How Healthy Eating Has Helped My Anxiety

Well, I guess I should start out by clarifying…healthy eating didn’t cure my anxiety. It’s still something I live with each and every day, but let me tell you, it has made a huge difference!

I, like many people, was crippled by anxiety day in and day out. I equated it to never truly living in the moment, but either living in the past or the future. There was not a moment where my brain was just focused on what I was doing or who I was with. It was almost moving a mile a minute racing through various scenarios from my past and being scared of my future.

My healthy eating journey began like this. One Sunday I had gone to the gym in my building (like I had many times for a one-off gym sesh), but then for some reason, that moment stuck with me. I had decided to change my habits and commit to working out and eating a healthy diet. My diet was never horrible, but I didn’t put that much thought into what I was eating.

From that day, which if I recall correctly was Sunday, May 5, 2019, I committed to moving my body 30-45 minutes per day (at least 5 days a week). From that moment and I have stuck to it! I started getting the motivation to get up prior to work to get a quick gym session in before having to get ready. The exercise definitely helped my anxiety, but it truly was a partner with healthy eating to attacking the beast (aka anxiety)!

I moved to very intuitive eating. I was not tracking macros at this point ( i eventually did here and there when I felt I wanted a little bit of a kickstart), but my main goal was to eat as many whole foods as possible. I love cooking so I wanted to commit to making as many home-cooked and hearty meals as possible that made my body feel the best it possibly could. Luckily I am a veggie and fruit lover, so this was pretty easy for me.

Although as I mentioned I still have anxious moments, this year and a half of moving and fueling my body with nutrients has enabled me to handle my anxiety a lot better. I have harnessed the tools needed through years of therapy and now I finally feel physically and mentally ready and at a place where I can put those practices to work!

A few tips I have to aid in your journey toward healthy eating:

1. Prep Foods not meals! If you’re anything like me, I don’t love pulling out a meal prep container and just heating up for dinner every night, but I also don’t always have the time to cook a fresh meal every night either. I like to prepare food rather than full meals. For example, on Sunday I put a whole package of chicken breast into the crockpot seasoned with just salt and pepper. I made pulled chicken and have it in the fridge for at least 3-4 days worth of meals. I flavor it based on what I am going to have that day. On Sunday, I had a Greek chicken bowl (I flavored the pulled chicken with tzatziki sauce), on Monday I had a BBQ chicken bowl (I flavored the pulled chicken with BBQ sauce), and on Tuesday I had a Taco bowl (I flavored the pulled chicken with taco seasoning). Just like that, I had a healthy protein made for three amazing meals. You can do the same with veggies, potatoes, rice, etc. I eat bowls most nights, so I build my nightly bowl based on what is in the fridge that week!

2. Don’t buy the processed stuff! I don’t have the best willpower (I admit it!). I stopped buying many processed snacks and foods and started checking the ingredients on things to truly understand what I am going to put in my body. Never did I think frozen waffles had so many chemicals in them! I have moved to purchasing pretty much just what I need for the week or two to ensure I can afford to buy higher quality food while still staying within my budget. I have certain processed foods (mostly desserts) that I love, so I always try to figure out how I can make “healthier” or cleaner versions of my favs! An example is Twix bars. Who doesn’t love a good chocolate caramel cookie?! I found Rachel Good Eats paleo Twix bars and make those to keep on hand for desserts. I also love Little Secrets candy, which is not healthy, but it’s a better choice when needing to fill your candy fix. It is all about balance and making the right choices. Deprivation doesn’t do anyone good, so I ensure I balance what I eat that is processed (and enjoy) with hearty and healthy foods.

Some ideas for “healthy” store bought snacks to keep on hand:

1. Pop Corners
2. Veggie Sticks/Straws
3. From the Ground Up Cauliflower Pretzels and Crackers
4. Hippeas
5. Little Secrets Candy
6. 85% (or higher) Dark Cocoa

Some of my favorite healthy recipes I wanted to share:

SAVORY FAVS: