Healthy Eating Habits and Lowering Cortisol

Healthy eating habits includes anti-inflammatory desserts and that can include foods like this chocolate avocado mousse that’s delicious, easy to make, and may make you no longer reach for pre-packaged, ultra processed foods.

Yes, it’s that good! And we love our avocados. 🥑

Good or bad eating habits start with just one intentional thought. And breaking healthy eating habits is even easier with or without intention.

And if you have high cortisol running in your body, then you can be under attack at any time which can show up with negative thoughts or decisions you regret.

I’ll give you an example:

So I stumbled on a site that took me to a free fries Friday offer at McDonald’s. You’ve probably seen that or similar.

And like for many others, my first thought was, hmmm… that sounds good as my inner child kicked in. 👶 It’s actually on a day that works for me (and probably millions of people) because I’m heading in that direction anyway on those days.

And mind you, I prepare 99% of my meals so purchasing prepared foods is not a norm for me these days, or my habits

…so that lets you know how tempting convincing an offer like that can be. Except there were hoops to jump through… such as downloading and purchasing through an app that gave me pause.

In those crucial decision seconds, my rational mind kicked in and I hit the brakes on the idea that could’ve turned into a habit…

Where one Friday becomes an every Friday french fry addictive bad habit. That’s how it all starts for all of us. It’s just one step we take because of a small opportunity.

And then we find ourselves on a roller coaster with ourselves because one day our minds catch up with us… and we wonder about things like, why am I going through this drive-thru cycle?

Just because we can… and it won’t destroy any of us, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea!

And so I switched to a healthy thought channel (that any of us can choose to do)… and I thought, I’ll pay for those freedom fries so I enjoy them even more if I ever order them again, thank you!🍟

So the point here is, don’t get started…. stick with your healthy habits and you’ll be happier with yourself. You’ll have fun in so many more ways. In this example, from fitting in the cute clothes you want to wear and spending that same time relaxing instead of going through a drive-thru.

And if the subconscious mind wants to keep nagging about the fries, well… I was headed to the store anyway and I’ll pick up a bag of potatoes that I can peel, bake, and then enjoy all week (and not just in one quick bite).

Healthy eating habits like that pick up more happy hormones that stick around longer than the seconds it takes to eat one small French fry order. And peacefully cooked fries are what I’m talkin’ about! 🤸‍♀️

Another idea on this is in an activity half of us adults in America participate in and can be our favorite past-time… no, not baseball… But, coffee.

And if you’re in that drinking preference category and of working age, you may wonder why you get occasional brain fog. One cause could be the pesticides in coffee.

So, if you’re having several cups a day, and they’re not from organic beans (free of pesticides), then you could feel the daily effects on your cognitive ability.

Coffee (as much as I love my morning coffee routine) is healthy in antioxidant ways… but if you want to lower your stress hormone (cortisol), cutting back to acuppa cuppa joes over an all-day love affair coffee habit is going to help your groove.

And when you sleep, if you wake up say in the wee hours of the morning, it could be because of your coffee… not because of the lingering caffeine effects, but the increased cortisol hormone keeping or waking you up.

I remember one season when I took a sabbatical that lasted for a year and after a few months of traveling and doing the things I wanted to do without the work responsibilities, I kept waking up at 3 am. That interruptive sleep-wakeup pattern was likely because of the stress of not having stress (or a real purpose).

We are meant to have work, meaning, and a specific, daily purpose to get up for in our lives. So if that’s what’s missing in your life, then maybe going on a quest to find that would be good for you.

And whether you lose a little sleep, or you sleep like a baby overnight these days, you could wake up with groggy, stressed, or worried thoughts first thing in the morning when cortisol rises. That’s built into our DNA.

And if you want to know how to turn around those negative morning thought routines (that could settle in and clutter your mind…sound familiar?)… I have a healthy recipe for you to automatically receive happier thoughts before your coffee energy kicks in, and well, that involves maybe you even doing some light dancing and singing before your day starts 🎶…

And if that describes what you would like to feel like doing and thinking naturally in the morning, take the free Body Balance Quiz and in the notes, type in “cortisol,” I’ll give you the symptom-specific healthy-natural balancing recipe that has helped so many others (including yours truly). 🌱

Oh, and if you’re interested to lose weight and/or learn anti-inflammatory practices, get the FREE Intermittent Fasting guide to optimize your healthy eating habits enjoyment. 🌱