The problem with stress is the binge eating it brings with it, we can all put our hands up that whenever we’ve had a rubbish day at work or having problems with your partner we do the simplest thing we know, order takeaways and find comfort on snacking on our favorite junk. We must vanish temptation, find ways to handle our problems without running to the unhealthy options for comfort. 

So what can you do to handle stress in a positive manor? One simple method is to find solutions to solve your problems without over stressing, every obstacle has a solution you only need to find a neutral ground where you can solve your problems. Sometimes helping solve other peoples problems can take some weight of your own shoulders whilst your focusing on theirs.  Another possibility is to keep a diary of what you eat and your emotional state during this period, this way you’ll be able to monitor the change in your emotions.

Remain Focused

You’ve got to accept that stress isn’t what picks up the bar of chocolate. What we have to understand is that we’re the ones who can’t control our problems, emotional eating occurs when one loses their ability to control themselves.

So what can we do?

Well the obvious suggestion is to take a moment out – make sure you take deep breaths in and out until you eventually feel a lot more peaceful.
Start thinking productively.

All or nothing  : Many people who fail to stay committed will eventually give up completely, they already see themselves as failures so don’t see any point continuing to pretend their devoted to a better lifestyle of fitness and healthy foods.

Conclusion : It doesn’t matter whether you give yourself a treat now and again, as long as you’re continuing to exercise and on average are sticking to a decent healthy meal option then a treat here and there shouldn’t bring you down. Look long term and don’t put yourself down so quickly.

Allowing opinions to hurt : So you’ve met up with your friends and someone has inconsiderately made a remark that you don’t look any different! But you’ve stayed true to your fitness program, you’ve eaten well and exercised at least 30 minutes everyday, what are they on about?

Conclusion: If you allow peoples opinions to affect you, the harder it will be to remain motivated. You’ll start to see more issues with yourself, this can sometimes be dangerous as you might over do how much you exercise until you eventually collapse. Keep in mind that others might have a different idea of what a fit body looks like, they wont know what you train and how hard it’s been. Unless they train just as hard or more than you, their opinions shouldn’t really matter.

Sick and Poorly : So you’ve had to take a week or two of exercising? Slacked on remaining committed to your routine and putting yourself down.

Conclusion : It’s okay to be poorly, and it’s even better to rest during that period instead of hammering your body down at the gym. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed, it’s simply a few steps back where you need to find your energy before you continue where you left. Many people will begin to feel depressed for needing to stay away from their goals, demonstrate some strength in yourself that will help you feel in control. Yes you might not be able to clock in at the gym but that doesn’t mean you can’t lift a light dumbbell whilst you’re in bed or continue to eat healthy and stick to your usual meal times.

In a day and age where media is a major part of our life, we can’t help but Google everything we need more information about, even if that is the ‘ideal’ body. More often than not what we find isn’t necessarily a healthy inspiration.

It’s all too easy to ‘#hashtag’ a craze of ‘body goals’, you’ll find images of women with skinny waists, thick thighs, big breasts and long legs. If this isn’t the look for you, then the other option is extremely skinny, thigh gaps and muscular toned abs.

Ladies there is nothing wrong wanting the ideal body, after all it’s your body but each of us should consider to stay as healthy as possible along the way. There are excellent images swarming the net of powerful women who have exercised the right way and have great bodies, their purpose on the net is to inspire all women, especially young ones that think being extremely thin is healthy, they are present to support women with all eating disorder problems.

IMPORTANT : Young girls get mislead easily into a world of unhealthy body goals. What they forget is that being thin means losing muscle mass along with bone mass. Once this occurs the body puts itself into survival mode, shutting down what it believes as less important body functions such as reproduction and digestion.

Another thing to remember is that many of these images have been retouched.

‘It’s not always as it seems’. Although many fitness obsessed individuals have extremely fit bodies, they still might not be deemed internet worthy. They will be airbrushed and edited in such a way that is ‘acceptable’. Keep in mind that not all of us are created to be stick thin or have veins bulging out with a statement that says Hey everyone! I am gym obsessed.

Love yourself.

It shouldn’t matter what you look like, your size or skin colour, big boobs or no boobs, who cares? Unless you feel unhappy then make a change to a healthier lifestyle but don’t seek to look like anyone else but yourself. You don’t need a six pack, you just need to help reduce the fat you’ve longed to get rid of. If it’s trouble with cellulite or extra skin after child birth, make sure you target these areas and not just put on a waist trainer because everyone else is doing it too.

So ask yourself what you’re unhappy about, write it down if you must and beside it a strategy of how you will achieve this.

• You must exercise!

Many women who are fascinated by these body goal images are often women who already feel very insecure in their own skin, their intimidated and powerless, or so they believe. But the key is to stop feeling sorry for yourself, to stop admiring someone else in their body and start loving your own. The only way to do so is by simply exercising and eating healthier. Join a gym, start a exercise class and most importantly, throw away all your kitchen temptations.

Who comes up with these?

‘Couples who train together, stay together’ , ‘ Real women have muscles’ , ‘Thigh gap goals’ ???

The only thing that is being said here is women should be skinny, they can’t possibly make a relationship work if they can’t fit into size 0 jeans. I can only say this is all complete garbage, a horrible and nasty way to lure in young girls and women into an industry filled with pills and potions. The only one benefiting is the slimming companies that girls will throw money at to be the perfect girl with the perfect body.

Voluptuous Goals

I don’t know about you, but as a young woman it frightens me. Young girls love to follow their celebrity crushes, a prime example was the waist trainer. The second celebrities started to post images of them ‘ training ‘ in these tight corsets the market for them boomed! Every girl wanted one, different colors, more sizes ( smaller sizes )  but did anyone sit down and ask for more information about them? I ordered one myself and you’d be surprised to hear that it didn’t come with a set if instructions or to my surprise information of risks and even benefits for that matter. It was like simply receiving a new item of clothing from a local store. It is important that no one should be forced to look a certain way in order to love their own body.

What can I do?

• Start to love your body
• Buy clothing that complements the body we have
• Pamper and appreciate yourself
• Drink plenty of water, everyday!
• Take care of your skin and body
• Exercise
• Complement yourself now and again.
  AND TURN OF THE COMPUTER!