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Is your cost of food too high?
Yes, groceries are out of control, but those costs aren’t our biggest costs.
The Many Costs of Food
We’ve been talking in the Deep Den member area about the cost of certain food choices: Yes, the dollars and the calories, but maybe more importantly — the cost of the STRUGGLE with putting a boundary on certain foods.
Think about the COST of talking yourself down from eating a doughnut. It can take a whole lot of energy.
It’s a whole area of our Deep Den content library, and the bottom line is this: If you keep the costly food in your pantry and it makes you want to eat more, you probably should get rid of it.
You need to find the foods that nourish you that will also reduce this struggle.
One thing I ban is cashews.
Whatever the cashew container size is, I would eat them until they were absolutely gone. A cup of cashews is nearly 800 calories. Eating a cup of cashews is totally outrageous, and if I’m being honest, I can eat a good bit more than a cup.
Those cashews would haunt me in that pantry. I have learned that my easiest strategy is not to buy them.
You might need to cut certain items out of your house as well, even if they are considered “healthy.”
Nothing is healthy if we end up way up on the scale.
Resting, Relaxing, Losing
I maintain my own inner peace by keeping cashews out of the kitchen. However, I also work hard more generally to improve my own relaxation. Stress increases our cortisol level and will cause us to hang onto our fat stores. We may even gain!
It’s a terrible cycle.
I have been dealing with high adrenal hormones since my head injury in July, so I write this as much for myself as for all of us in the Eat Like a Bear community.
If your stress levels are high, it really is important for your overall health to work to reduce your stress response. Deep breathing techniques, exercise, and a sleep focus are the mainstays.
Having a pet that you can relax with can make a big difference too.
My sister keeps a small dog and spends hours a day with it snuggled on her lap, helping her breath just a little more deeply. This is where a word from our sponsor comes in. Money.com has curated pet insurance policies for us. My sister can manage her costs of doggie dental and future medical with these policies. Check it out in the link below.
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As for me and my stress response as I recover from the injury, I am doing quite a few simple and inexpensive but very impactful things: healthy eating, fresh air and exercise, and deep breathing and meditation.
Otherwise, it’s simply easy for our stress to cycle downward. Our weight problems get more complex.
It’s a really good season for all of us to get in front of these issues. It could start as small as not restocking your pantry with cashews, walking through a park, or with getting a cuddly pet.
I am headed out for a walk right now. I will think about you as I am out there.
P.S. Get strategic about your meals if you haven’t. The popular meal framework here at Eat Like a Bear will help with that. Grab the three-pack collection from the Bear Shop for more: https://thebearshop.life/products/three-pack-print-book-collection
P.S. #2 — Reduce tech stress with our second newsletter sponsor. (Yes, may I be able to pay my bills… 🥴 )
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