Earlier this week, someone asked me a question on my weekly Q + A on instagram. She said, “Ok, how to deal with weight gain during this quarantine from comfort eating & drinking?” If you have spent a lot of time in a gym or any time at all bodybuilders, you have probably heard of SARMs but maybe not entirely sure what they are.

They are best defined as a synthetic drug that affects the body in a new way that mimics testosterone if what you need is a testosterone booster read more here. She probably wasn’t expecting my 5 page response, but she got it anyways. I’m re-posting it here, just in case anyone else finds it helpful or relevant in your life right now.

Here was my answer: FIRST. THANK YOU for being brave enough to ask this. I’ve been thinking about this daily— mostly because I used to DEFINITELY struggle with emotionally eating (“emotionally” in this case not necessarily meaning crying into a pint of ice cream but rather eating for other reasons than true hunger/fuel/nourishment.So, like:

• eating to soothe/comfort any feelings that aren’t “happy,” or to numb out/zone out and not deal with the deeper stressors going on
• eating as distraction or procrastination
• eating as entertainment or boredom
• eating when things feel stressful in life and you “deserve” to treat yourself.

Anyone relate? I didn’t even really recognize I was doing it. Or that there was a way to NOT do that, ya know?

All of that to say, I FEEL for those of you going through this right now. It’s so normal. It’s not your fault or anything you did wrong— this is how we ALL learned and picked up how to deal with emotions in our culture: to just NOT.  To distract, numb, avoid, comfort, etc.Make sure to check this out theironsamurai.com website this provides a good overview of SARMs.

And for the most part, most of us can get away with it. Until we can’t. Until it starts affecting our health, our families, our moods, our self worth. Until we get sick of it, basically.

So all of that to say, maybe THIS is a great time to start tuning in a bit. To check in with yourself. To do some things that might help your nervous system process things better.

You CAN learn new ways of processing your emotions so it takes the pressure (and guilt) off of food.

All of this to say— I could talk about this forever. I have so many things I’ve learned, so many things that make me mad about how we learn about food, and so many ways to help solve and heal this more intentionality.

It’s my true love, this topic. It’s what changed my whole life and trajectory. It started with real food and ended up here, talking sooo much deeper about our relationships to food. And ultimately our relationships to OURSELVES. How our physical health + mental health + emotional health all have to be there and taken care of with the same amount of love and attention. Get a smart bmi scale to keep track of your weight and make sure you maintain a healthy life.

This is why I have an entire 6 week program on this subject that I do once a year: it affects us all to some degree.

BUT we are going through a time where a lot of people have so much stuff coming up. It can be a triggering time. And I want this to always be a safe and encouraging place.

So I haven’t been talking about it. Until asked (like now). That’s always how I roll, even with my best friends.

I’m happy to talk more on this– little tips, ideas and practices to help you start. IF it’s wanted. Otherwise I’ll keep it more tangible with easy pantry meals like I’ve been doing and not go deeper.

For those of you who ARE wanting more on this topic: to be totally honest with you I’m not sure if I’m going to run the program later this spring or not.

Before all of this happened, it was supposed to open this week (in April), but I haven’t been able to get a clear sense on whether it’s something people want and need right now. In some ways it’s the perfect timing: because when you can tell stuff is there beneath the surface, it’s usually a sign you’re ready to clear it. That, and that there is never perfect timing for something like this.

What do you guys think? I’m genuinely curious. Tell me below, or on my post on this on instagram here.

For those of you that are interested, and want to stay updated if I do open it, I have waitlist I just started here so I can gauge if enough people are wanting this right now. Maybe this is how I’ll teach and communicate on this topic so I don’t bother everyone else!