Moody Weight Gain

Pay attention to what is going on inside your head and tap into some immediate ways to turn that frown upside down: 

Decide that you are going to make friends with your body and like a good friend, start listening to what it’s telling you. 

Keeping a mood diary is a great way of getting to know your friend, The Body. You only need to do this for a week, and if you haven’t built up your nutritional armour and you’re not aware of how things make you feel, you will likely give into the triggers that surround you every day. Track what you eat, how much you move and how it makes you feel. Note how you feel immediately afterwards and an hour later. If you often feel exhausted or bloated, understand and accept that this is not normal;  it’s your body’s way of saying something is out of whack. Think about how you feel after sitting at your desk or on the sofa all day versus how you felt after a walk, or exercise.

Are you taking any medication and does it impact your mood? Whilst there is definitely a place in the world for prescribed antidepressants, it’s important to know how they work: they level you out and stop you feeling the lows, but also the highs, which could result in Anhedonia - a condition that prevents you feeling happiness.  This can result in you trying to find your joy in stuff that is going to harm and not heal.  These quick dopamine hits often spike your blood sugar, leaving you searching for more of the same and perpetuating the cycle of misery.   

If you understand the chemical responses in your brain, it’s easier to understand why we do the things we do and why we crave things that cause us harm. If you understand, you can pause, think and behave differently and in a healthier way which, ultimately, is going to make you feel better.  By paying attention, you will train your brain to crave the stuff that makes you feel good. A mood diary is a great tool to look back on and whilst you don’t need to keep one forever, it may be the thing that stops you from reaching for the biscuit tin or bottle of merlot in the future. 

By spending 5 minutes engaging in some breathwork, having and ice bath or a super hot magnesium dip, recentering on a short walk around the block, nourishing your body with some good stuff, or bashing out a 12 minute HIIT workout, you might find that you have given yourself just enough time to park that old harmful habit. Re-frame that bad habit: don’t see it as depriving yourself - simply push it back and see how you feel.  Do you have more or less energy? Do you feel better or worse? Do you feel like you need to give in to it now? 

It’s so important that you don’t try and overhaul every harmful habit all at once - you will set yourself up to fail.  Start with one and see how you feel. Make a note in your mood diary and then crack on with the next. You will never completely rid yourself of those cravings and instincts, but you will learn to eat one biscuit rather than 10.  By treating your body with respect and giving it a moment, your brain will begin to give you good feedback, creating a new cycle of thoughts. 

A way to give yourself a moment is to use the HALT method, which is used in 12 step programs).  Ask yourself: are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? Rather than acting instinctively, listen to what your body is telling you.  This way, you are more likely to make a good and healthy choice rather than a harmful one.  Eventually, you will achieve a Flow state.  This is when making good choices for your body becomes natural and second nature. It will stop being a chore, something you have to think about and it will be the choice you want to make for your body.

Depression is a disease and all disease starts in your gut. In addition, childhood trauma, or a sudden jolt of panic or fear can alter your gut microbiome and hormone balance. Think of your gut as your second brain. If your gut lacks good bacteria, your brain will be imbalanced and you will feel miserable.  The saying, ‘you are what you eat’ really is true!  If you feed your brain rather than what your gut is telling you it wants, those cravings will soon disappear, your immune system will work optimally, your mood will be lifted and you will become unstoppable. 

Signs your gut isn’t working properly: 

• Sugar cravings
• Stinky wind
• Bloating
• Tired after eating
• Brain fog after eating
• Itchy scalp or ears
• Light coloured stools 

Candida is a form of yeast that actually makes you crave sugar, resulting in you feeling really low, tired and sometimes mad. Candida is not something to take lightly as it can detrimentally impact your gut health, which is the key to your overall health and well-being. If you find yourself permanently bloated and craving refined sugar and white carbs, chances are your gut is infested with this harmful yeast and you need to eliminate it. To do this, you will need to engage in a re-set and avoid carbs and sugar for a while. 

Amino acids - there are 20 amino acids, but 9 of them have to be obtained through food.  These are histidine, isoleucine, threonine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, lysine and valine. These can be found in meat, seafood, eggs and other dairy and poultry. Our Bovine Collagen or bone broth protein is an easy way to increase your amino acid intake. 

Other foods include: 

• Folate - cruciferous veg such as, broccoli, rocket, cauliflower will all support your serotonin production
• Iron - low iron is associated with low mood and fatigue.  Include clams, grass fed beef and organic liver (pate) in your diet to give this a boost.  
• Omega 3 and EPA is an essential mood booster. Salmon, mackerel, krill oil, avocado, ghee, grass fed butter are all great sources. 
• Thiamine - outdoor bred pork, salmon peas and asparagus will give this a boost.
• Vitamin B6 - beef, free range chicken thighs, sweet potato, banana, pistachio nuts will help to increase confidence levels and help regulate your mood.
• Magnesium - cocoa and dark chocolate , mackerel, salmon, halibut, spinach, Swiss chard, almonds, pumpkin seeds and flax seeds will all help with your relaxation. 
• Potassium - coconut water, avocado, raw and organic dairy, Atlantic fish, apricots and bananas will support mental fatigue.
• Selenium - brazil nuts, organ meats, wild fish, outdoor bred pork are all great sources and will boost your mood. 
• Vitamin B12 - clams, beef liver, raw or organic full fat milk, butter, eggs, oyster, trout will increase your energy levels. 
• Vitamin C - guava, kiwi fruit, strawberries, oranges, broccoli, peas will help to reduce anxiety and depression as well as taking care of your immune system.  
• Zinc - oysters, crab, lobster, shiitake mushrooms, lentils will also help to reduce symptoms of depression and look after your immune system.
• Choline - organic beef liver, eggs, organic full fat dairy, broccoli and cauliflower will  increases your levels and support symptoms associated with low mood 
• Vitamin D - eggs, salmon, organic full fat dairy will help to combat symptoms associated with depression. 

That is absolutely understandable because it’s a lot.  You might benefit from starting right at the beginning with a DNA test before you take yourself on. You could learn so much about yourself because remember, everyone is different and knowledge is power!  You can’t change your genes but you can navigate your ‘disease’ genes to improve your life. Whilst you might have been predisposed to the obesity or autoimmune gene, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to become obese or suffer from inflammation.  You might discover that you're predisposed to low serotonin levels, it doesn’t mean you can’t feel happiness ever again. With the right know-how and all the information about your makeup, you will be able to make the best decisions for your body. It’s not a one shoe fits all kind of situation. There are tonnes of at home tests you can try: Omnos, Thriva and Lifecode GX to name a few. 

The key to success in finding your joy is to start slow. Take one aspect of your life that is not serving you or allowing you to thrive and tweak it.  If you look after your brain, your body will follow. We know that the ‘flow’ will take time, so why not start with some immediate action to balance your mood; a jump start, if you will: 

Ignite your good mood chemicals by taking a cold shower - you can read all about the benefits of cold water therapy in our dedicated blog. Avoid inflammatory oils as a first step in taking care of your gut and move your body in a way that suits your lifestyle. Make a note of how you felt afterwards and just like that, your fire and hunger for more will be sparked.