FOOD and stress are inextricably linked in a remarkable way that most people would never imagine. This is especially relevant right now because lockdown has been super-stressful for most of us.
We’ve just been through the double whammy of winter AND a pandemic. Work lives have changed for lots of people, and we’ve been cut off from family and friends.
Many people have been homeschooling as well as working and we’ve been denied so many of the normal pleasures of life. All the time, the threat of the virus has been hanging over us.
The toll on our bodies has been immense and stress will have had a huge impact on the hormones cortisol and insulin. These are both literally fat storage hormones!
They cause weight loss resistance which means the fat stays around your middle and is very slow to leave.
I call this lockdown belly!
But the good news is you CAN do something about it! Watch my video and find out how…
Food and stress – the weight gain link
Food can change how we look, how much energy we have, what mood we’re in, how much sleep we get, how well our brains work.
If you’re going to get your hormones in balance then look at food as one of the main things to help you!
Don’t look on food as calories but as information for your brain. Yes, food IS information! It sends messages to the part of the brain that controls your cells and your hormones.
Food can tell you to burn fat or to store fat. It can tell you to be happy or to be sad. It can make you feel more energetic or it can make you feel lethargic. It can change how your brain functions. And it can even switch on the genes that cause disease.
Using your Chillpod (which is one of of the Slimpod programme tools) regularly will help to overcome the effects of stress. But one of the quickest and most powerful things you can do is to restore nutrients to your body.
The best nutrients are oats, nuts ,seeds, leafy veg, meat, fish and dairy. These contain the B vitamins. Then the C vitamins are crucially important. Eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg, especially bell peppers, kiwi fruit, citrus fruit and green leafy veg.
Magnesium is also super important and is found in dark green leafy veg, avocado, brown rice, dark chocolate and again most fruit and veg.
Food and stress – the 28-day challenge
Here’s my stress-busting, fat-burning challenge to you: For the next 28 days, add healthy superfoods to your shopping trolley. It’s as easy as A-B-S…
Avocado, Broccoli, Spinach.
Then every day make a superfood salad that will boost your entire system and help create more of the natural chemicals like glutathione which encourage the body to burn fat instead of storing it.
Are you up for the challenge? Let me know by leaving a comment below. And do share your tips for relieving stress – other people will find them very helpful, I’m sure.
Food and stress – making a superfood salad
Start with a handful of spinach. Add some chopped carrot, cucumber, radishes and some shredded little gem. sprinkle a teaspoon of flaxseed over it.
Chop some celery, pickled cucumber then add a touch of mayo, a little beetroot and a spoonful of sauerkraut
Try topping it off with half a pear, half an avocado and a chopped Brazil nut. Add a twist of salt and you have a delicious superfood supersalad.
Food and stress – your way ahead
Stress severely affects your immune system and causes all sorts of illnesses. The most important thing now is to prioritise YOURSELF.
During the past year, we have been all things to everyone and we often come way down the list. But please take some time now to look after yourself.
If we’re not looking after ourselves and our mental health, we’re no good to anyone else.
Join me on our live chats
I’ll be talking about food and stress in my live chat in our members-only Slimpod Club tonight (Wednesday April 21) at 8pm so please do join me there. And I’d love you to connect with me on Instagram.
Last of all, when you’re watching this week’s video on The Slimpod Channel on YouTube, please subscribe and you’ll get priority notification every time I post a new video. And do hit the Like and Share buttons as this helps spread my important messages to lots more people.
51 thoughts on “Break the hold food and stress have over your life in lockdown”
Will do the challenge
I would like to be part of 28 day challenge
Thank you
I am struggling a little but seeing small changes in mood and eating
Yes, count me in!
Enjoying the challenge for the past week
Good tips always appreciated
Definitely, count me in.
Yey will give this a go x
Count me in, looking forward to the challenge
Super food salad sounds great . Feeling positive about every thing still haven’t lost weight but I’m not hungry which is good I do eat all the green stuff regularly I’m not active enough really need to rectify this . Love the videos and the pods getting the hang of it all I think online I mean taken awhile but hey getting there
Yes I want to be part of challenge
Just what I needed to hear. I have developed a horrible ‘spare tyre’ where my waist used to be. I have bought my ABS, but will it be just as good to use them in a smoothie? Yes, I am up for the challenge.
Can’t eat Spinach, what can I replace it with please?
Curly kale is a good alternative, unless of course you are allergy to members of the brassica or cruciferous families of greens.
Further to our earlier reply, it’s not recommended that you eat cruciferous such as spinach, cabbage, kale etc if you have a thyroid problem
Thank you. Anything good to replace these with for metabolism boost.
I’ll contact our expert, Michelle, to ask her advice and will let you know what she suggests.
Yes, looking forward to the challenge.
Hi
As a recovering dieter an ABS challenge sounds like a diet? What is it all about – interested as long as it isn’t a diet
Hah! No it’s not a diet at all. Far from restricting what you eat, our ABS challenge is about adding superfoods to your normal eating so you burn fat naturally, not by restricting calories.
Thanks for the reply – I happily Podded for about a year and felt great, then somehow slid into IF and went into full diet mode and then lost the plot – all happened before I realised, so though struggling to feel good I am determined to get my head back , so a challenge would be good
So very grateful to have this explained so simply. I am off to buy all for my new salad. Thank you so much.
I’ll get someone from Customer Services to contact you and explain.
Would love to do this challenge but could you tell me if it’s safe for me as they are cruciferous vegetables and I have a under active thyroid and am on medication.
It’s not recommended that you eat cruciferous veg such as spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, kale etc if you have a thyroid problem, Georgina.
Thank you
Much appreciated .
Bit sad as I love the sound of it and could happily eat it daily oh well
Yes, I’ll give it a go, I’ve not got much willpower at the moment, so could do with the help
Count me on for the 28 day challenge
Will go to the greengrocers tomorrow…and get started !
I would be interested in this
If it’s not too late, I would like to join please.
Thanks, Thora
Up for the challenge but have under active thyroid. Can you suggest an alternative to spinach please?
Hello Karen, we’re not able to give medical advice unfortunately so it would probably best to ask your doctor or nurse about this. The British Thyroid Foundation has a helpful factsheet https://www.btf-thyroid.org/thyroid-and-diet-factsheet
Love your new longer hair. Thank you for video.
I am up for the challenge. It will have to start next week as that is when my next grocery is coming. One thing I simply cannot eat is avocado . Sorry no can do. Looking forward to the challenge.
Thank you Sandra, just the boost and challenge I needed to kick start me back into looking after myself a bit more. I’m up for the challenge!
Need something , seem to be getting lo wer and lower. I even turned down a needle felting course as it has 1 years help after the course , and l did not think l will be here in a year’s time!!!!! Yes that low!
Hi Sandra,
I will certainly give the 28 challenge my best shot. 28 days is a long time to be totally consistent with salads. I have been eating the 3 super foods already. I love avocado, but stopped eating it as advised by many of the ‘D,s’ I followed. One of my favorite lunches is Stir fried Broccoli with ginger & sesame oil. An old Ken Hom recipe rediscovered. I am enjoying the Slimpod and my clothes are looser. I have lost weight, I am habitual scale stander & find it hard to break!
Kind Regards,
Lydia
I will definitely do the 28 day challenge, I love Broccoli, Spinach and Avo, just never thought to put Broccoli in a salad. Thanks for the salad recipe.
Would love to try the superfood challenge. Is there a list of foods?
Hello Selina, Sandra’s video and the blog explain that the challenge is to try to make yourself a superfood salad every day containing a minimum of A-B-S – that’s Avocado, Broccoli and Spinach. There’s a full salad suggestion recipe towards the end of the blog. Hope this helps.
Thank you Sandra just read this and made a note of the super salad ingredients couple of the things not so keen on, I have been having more avocado lately I love broccoli, the radishes, saukerkrat and pear not so keen on will it hurt if I have everything else?, I share action for happiness pages daily on facebook, I have a little group of friends I share flowers photos every day and wish them good morning and I love organic essential oils smell beautiful through the house, I am mostly upbeat person try to spread sunshine wherever I go
I’d like to join the challenge please.
Yess ill try the 28 day challenge
Yes I’m up for the challenge. I find eating salads so much easier when the weather is warm so let’s hope for a hot summer
I am new to slim pod, I am enjoying the slim pod listening, very helpful after first week lost 3 pounds. I have found that I am eating much more fruit and veg naturally. My stress helper is Mindful Meditation. Happy Slimming.
I will give it a go.
I’m starting tomorrow, better late than never
I am definitly up for the challenge of a super food salad each day. Are their more recipes to view to get ideas? Or just google?
I’ll be starting the 28 day challenge this week
Hi I can’t find the slim pod channel on You tube? Keeps saying #404
Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSlimpodChannel