're waking up to break your fast. And at that minute, that moment, and it's not only just, all right, let's take a time to make the breakfast or eat the breakfast.

I know we're in a hurry. We have to be at work. Our alarm, we we hit it a bunch of times, but that's it. If you can um you know, get your morning a morning ritual. That's what I tell my clients, right? Let's It's about rituals, about rhythms.

Like we the morning rhythm for you is what's going to make the rest of your day healthy. And sometimes it's really hard to change your perspective and ch and shift that, right Sarah? Like, and so, can I ask you what you eat for breakfast?

I'll tell I'll tell I'll tell you what I usually eat for breakfast. So, like, everyone always like, "What do you eat?" And I'm like, "You're different." But yeah, I am a crazy person that I can eat eggs every single day and I never get sick of them.

Me, too. Okay, I'm not alone. They're not eggs, bacon, and it has to be the good uh bacon that you know because they lied to us back in the flipping 80s. I'm older than probably a lot older than you. And so that whole lowfat diet, lowfat, lowfat, lowfat, lowfat, and then let's not talk about the high fructose corn syrup that they threw in there, too.

And let's not talk about Monsado and the glyophate in 1995, right? There's so many things out there that her and I probably could really talk about that we've learned in our in our probably healing and going what what what you know and it's it's Yeah.

So, okay. So, eggs. What else do you have? Uh I like variety. So, this morning I had leftover sweet potatoes from dinner. I just reheated those air fryer. Um so, I love like a little scramble. I have chicken sausages I cut up and put like avocado slices on top.

I love variety, but I'm always focusing on solid protein. some source of fiber in there, the healthy fat generally from avocado and eggs. And I keep it that simple. I'm fortunate that I love to cook breakfast. So, and I have that time. I create that time in my schedule.

For other people, I teach them, like I said, how to do that ahead of time. But yeah, I'm an egg everyday person. If I don't have to find a way to get them. Yeah, me too. And if it's not eggs, then I would Yeah, it's avocado.

It's a protein. Some kind of prote. It would be a steak. Yeah. Now we're talking. Yeah. like something that's going to fill me up for the day to give me that stability because it is a stable thing. And um can I ask you do you start your day with probiotics?

I don't actually. Um I am I am bad about sticking to my supplement regimen to be honest. I'll be I'm completely human like everyone else. Uh depends on the depends on the week. Some great hitting my supplements right on time. Other weeks life gets crazy.

Yeah. Have to have compassion with myself. Sometimes that happens. See, and that's beautiful for you to be honest and raw because that's what we need too. Yeah. I mean, there's times where I'm like boom boom boom boom boom and I do it for me, my husband, and my dog, you know.

You know, and then other times and that's when I tell the clients about um that especially us women, we have seasons every month. Winter, spring, summer, fall, right? And usually in my summer season and my spring season, I'm like, "Oh, supplements are and then win winter, even though I'm in menopause, winter is still like winter.

I'm still a woman that, you know, it's a second puberty, girlfriend. It's like, what the I'm like, why do I have all these pimples on my chin?" I'm like, are you kidding me? I'm maybe I'm finally passing puberty because I've never like developed.

So anyway, all right. So, let's keep going with other accessible nutrition habits for our listener. Yeah, I think number two is reconnect with your body's signs. And I know that sounds like a, you know, big ask maybe uh or maybe you think you're already connected, but I think we have to really reconnect with hunger and satiety used from the body.

Every day is going to look different. You're not always going to be hungry right at 12:00 because that's lunchtime, right? we need to really tune in and reconnect with those signals. Um, and right, we talked about like the awareness. Start with just that.

You don't have to change anything. It's just listening before every meal. Can you ask how hungry am I? Just ask the body that and see if you can get an answer. And again, maybe nothing changes yet, but you are just giving yourself a chance to tune in and and hear, "Are you hungry?"

Because there are going to be times where you're snacking and you're not actually hungry. It's more a mental thing and we need to start bringing that connection back because we have overridden it like crazy. Yes. Yeah. Especially in this culture.

Especially cuz I work with some clients that are from different countries and then they come here and they're here for year, you know, like five years and then they realize like, man, Americans just don't ever like have a siesta or relax or or with the food of of like it's the enjoyment of the culture of community coming together.

It's just like it's all about work here. It's all about work. And I'm like, yeah, it is. And welcome. You know, let's figure out a way that we can help you survive here in this culture. And now I just see it with the I mean, I'm an American.

So, and I, you know, it was brought on us to be like that cuz even, you know, you're from a farmland like I'm from the city, but we're still hearing the same story here. And it's not a bad thing. I don't want to put down our country.

I love America, right? It's this is why people come here because of the American dream. But it's like we have to start learning to take responsibility of ourselves in a way where we can be healthy because honestly if we're not healthy, how are we going to live this life here?

You know, what are we going to do? We're going to end up in a bad place and that's not what people want. I mean there's a mental health crisis out there. Sarah, you know that. You were at the meeting. You see us there. you know, you're connecting with us.

You get it. And I'm sure like with your story, without going deep into it, you pro the mental situation was there too, not just the physical. Mhm. You know, so I mean like you you said something earlier about inflammation and I I know my family like makes fun of me because I'm always talking about seed oils now and they're like, "Oh, here she goes again.

Seed oils." And that's for you, Ashley. That's my daughter, my oldest daughter. That's for you, Ashley, because she's I'll talk about and she's like, "Seed oils." So, can we talk a little bit about that? Because people really don't know like what that means.

What are you talking about? In my culture, let me tell you, they use a lot of canola oil, vegetable oil. They're taught because of that beautiful little heart um on the bottle that, you know, it's good for your heart. My My mom used to be like And I'm like, "No, it's not for my heart, mom."

Like, I'm learning this is really, really causing really bad things inside our brains and our gut. So, can you explain that the link between inflammation and those emotional symptoms? And yeah. Uh, yeah. And just to touch on the heart thing, uh, the logo, it's also been put on Cocoa Krispies, just to throw that out there.

So, if you think that's a valid label claim, just sit on that for a second. I digress. Yeah, seed oil is a funny one. Everybody is like, "Which side are you on?" Right? Well, bringing up canola oil or vegetable oil, think about what vegetable can we squeeze and get oil out of.

Doesn't make sense. Such a weird concept. So, yeah, I do believe these are inflammatory oils and it's in most of our foods. And you go to restaurants and you make a healthy choice, they're using that stuff. So a lot of these kind of hidden foods are triggering inflammation and it produces these cytoines that cross the bloodb brain barrier and they start to interfere with that production again of dopamine, serotonin, the normal mechanisms of the body in general.

Um, so of course we see a link between depression and anxiety and these inflammatory responses that are happening. And you know, inflammation can come from a lot of things, but looking at the nutrition piece, we need to get rid of so many of these inflammatory ingredients and really focus on introducing more anti-inflammatory foods to combat inflammation in general because it's going to happen.

We can't avoid inflammation, right? It's not always a bad thing. Um, but we need to have those ingredients in there that can combat it and bring it back down. And most of our diet consists of the opposite. It's all inflammatory ingredients. Yeah. I mean, the SAD diet, right?

Standard American diet. And also what we were taught in school. I mean, that um that food um pyramid pyramid, not the pyramid. Yeah. Well, let's talk about that because Yeah. What about that pyramid that you know of that is Yes. we've been we've been brainwashed with.

This is my uh conspiracy theories lecture. Uh and I won't get crazy or anything, but don't worry, I wear a tin foil hat when I hang up. There we go. You're on my side. But if you look at the the food guide pyramid, the base of the pyramid is grains, right?

It's bread, cereal, rice, pasta, and if you even look at the picture, it's it's like saltine crackers in there. And this is what we were recommending six to 11 servings of a day. Your face says it all, right? What do we eat six to 11 servings of a day?

This is insane. And to think that that's what we're pushing. And then to look at the correlation in diabetes and obesity skyrocket from the minute that was recommended, what are we doing? And those you start to follow the path of where this recommendation came from.

And it makes a lot more sense that it wasn't based on real nutrition. It was based on some some money and crooked relationships. You got it. Um, sorry to my family farm if you you're listening, but yeah, we're paying the farmers to produce these crops.

Of course, we're going to recommend them. It's what we do. It's the cycle of um I mean like families have to live, right? Families have to and that is a hard part. And and also though it it is understanding that farmers, these small mom and pop farmers, right?

like they're trying to compete with these humongous farm that are having all the chickens eating their own poops inside a little tiny cave. I mean it's a very right and and so and it is a sad situation. This is this is why like I you see more and more people now having their own chickens right or or understanding there's a movement I see with the younger people I where they're like we need to get our own stuff now.

Like to me what I tell people the because I work with a lot of young people. I used to work with adolescence and I'm like and they and the anxiety especially during COVID the anxiety or the not understand I'm like listen if you're and this is what my husband taught me because remember I'm a city girl.

I had no clue until my my country my country man came in and was like if you know how to camp and and you know get an you know kill an animal or something to eat them you're going to be fine D. you're going to be fine cuz I But it makes sense, right?

Like especially like we live in Florida, hurricane season, people really freak out. They get a whole bunch of microlastic bottled waters and and you know, it's like these things I did not know.

I was part of that system of like oh my gosh I gotta get I'm freaking out and I need all this toilet paper and and then my it the beautiful thing is understanding that pause that we are talking about Sarah pausing and and understanding and becoming aware like wait I can actually I don't need toilet paper I mean other countries don't even have toilet paper right yeah we go into that panic mode and then we we follow the masses and instead of really thinking and being more logical.

What do we actually eat? What do we actually do for ourselves here, right? And what can we do? How do we empower ourselves? So, that goes back to the whole accessible nutrition. So, see this is I go boop boop boop. I got the zoo.

He's like my dog. But I mean there's it's not just nutrition habits that you're teaching Sarah. It is a holistic approach because you're functional and integrative. um you know like what other things can we teach the audience do you think that we haven't mentioned yet?

I mean I I I like the poop thing because people really do not care about that stuff and I'm like just be aware. I don't want you to get freaked out but a three and a four like that means your gut is doing quite well.

Yeah. You know and you mentioned it earlier what we're each our own like biology. So my breakfast will be different than your breakfast. It's you trying to really figure out what makes you feel well in a healthy manner because we got to distinguish those two things.

Yeah. And I think that's, you know, kind of why I take the approach I do of, you know, I can say this is what science says. Let's try this. But if your body doesn't like it, we need to honor that and modify from there.

So, I'm always going to start with this is what I know about science with nutrition and the body, but I need you to be in tune enough to give me feedback of how your body responded to it. Did you have cravings an hour later?

Were you starving? Did you feel bloated? You know, I need you to know those signs from the body. Whether it's your poop or your mood, right? All of them are signs that your body is speaking to you with. And I need you to be present enough to see those so that we can restrategize.

Okay, this didn't work for you. Even though science says this is a good idea, it's not for your body. Now, let's try something else. Yeah. So, I think the big thing truly is being in tune. And I', you know, I kind of already mentioned that, but I'm I'm going to hammer it home because your body is your body.

It's no one else's. And only you know how it's responding. And if you're on autopilot, you're in grind mode just hustling through the day, you don't hear those signs anymore. You ignore them. And then your body is going to keep asking for things until it has to scream at you and you have to listen.

And that's a dangerous place to be, right? Because that's when you end up in the hospital. That's when you end up at the doctor's office or in a psychosis crisis. I mean, it it's all connected and that's why you have to deal with all parts of you like you said.

Um, you know, like sugar. I remember when I when I was t I mean I I think I had a a pamphlet that was given to me of 97 ways sugar is bad for you and I'm like wait no I love my Heath bars and and my chocolate and I I love my chocolate you know or or other things like the donuts and everything like that.

I love that stuff. Um, but sugar is really something that people don't and and I'm talking about the refined because honestly a piece of fruit is not going to hurt you and actually it's natural. So, right. So, tell tell me about like how does blood sugar spike and the crashes affect our emotions.

Yeah, there's such a connection there and people don't realize it. Um, I think the easiest most relatable example of this is have you ever been hangry before? Right. Like everyone's heard the term hangry. You're so hungry that you're angry. Well, guess what? That's low blood sugar.

Your body is freaking out trying to get that blood sugar back up to a normal place and you're in panic mode. So, of course, your mood shifts with that. Um, so kind of the basics of blood sugar. Of course, there's this baseline that we want to stay around in the day and it's going to fluctuate off that line based on what you eat and when you eat, but we want to stay around it.

So, how far off we go from that is going to determine a lot with our moods. So, for example, you wake up and you eat that lovely bowl of cereal. You're going to get a huge spike in blood sugar. You've got all this energy in the blood that the body's trying to get out.

What do you think that's doing for anxiety? And then the body goes into full force bringing out insulin to get it down and it's a dramatic drop from there. What do you think that does for your depression? Right? So, it's this roller coaster ride of energy in the blood. of course your mood's going to be fluctuating with it versus that stability in the blood, that stable energy, your mood's going to be more calm and collective and smooth through the day.

Um, not to mention those spikes and those crashes cause the cravings. So, if you drop that blood sugar dramatically, your body wants to bring it back up and it does that by craving sugar. Yeah. That vicious cycle again. So, it really sets you up for a roller coaster ride the rest of the day.

Yeah. So, yeah, these highs and these lows are very much connected to your mood. And the hangry is the easiest example everybody's probably experienced. Yeah. So, how do we get out of that? How do we get out of these cycles? Yeah. With the blood sugar, it's it's truly, you know, it sounds generic, right?

Balance your plate, have a balanced meal. But what I think I want to look at is ratios of everything. Are you having enough protein? Are you having a crazy amount of vegetables? From there, you can leave a little space for some fun, whatever that fun looks like.

Maybe it's your chocolate and your sweets, or maybe it's rice and pasta, whatever that is. I'm a big fan of leaving space for some flexibility in there. But if we're crowding the plate with protein and vegetables primarily, it's going to be able to handle that little bit of sugar or starch in there a lot differently and more stably than if it's a big plate of pasta or a donut or whatever it is.

So by focusing on the things that keep blood sugar stable as the biggest portion of your plate, you can allow a little bit of flexibility on the side and that's going to create a lot more stable breakdown, stable blood sugar release of energy and then of course your mood's going to be tied to that stability too.

Yeah. Um, so with with the eating, what what do you I mean, can you name some anti-inflammatory foods or resources or websites or or books or anything for the audience? Because listen, we're only one person, right? I'm a one person that can only handle enough, you know, a certain amount of clients.

You, too. And so to me, I love just leaving the audience with resources or, you know, just I don't know, like something for them to look up so they can maybe start learning or understanding or unless you have some resources on your website or something.

I've always got resources. Oh, really? Man, whatever you need. Uh, yeah. I mean, the the anti-inflammatory foods, of course, we're looking at like some healthy fats. We always hear fish oil supplements, you know, that's for that. Anti-inflammatory is usually why it's recommended. So fatty fish is a great source.

Your healthy fats like a avocado, olive oil, nuts and seeds. Um and then looking at those really colorful nutrient-dense foods like leafy greens and berries, you know, all these things we know are really healthy. Those are going to help combat that inflammation. As far as resources, of course, I have endless resources I can get people.

Um but I do like, you know, I followed Dr. Greger for a long time. He's very much in favor of plant-based. Um, so he has how not to diet and it's and how not to die book. Both of those are great resources I think that talk about how the food works in the body, how we can use it to heal.

Um, on a not so plant-based side, I love Dr. Mark Heyman aligns with him and he's fighting food changes and I mean, of course, you know, I may agree with most things for a lot of these people. There's things I disagree with, but I think I align a lot with what he says.

Mhm. Yeah. No, me too. Like honestly, like that's when I start I mean I I think before he even became famous, he was here in Boca Raton and I ca I went to some something and I and I was like, "Oh, this guy's interesting."

And then boom, he blew up and I'm like, "Wow, awesome." And I've been following him for a long time. Um and it does help. Like what would you say to to somebody that you know because it is a change and you have to and your pallet can change.

That's the neuroplasticity because some people feel like oh no I can't I can't I can't this is you know my body hates me I I just it is like this is who I am I I'll never change. What would you say to someone like that?

Yeah that that's something I constantly challenged in myself. Um so it is something I try to challenge with my clients is are we staying tied to this story? And I'll use a recent example for myself. I have always said I can't run. I'm not a runner.

I'm the fat kid still. I can't run. And I tied myself to that story from an experience in high school when I was overweight and my gym teacher made a nasty comment about how I couldn't run a mile. And I kept tied to that story my whole life.

So this year I was like, you know what, that's not true. Is that actually true? Let's challenge it. Um, so started trying to run and I'm going to build my way up to being able to run and say, "Yes, I can run." Uh, so what I would challenge other people is ask yourself, is that actually 100% true?

Whatever that story is that you're saying about yourself, question it, challenge it, right? Because otherwise you stay in that same place forever and you don't know what you're capable of. Yeah. No, and that's it, Sarah.

You're you're talking about cognitive behavioral therapy is the challenging those cognitive distortions. challenging um thought process that uh all or nothing or never you know always never I mean and these are things listen I've been practicing for a long time and I'm still like having to catch myself I'm really into internal family systems now IFS and so I'm I'm like learning so much and I'm utilizing it for myself and it does help because like you were

talking about back in the day when you know you were told this thing that a story this narrative And that's what I shared earlier was like, oh, it was that part of me back in the day when I felt this certain way and pork rind helped me when I'm sitting at 4:00 in the afternoon, that's when I noticed at 4:00 in the afternoon is when my body starts wanting because as a child from I would say

second grade all the way up, you know, it was that's at that time I came home from school, I watched TV, you know, and I'm eating this and so but hey, listener, you can change.

It does take time. Sarah, like tell the people like it's not a fast quick fix and you can't beat yourself up if you fail. Like how many times did we probably fail until we finally got it? Yeah, I think and I think that's a great point because it comes back to how I said I didn't realize the emotional piece until so much longer after my weight loss.

So my weight loss took I don't really know how long. I wish I knew maybe a year. I didn't realize the emotional part until a handful of years ago, right? You know, so to look that I lost this weight when I was gosh 20.

Not to date myself, but that was like 16 years ago, right? To to realize I'm still learning about that experience. It does take time. Everything takes time. We're always growing into a different version of ourselves and it it takes time. You got to be patient.

Yeah. So, why is it important to hire you, Sarah? Yeah. No, I I think what I bring to the table in working with my clients that's different is I think I bring that emotional depth to it that is often really really ignored when it comes to especially weight loss.

Um, and I do medical nutrition therapy stuff as well, you know, blood sugar and and blood pressure and things like that. But of course, I'm specializing in the weight loss because of my experience. So, I think what's different is I'm anti- counting calories.

I'm anti-diet. You know, I will really take a stand on that. You're not listening to your body by counting calories, right? I'm all about getting back in tune with the body and understanding those emotional connections that are so tied. And that's a lot of the reason most of us gain weight.

If we look back to when the weight gain happened, it's often an emotional experience, a trauma, something that triggered that. So understanding how do we cope with things differently to keep the weight from coming back after we've lost it to change those thought thought processes and patterns.

So I think that's what sets me apart from most dietitians or weight loss experts out there is I'm willing to go deep with you so that you never have to start over again when we get the weight off or correct your medical condition or whatever it is.

You don't feel like a failure and have to start over. I love that and it's true. We we need accountability and that's how I see what you would do.

Honestly, I could see how someone can work with both of us really because on I do see that as a therapist like I'm the therapist for a certain thing and then they're going to another person for something else or you know like with the acupuncture sometime we do we need a team and I know some people cannot afford that.

But listen, you're if you're spending money on Starbucks and things that are hurting you, why not save it up to to to you know do something that's going to help you, right? So, how can someone find you and and do you work with people around the world or is it just how does that work with you?

Yeah, so they can find me at wischoices.com or Instagram wise choices. Um, I I work with people everywhere, of course, as a dietitian. I'm practicing in Florida, outside of Florida.

I work with people in other countries as well. also anywhere I can work with people as a health coach essentially working with a little different hat um but we're doing all the same stuff you know we're still making you whole making you feel good so yeah you can find me website or social media all over is there anything you want to say that to the listener before we go uh I think one big message that I

think I want to continue shouting to people is it's never all or nothing with your health it's it's one piece at a time.

You know, every day can feel like a failure, a tough day. You can feel like I didn't do anything. I'm such a failure and feel worse about it. Or you can try to reflect on what did you do? Did you drink your water today?

Great. That's a win. That's self-care. There's still some peace there. Um and to really just build from those places of, okay, I drank my water. Tomorrow, can I also take a 10-minute walk? And just build your way up to those healthier habits and know that there are going to be days where none of it gets done.

And that's okay. You're human. Exactly. And those are your winter days. Yeah. All right, Sarah. All right. Well, thank you so much for being here. And listener, remember, please trust in the Lord, guard your heart, and renew your mind. Bye. And now for the disclaimer to make sure you understand that you are responsible for you.

The content provided on the holistic counselor podcast is for entertainment,formational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical or mental condition.

Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast. The views expressed on this podcast are my personal opinions and do not represent the views of any professional organizations with which I am affiliated. Call your doctor, 911, or 988 immediately if you have a medical emergency.

The Holistic Counselor podcast does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the podcast. Reliance on any information provided by the holistic counselor podcast, guests appearing on the podcast at the invitation of the holistic counselor podcast or other listeners to the podcast is solely at your own risk.

Confidentiality notice. If you engage with the holistic counselor podcast by commenting or posting and are a client, please be aware that you may be revealing information that could compromise your confidentiality. Please remember that disclosing your identity or personal details can be linked to your clinical material.

As a therapist, I am bound by confidentiality and will not respond to any disclosures of this type on this podcast. I am committed to upholding the ethics and confidentiality of the therapeutic relationship which extends to all forms of communication in accordance with the laws and professional guidelines that govern mental health professionals.

I want you to know that your privacy is of utmost importance and you are responsible for protecting it when interacting on this platform or any other public forum. Thank you.