From Burnout to Balance with Amber Romaniuk
Episode 751: Show Notes
We’re talking about food stuff today! Emotional eating, disordered eating, cycle syncing, and all things diet, mindset, and health. Consider this a non-judgmental space packed with practical techniques you can employ in your own life today. That said, if this isn’t your jam right now, you have our full permission to skip this episode, listen to an old one, or go hang out on Instagram and wait for our next one.
So many women struggle with binge eating, emotional eating, cycle issues, hormone imbalances, and weight loss or body image blocks. Amber Romaniuk has been through it all! Through healing herself and working alongside her clients for over ten years, she has helped many women overcome these issues and find freedom. In this episode, she offers the insight that there is a close relationship between people-pleasing and weight gain and offers self-priority as an alternative.
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Using Self-Awareness to Create Alignment
What does it feel like when your cortisol is ramping up? What are the sensations in the body? Does your breathing change? Do your cravings get stronger? Do you feel spread too thin? Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, what does it feel like when you’re in your power? Awareness is the first step.
What does it feel like to give your power away, and how can you take it back? One of the first things you can do is find your breath. Another method is EFT tapping. Do you just need to take a moment and be present in your environment? Spend just a couple of minutes on these simple practices to take your power back and start regulating your nervous system.
Leveraging the Power of Breath for Wellbeing
Amber’s favorite breathing technique is super simple. Start by asking yourself what the dominant emotion is that you’re feeling on the breath out, and then, on the breath in, focus on the emotion you want to feel instead. As you do this, you become present and regulate your nervous system. Even as few as four breaths in and out make a huge difference!
Another method is to count to four as you breathe in, hold for four seconds, breathe out for four, and hold for another four. Not only does this help us slow down, but it also calms the nervous system. We get stretched in a million different directions in our daily lives, and focusing on the breath can help us to zone in on one thing.
How Your Wounded Inner Child Might be Contributing
There are so many seemingly innocent behaviors we develop as children that morph into massive emotional relationship issues with food as adults. That’s why it’s so important for us to start to be willing to explore and understand our triggers and our behaviors and how they impact our emotional health.
Can you be honest with yourself about how the habit might be affecting you, your health, well-being, and future, or the potential of manifesting something you don’t want? Don’t shame yourself. Take a step back and look at the significance of it. That’s how you reach the point where you want to do something about it.
Using Awareness to Get Ahead of Your Triggers
Instead of telling yourself that you can’t use food to self-soothe when you get triggered, it’s so important to identify what triggers us to go into self-sabotage. Start by writing down your triggers. That way, even if you give in to food, you can get curious afterward and consider what might have caused it. Knowing which foods you are vulnerable to is also really powerful.
You are not crazy! Some of these foods are designed to have the same effect as a hard drug. Stop accusing yourself and start to identify the signs so that you can get ahead of them. You can re-ground and take your power back when you feel that pull. If you eat regularly throughout the day, drink enough water, and keep your blood sugar regulated, you are far less vulnerable.
Meeting Yourself in the Middle
Sometimes, it’s not realistic to go from a full-blown emotional binge to stopping. You can do or bring into practice a wide range of things. Maybe breathwork and journaling are not going to do it for you. Maybe a run or a walk will. Maybe you make yourself a cup of tea because the urge to sip on something is going to fill that need. Whatever it is, introduce something small to counteract that fight or flight response.
Focusing more on the things you are accomplishing internally can also help. At Boss Project, Emylee and Abagail have a system of affirmation where you’ll congratulate a teammate on something they are doing well. Sometimes, the validation you are seeking is available to you. You can create a culture where the people around you are creating that validation when you can’t create it for yourself. Getting out into the sun can boost our dopamine, as can infrared saunas, red lights, eating nourishing food, and reducing inflammation.
Answering the Hormone Question
Getting to the roots of your hormone imbalances, working on your gut health; there are so many elements! Investigating cycle syncing could be one of the biggest game-changers. Learning what’s happening within your body depending on your phase can give you amazing release. Not everyone can schedule their life around their phases, but being mindful of your body’s cycle can help you manage it!
Day one to five or seven is the phase where you’re bleeding. It’s the more vulnerable phase because you’re not only going through a physical release, but detoxing emotionally, energetically, and spiritually as well. You need extra nurturing because you are experiencing a major dip in estrogen and progesterone. Rest more. Hydrate. Nourish yourself as much as you can! Healthy fats are necessary. Listen to your whole food body cravings. Slow down your movement routine and rest more. PMS isn’t normal. We don’t have to go through it. We can heal. Gut health and hormone health are key. Getting some support and guidance can be really helpful to help us with our particular story.
Phase two is the pre-ovulation stage, where you start to come out of the cave. You get a bit more energy. Your mood stabilizes. You feel more in your body again, and more connected. This is a very creative phase. This is where you eat to support your estrogen levels. Next, you’re in ovulation and post-ovulation, where you might be feeling breast tenderness. This can go one of two ways; you might feel a continued surge of energy, or you’ll start to slow down and feel frustrated and irritable because these hormones are beginning to shift again. You can also experience major cravings during this time. Amp up your protein intake to regulate your blood sugar and get you ready for day one of your cycle.
The key is to listen to your body and choose what you will do and what you won’t do based on how you feel.
Quote This
“It’s really important to start building awareness. What are the first signs that I feel pulled to go to food? Is it a specific craving, specific self-talk, specific emotions like overwhelm, frustration, or anger?”
— Amber Romaniuk
Highlights
Using Self-Awareness to Create Alignment [0:06:05]
Leveraging the Power of Breath for Wellbeing [0:10:28]
How Your Wounded Inner Child Might be Contributing [0:13:59]
Using Awareness to Get Ahead of Your Triggers [0:17:15]
Meeting Yourself in the Middle [0:22:17]
Answering the Hormone Question [0:27:58]
Today’s Guest:
Amber Romaniuk
Website | Podcast | Instagram | LinkedIn
Amber Romaniuk is an emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert. She helps high-achieving women create self-confidence, intuition, and optimal health through powerful mindset healing, self-care, and overcoming sabotage with food. Her podcast, No Sugar Coating, has over a million downloads around the world. She draws on her own experience of an emotional eating journey to empower others through one-on-one coaching.
Key Topics:
Health, Sleep, Rest, Disordered Eating, Eating, Mindfulness, Breathing Techniques, Empowerment
