Join Sarah Hohmann and myself as we get to take a look at how simple changes with regards to our food can get us great outcomes (for example, a shift in energy, more positive and calmer feelings, and subsequently greater calm in your overall life)!
You are worth it!
In line with our podcast: dig deeper and read up on newest research on how fried foods fry your mood:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/10/fried-food-mental-health
American Psychological Association. (2023, October 1). In brief: Fried food fries mental health, suicidality in LGBTQ+ teens, and more research. Monitor on Psychology, 54(7).
You'r listening to YOUR Mental Wellness podcast for YOUR voice and sanity.
Thank you for joining us this week on your mental wellness podcast for your voice and sanity. Make sure to check out our show notes, visit our website, www dot tools for vitality.com where you can subscribe to the show. We would appreciate it if you would tell a friend about the podcast
What are your questions about your mental wellness, tools for vitality, or any other topic that comes up for you?
Email me: toolsforvitality@pm.me .
Tools for Vitality: Therapy, Coaching, Optimizing Nutrition and Movement for Mental Wellness
Join Sarah Hohmann and myself as we get to take a look at how simple changes with regards to our food can get us great outcomes (for example, a shift in energy, more positive and calmer feelings, and subsequently greater calm in your overall life)!
You are worth it!
In line with our podcast: dig deeper and read up on newest research on how fried foods fry your mood:
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2023/10/fried-food-mental-health
American Psychological Association. (2023, October 1). In brief: Fried food fries mental health, suicidality in LGBTQ+ teens, and more research. Monitor on Psychology, 54(7).
You'r listening to YOUR Mental Wellness podcast for YOUR voice and sanity.
Thank you for joining us this week on your mental wellness podcast for your voice and sanity. Make sure to check out our show notes, visit our website, www dot tools for vitality.com where you can subscribe to the show. We would appreciate it if you would tell a friend about the podcast
What are your questions about your mental wellness, tools for vitality, or any other topic that comes up for you?
Email me: toolsforvitality@pm.me .
Tools for Vitality: Therapy, Coaching, Optimizing Nutrition and Movement for Mental Wellness
seminar. Well, welcome back. And in particular, welcome back. Sarah, you have been such an amazing colleague and Sherpa is I call you on this quest for mental wellness and well being and steps for more and more sanity. So how have you been?
Sarah Hohmann:I've been really well, I've been doing a lot of a lot of work. I've been doing pretty good with myself, how are you?
Sibylle Georgianna:It is always amazing to me how fast time is moving. And, and we're, you know, just chatting just recently and catching up. And yet, you shared with me a little bit about some of those action items you picked up with regards to nutrition and well being. So yeah, so I was very excited to hear about that. That's the whole idea of mindset, mental wellness, and the simple but powerful tools such as nutrition or very targeted movements, those are all ways to really help with that mental mental wellness. So yeah, tell us a little bit about what, what has worked for you in the past.
Sarah Hohmann:So let's see, I've kind of experimented with nutrition and how it works, how, how would the best way to feed my body and I think my mentality was very much into like, enjoying the food like, of enjoying, and the taste and enjoying the cooking, enjoying, like different aspects of it. But I never really thought about nutrition nutrition. Until maybe a month or month and a half ago, I've been starting to have some issues I've been having, like with acid reflux recently. And I've been trying to just experiment of okay, what kind of things would affect my body when I when I eat them? Or, you know, maybe avoid this, or oh, this is okay, you know, like, do the pros and cons and which foods to eat and not eat. But recently, I've been getting into as in, maybe like, last month, I've been getting into, I'm really counting my macro nutritions as, as people say, like count my macros. And I found that in, I guess, understanding what my macros were and what I needed to maintain, like, have full, healthy, well rounded diet throughout the day, I wrote down just what do I need for protein? What do I need for calories? What do I need for like these different areas, and I meal plan throughout the week. And by doing that I kind of I've I've avoided the snacking, I've avoided different like, things that I would do throughout the day, I would just know where the next meal would come from. And I wouldn't have to result to like different things that I I know, oh, this really tastes good. But I know it's gonna affect me like with acid reflux later. So I have my meals like, planned out ahead of time for that, and I think that has been significantly changed how I viewed food, how I view nutrition. And overall I feel like it really shifted my mood of like throughout the day. I know where I know what I'm doing.
Sibylle Georgianna:That's amazing, right? Think about that. That was you know, the small change you put there counting a little bit what a macronutrient nutrient is, and you found yourself with a significant shift. So what is a macronutrient? For those maybe that haven't looked at that?
Sarah Hohmann:As I understand that macronutrients are the things that fuel your body to keep you going throughout the day. There's a major sources that I guess of energy. And as far as I think it's a calories I know it's carbs, protein and fats and I know they all work together as a as a source of fuel for your body as opposed to the micronutrient intuition, just like, you know, vitamin D, like the different kinds of vitamins that you get throughout the day is zinc and the minerals that you get those are the small part, but equally important as well.
Sibylle Georgianna:Wow. And, you know, so as you put those in, did they also talk about, you know, because I think they looked at, you know, if we eat food that are causing inflammation in the body, you know, like, we hate cooking, which, unfortunately, I tend to do all the time. Fry. Yeah. You know, maybe like certain fats that are not as great. high sugar and shortened. Fortunately, the sugar is not a good ingredient to our mental wellness, right? Is there anything that they talked with you about, or when you looked it up that you saw about inflammation, or not so much, that they talk about that, just not so
Sarah Hohmann:much, but now that you're bringing it up, those are very key ingredients that have affected my acid reflux, like I can't have, if I've had too much sugar, it will, it will cause a reaction, if I have too much greasy food or too much acidic food, it will cause that acid reflux reaction. So I think there is something to it, that something will get inflamed. I haven't really looked into too much of inflammation yet. But that's definitely a really good topic to look into.
Sibylle Georgianna:Yes, I know, they studied how stress can, for example, shift something around in the gut, so that then, you know, you have on the one hand, also, let's say certain foods are more inflammatory, to begin with, and then you know, if you add stress to it, then that could also kind of make your nervous system more maybe responsive, and you set him acid reflux. So I was just thinking about that, how that all is kind of hanging together in a in one big system. So so how exciting for you that you notice, even with these simple changes, you know, with great outcomes or greater shift, right, so maybe better, even energy level words. How about you your emotions? Do you feel they're like, I don't know, like more steady or I know emotions, they're always part of the equation as well, or is it not as noticeable? With regards how you feel with your emotions?
Sarah Hohmann:That is a really great question. I feel like my emotions are definitely more balanced throughout the day. And I feel like when I'm at work, I can, like, manage tasks more easily and know what my to do list is it gets me motivated to just be more mentally organized throughout the day. And even I, as strange as it sounds, I feel more motivated to, to do workouts after work, like go for a run or go do some yoga, lift some weights, like I just feel this, like, push this desire to like, just do something like physical activity. And as a result of doing the, you know, physical activity, like running, or all of that I that flow of endorphins of just yeah, like I listened like happy, you know, it's, and I guess that's definitely affecting me in a good emotional way as well.
Sibylle Georgianna:That's amazing, right? If we think about that, how would these I call them this goes a lot, there's a lot that goes into a change if we think it's a simple change. But, you know, they have studied, I think even more systematically, for example, that, you know, when you have a better, you know, food quality intake, that your decision making is improved, your impulsivity is decreased, you have a better focus, you have a better ability to delay gratification, even you describing yourself more likely to be working out I mean, that would go straight into that supporting, oh, that would be actually then supported by by the research that is there that you can, you know, with the eating, really, like, create more health in a way how your body manages that stress, as we unfortunately crave foods that are not as healthy when you're stressed. And you know, we go for, let's say fast food option. Takeout options. I know they've studied that, let's say just recently in 2022. How, how with more stress, we would they would just seeing like natural tendencies to go for fast food Do more processed foods. And so it's as if the body gives us this thing like you got to you know, you got to eat no unhealthy and what leads to greater anxiety or even, you know, greater pain responses greater inflammation. So emotional eating a lot of times sits with like high energy, low nutrient food intake. So, and again, it's hard to withhold that when we feel rushed, or we were like, Okay, let's just grab something and keep going keep at it, whenever we're dealing with, so it's just, you know, so inspiring to hear your journey they are and so what's maybe one thing that you noticed that you started doing that has helped you, you said something about journaling? You know, before our time, how, how are you? How are you? You know, know, how do you know, what's a macronutrient? And how do you? How do you check it out? How you do it was that was forget?
Sarah Hohmann:Um, I yeah, I let's say I did want to add on to what you were saying about the fast food. And then I'll get back to the what, how I know it's a macronutrient. The fast food I did notice, like back then, before I was doing this, that I would be the person like I need something on the go, I need something like, you know, to take with me. And a lot of the times I would be reaching out to fast foods, I would be going out to like get takeout going to, you know, grab something from the restaurant. And it was just now I don't like now I'm planning out my meals, I know exactly what I'm going to have for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I plan that all out on the weekend actually. And I write down I have like a little app that I use, that counts out the macronutrients that I need, like, oh, I want to do like a ziti recipe, for example. Okay, that's gonna be really carb heavy, but then I can bounce like I can have that for lunch. And then I can have something like for breakfast such as guacamole on toast. And then for dinner, I can have something protein heavy, you know, I bounce around that way. And I've also noticed that I was at the I was at the fair this past weekend. And I I went to I packed my meals for for that I like I packed my lunch and dinner. Knowing that oh, you know what, I don't need to have the, you know, the the food trucks or only the fried foods that's there. I just have what I brought with me and my little, you know, my little lunch bag. So interestingly enough, what I found was that I wasn't craving anything from any of the food trucks. Like mentally I was smelling all the like the fried dough and the, you know, the different the burgers and pizza, like different foods that were being made. And I can just enjoy it as that is. And I like when it's time to eat, I just sit down, I have my little, you know, my little Hathaway food, and I have that, and I don't feel like I'm missing out. I don't feel like, you know, oh, I should have had that, you know, fried dough or something like that. I'm just I don't have that motivation to eat that kind of food anymore. And that's because I planned out the meals that I had. And going back to what you were saying of how I know. It's like what kind of macronutrients I need throughout the day. I think I'm trying to remember I did this calculation. Back when I first started my journey, I can't remember exactly what it was, but something about finding out how much protein I need to maintain a certain balance for my for my body, and I was able to do that. And when I did, um, I like I said before I wrote down the recipes that I wanted to do. And I planned out how like how each of them would fit so it's like, you know, little experimentation there was like, Oh, do I add avocados to my recipe? Oh, that puts me over my, the fat limits that I need for that day. Maybe I'll cut it down to half. Okay, that fits that fits a lot better. Um, can I guess I kind of like go through each and every one of them. as tedious as that sounds, but I found some kind of enjoyment out of it and still being able to put in the recipes that I like to do. I love it. Like cooking pizzas, and now I can cook like a cauliflower pizza, because that adds to like the vegetable intake for certain meals that I'm having. It's really about what I'm wanting to do that. Yeah.
Sibylle Georgianna:Wow, that's a great, you know, great way to get to a healthier eating pattern, right. So it's not about not doing certain things. But it's really about putting more of the proper macronutrients in proper vitamins and proper amount of minerals. And then the body itself, I think they've studied that the body itself, then can refurbish the gut health, and then the gut produces, you know, like with the probiotics, or like these, these, the microbiome, as they call it, the gut cells that are there, they can you know, if that's, you know, let's say, if you eat healthier, your gut health is better, and then you got talking to your brain, which they call the mood axis, then allows for you to feel better, and not just feel better in terms of energy, but also, you know, I think it also lessens the production of cortisol, which is your stress hormone. And, you know, it really allows for your serotonin that's made in the gut that you feel good neurotransmitter to be better, you know, multiplied, so to speak. So that I think that even studied, I want to say in like 2018, like, depression and how, how healthy you ate. So if you had more fruit and vegetable type of fiber in your diet, you had like, significantly lower feelings of depression. But if you stayed with, like, the typical fiber, as we find it, let's say and cereal that was not given. So like. So coming back to your recipes, right, if even if you make your recipes more healthy, you would find amazing outcomes, how you describe it, you know, in terms of the energy level, your motivation, and then you know, and that it just helps also that your brain is being replenished. As we mostly if we're not really paying attention to it, if you don't tease it out how you describe it, we, I mean, let's just face it, we don't eat enough prebiotic fiber, or like stuff that makes our gut so healthy, that then it makes our brain in response. So replenished, right, it just doesn't happen if we're not paying attention. But it sounds that even with these smaller changes, they are like replenishing your, your recipes, more with more vegetables, for example, for pizza there. It could go a long way. And that's what they found actually, in. I think, even in earliest, like, 2000 22,015 They looked at, like, what's the relationship between your food intake and your mood, and they found like, if you're not eating as clean, fast food intake, ultra processed foods, you know, the stuff that that never expires, but you know, we love eating it, and especially the higher added sugars, and lower quality of carbohydrate type of foods, that that would increase the risk for depression. So I'm so yeah, I'm so excited that you know, you got onto this different type of lifestyle. And, you know, in this time where we have so many challenges, I feel free we are so time pressed for time. We, you know, we're just barely coming out of the summer and then you're like, Okay, that's now we got to amp it back up. You know, there's anybody along with me looking for simple but powerful things to make a shift in our lives. There it is, right? Tracking, you know, just substituting mechanism like slightly more helpful. And yeah, and and basically spending the diligence to, to track you know, what are we going to be planning during the week and, and following that, you know, sticking with it. So, so good for you. So let's see if we're thinking about like finding the motivation to get started for even trying out slight changes now, as we enter the fall. What's the word or like? What's the strategy of encouragement that you I know you're always a bigger picture type of person. You do stuff purposefully, you have your values you like, is there anything how you tied it like into the bigger picture of your life so that It helped you with making those choices that because as you chose the better foods, then you felt better. And then again, as you feel better, then it's easier to eat good foods. Yeah, so any bigger picture thing that helped you?
Sarah Hohmann:I think that's a, that's a very big picture of just understanding where you are in your life. And sitting down and thinking that you can, there's, there's always something to improve on, like, like, Do what makes you feel good, but like, but healthy. And I would say getting a start on that if you're looking into like figuring out how changes in your diet can can affect, you know, your wellness, I mean, definitely try it out, you know, read labels read read, read that. I think that's definitely gotten me into where like this journey that I started on with this is what am I putting into my body right now? Is this Is it a lot of processed foods is it in like going out a lot of the time instead of like, just special occasions or every so often? It just like taken, like sit down and listen to what's been going on with what you've been doing lately. And, and go from there. And I think definitely another thing is just read about it too, about what like people balancing their macronutrients, listen to their stories and listening to what other people feel about their experiences as well. I think that's definitely that's definitely been helpful for me. And especially if I get stuck on the journey, I listen to what other people have been doing and their experiences as well. But definitely, I think mostly is if I had to take away from one thing, it was just looking how, how I can do healthier things in my life and just sit down with that question and, like, just let it sink in. I think that's a that's a good big fixture.
Sibylle Georgianna:It's awesome. And that's really a lot of times I need like a little bit of a bigger, bigger incentive for me to make those seemingly, you know, diligent changes there at the beginning of the day develop a life on their own. So yes, so having those markers from success stories of other people inspiration that you're not by yourself, but you're really good company and joining good companies. Okay, I think that those are really you know, that's inspiring for me to to to sail with like good goals into the fall. And I think what comes to mind is I think they have like the color of the rainbow you know, eating the rainbow I mean they have you looking just for you know, like all the fun stuff that we can see on the internet in terms of like markers for like red type of foods like cherries, berries, all that stuff tomatoes, do unhealth or is orange ones for reproductive how versus yellow foods like banana and lemons and all that stuff for digestive health, green foods for cardiovascular and then purple blue for brain health. I mean, it's it's just like exciting how, with these small things, we can get a we can get a you know, a long, long shot ahead of us even seemingly daunting changes that, you know, when stress might be that hard to look at. So, yeah, also
Sarah Hohmann:understanding the why, like, that's also the key to why am I doing this?
Sibylle Georgianna:Yes. Yeah, that's purpose. That's awesome. And I really want to be staying in touch with you on that because I think it calms the waters of, you know, the, the ocean that I feel a lot of times when I'm like, Okay, why am I doing this again? What's the big I'm pursuing? I think it just calms me down to be like, Okay, I'm not just getting bogged down by trying to make it to the grocery store more often or you know, get me get more rest in or being less on the computer or whatever those things are we can do for our mental ones. But to always say like, what's really mattering to me and then I see that it ties in, really towards those bigger overarching goals, so I can't wait to have another check. with you on this end to, you know, continue seeing the good results that you've already been seeing. Maybe even on a longer term basis. Yeah. So kudos again for that work, and we have no excuse to not do the same. So, any information you want me to put on the notes, feel free to forward that. And then otherwise, we will talk again soon.
Unknown:Of course, thank you for having me. It's great talking with you. Likewise, I'm very excited. Okay. It's so good. Thank you for your time. Corps.