New year, same stress? Because we operate from two states of being: stressed (sympathetic) and relaxed (parasympathetic), many of us share a common challenge. Our bodies are designed to live in the relaxed state for 23 hours a day and manage the stressed state for only 1 hour per day.

I needed to understand why food and weight was such a problem for me. In my early 20s, I lost nearly 100 lbs. Then began the struggle to keep it off; I used fad diets, constantly feeling hungry and crashing back into snacking, overeating, and emotional eating.

When I decided regularly practicing yoga would be good for me, I went out and bought yoga pants and a new mat. I was all set...but never went to a single yoga class. Sound familiar? Even if you’re a dedicated yogi, I’m sure you’ve probably had a similar experience with something else.

The fear of an unplanned pregnancy was one of my earliest adult thoughts. I remember feeling grown up for having such a mature concern. Doctors, teachers, and family had been warning me and other girls for years that “it only takes one time to get pregnant!” We were taught that pregnancy was something that must be avoided until you were absolutely sure you were ready for a child. But years later, when I was absolutely sure, I struggled to get pregnant. Then, when I did, I was unable to keep the pregnancy.

Our current landscape is strange, but you’re handling things well, right? Or maybe you thought you were, but you’ve recently hit a wall. Believe me, I get it. When the COVID-19 restrictions started, I was determined to handle the stress of the situation thoughtfully. I told myself that I would not buy into conversations, news, or social media posts that would feed my propensity to feel stressors and emotions intensely. I tried to carefully reserve my cortisol (stress hormone) so I could calmly manage situations as they arose—rather than spiraling or letting the stress catastrophically flood my life.

If you’re anything like me, after you finish your lunch you could eat it all over again! Much of the time, you just don’t feel full, even though you’ve eaten plenty. You’ve probably even eaten to the point of feeling sick before (but that’s different). Why am I such a bottomless pit? It wasn’t until I tested my genetics that I figured it out. This whole time it wasn’t a weakness of character driving me to overeat; it was a genetic predisposition! And once I knew about it, I could control it. What a relief! 

Let me explain…

We all know how this story goes. You are one of two people. You think about chocolate all day long, finally you cave and buy a chocolate bar. You eat it in a few short bites, and it feels amazing. Everything feels good, your mood is better, you’re nicer, and life is good. Or, you’re like me, and you just can’t have one chip… before you know it, the entire bag is empty and you’re ashamed. You start to notice people don’t put peanuts or popcorn in front of you at parties because they know you will wolf them all down.