Ep. 49| Comfort Food + An Epic Fall Snack

Is your comfort food actually making you uncomfortable? In this episode, I talk about how to find comfort food that helps you feel good inside and out. I also share a few epic fall snack ideas!

Pecan Pie Nut Butter with Collagen Recipe
Learn more or sign up for the next round of the Life Boost Jumpstart program here!

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Learn more about how I can help you here!
I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Music: “Play Thing” by Ketsa
From Free Music Archive

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

0:01

Hey life booster. This is Dr. Amelia health coach and veterinarian here to help you ditch yoyo, dieting people, pleasing and perfectionism by breaking the norm and living a life that energizes you from within. I'm recording this on a Sunday morning, and I had big plans of sleeping in just because the last week I traveled to Maine and then I came back and it was just a busy week and I was ready to just spend some time sleeping in. However, I awoke to Woodford throwing up on our carpet. So nothing like that. to I get you outta bed um, but maybe I'll have a nap this afternoon. I don't. Do you like naps? Sometimes it's hard, but I don't know. I think there's something just like the sweet spot for me, I'd say is like a 20 to 30 minute nap. And lately I've actually been using one of our guest rooms as like my napping room. We have one guest room that is just a very tranquil, it has blue walls and it has a big window and, uh, white bedding, it's just a very calming environment and a room that I never really spent any time in, but it now has been, become like my little tranquil room. So maybe there will be a nap in there later today. But the trip to Maine really triggered all the fall vibes for me. Like I am in full on fall mode now. And just, um, even in North Carolina now, Ugh, this weekend has been so beautiful. It's the temperatures have dropped. It just feels like fall, nice crisp air. And I really find that my body and the foods that I crave and that I'm drawn to really change with the seasons. And I'm curious if that's the case for you. So, you know, while in the summer, all of the salads and like the cool foods, like the refreshing foods I'm really drawn to, as it gets a little bit colder, I'm really drawn to like all those grounding, um, more comforting foods. So like the root vegetables, the, the foods that are in season, like the squash and apples, um, I have a cranberry sauce recipe that I really want to make soon that isn't loaded with a, a ton of sugar um, and like the soups, you know, casserole, all of those, like curries have been craving. So I'm really excited for that. And that reminded me of a recipe that I've had on my blog. So before I became a health coach, when just health and wellness was just a hobby, I started a blog. It was called the little fit puppy doc, and I would share recipes there. And so the blog is now transferred to my website, the www.life boost.today. And I have several recipes and one of my favorite this time of year is a pecan pie nut butter recipe. And it even has collagen. So you're getting healthy fats, a boost of protein and collagen, and it is so good. It, Ugh. Gosh. Yeah. If you, I highly recommend trying the recipe. It's so easy to make nut better if you have a food processor. Um, and yeah, it, I mean, it's just great straight up with a spoon, but you can also, I actually just shared on. Instagram or like social media as well as my newsletter one snack idea. And why not just share it here too? this time of year, I love to make a super quick apple, crispy snack with apples because it's apple picking season and oh, nothing like crisp fresh apple. So what you can do is I recommend chopping it up and putting cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice on, and that alone is actually super delicious. I mean, if you just want a super easy snack, chop up an apple and put on pumpkin pie, spice or cinnamon. Mm, so good. But if you'd like to continue to take it to the next level, if you chop it up, um, put it in the bowl with those spices, microwave it for maybe like a minute to a minute and a half until it get the apples, get kind of cooked and soft. And then if you, um, I like to put some ground flax seed on it. You can maybe put some like coconut chips on that starts to create like a little bit of like a crumble vibe. And then if you make the pecan pie nut butter and drizzle it over there. Mm. Yeah, you'll be happy. And, and with that, you're just getting like a great fiber healthy fats, some protein it's a really comforting, super delicious snack idea for fall. And that is what I really wanted to talk about today. Just a little check in, because as thing as we're like going into the holiday season, as we're craving, maybe some heavier foods like comfort foods that I really want to take a little time to focus on comfort foods and give that a little bit of attention and to get you thinking about what foods are truly comforting for you as we head into the cooler temperatures, So I know a lot of comfort foods tend to not be synonymous with healthy. It's often, like those are like the indulgent foods or they are really heavy in the way that it's like very, um, highly caloric it's really creamy or cheesy or, um, just things that are literally going to weigh you down. and instead of having a comfort food, that's going to physically weigh you down. What about thinking of it as being something that's grounding you instead? So instead of having a comfort food that is going to leave you feeling like bloated, uncomfortably full, stuffed, maybe leaving you with some uncomfortable GI signs for the rest of the day, or just wanting a nap. It's going to lead to gaining weight during the holiday season. What about instead, if you look at the comfort foods that are grounding you, and what I mean by grounding is the ones that. It just feels like a hug to you. It helps. It feels like it's really nourishing your body. Like it's just giving your body everything that it craves, right? Like those in season foods, it can absolutely be a warm, really satisfying dish, but not one that's physically weighing you down or, um, weighing down your mood. Right? Like I really encourage you to start paying attention to the foods that you associate as your comfort foods and not only pay attention to what it does to your taste buds in the moment and how it makes you feel, but pay attention to how you feel for the rest of the day and how it impacts both the, both the way that you feel physically, but also mentally.. is that something that is really comforting to you and it makes you feel good about yourself and your body? Or later on is that leading to some negative self talk and to some negative thoughts in your body? Do you not feel as comfortable in your clothes? Are you not liking the energy that you have? Are you maybe more moody? Really paying attention to that because I promise there are foods that you're going to find that really are satisfying, help you to feel comfortably satisfied without feeling bloated or like you need to unzip your pants. Right. And there are foods that are going to be comforting in a way that it helps you to feel nourished, but you still feel comfortable and, and light and you feel energized and it gives you positive energy throughout the day instead of negative energy. Really pay attention to that because I know that our society and a lot of the thoughts you've likely been programmed to associate certain comfort foods as being comfort and positive, and that could very well have started early in childhood. Right. Are there certain foods that you feel you find really comforting? Like a chicken pot pie, right? That's or like Mac and cheese? I think those are some of the more traditional foods that you may feel like there can be a lot of nostalgia. There can. Be a lot of family memories there's there are so there's so much wrapped into that meal that you associate with something good and comforting and I encourage you to just start being aware of that and I'm really paying attention a little bit longer term like throughout the day, how those foods are truly making you feel. Because some of them may actually, some of those comfort foods may actually be making you feel pretty uncomfortable. And it's gonna be really frustrating and confusing if you're not making that connection and it it's really not normal too. Right? It's it's not normal to pay attention to how foods are making you feel throughout the day. But they truly do have such a big impact, not only on how you feel physically, but how you feel mentally and your energy. I just always recommend paying attention to what are the things in your life that are boosting your energy, helping you to feel good. And what are the things that are draining your energy and really starting to prioritize, uh, the things that are boosting your energy. Becauase ultimately that is what will help you to create a life that helps you to feel good inside and out. And it's so easy. Our society just tends to teach us to not pay attention. Not check in with our body to ignore it. Right. And then that leads to so much confusion or we maybe are numbing certain emotions with comfort food, right? Like if there's just a super stressful day, you just want something that's going to help you to feel happy and comforted and food tends to be that option. And yet. And it's so confusing because in that moment we think it's comforting. But if you start to pay attention to how it's making you feel in the long term, you may find that actually that comfort food is setting up this really vicious cycle of, of uncomfortable feelings that are resulting in you really not treating your body in a loving and respectful way. So for example, if you have a super stressful day and then say you end up turning to like a meal of like a, you know, fast food, like burger and fries, or a really heavy Mac and cheese. Then what does that do for the rest of the day? Do you then just feel like uncomfortably full and bloated for the rest of the evening? Are you having some feelings of feeling guilty or bad about yourself that you overate starting to wonder like why you always. Do that then do you not sleep very well because you're having maybe some GI discomfort or you're just so full or you're having heartburn and then because you didn't sleep very well. Are you waking up later than expected? Is it starting a day of just feeling super rushed? Do you feel kind of lethargic and bloated even the next day? So you're not very comfortable in your clothes. Maybe you feel a little brain foggy the day. And that all just leads to a day of feeling kind of like behind it's. You're gonna have a lot of micro stressors throughout the day. And what's gonna happen by the end of the day, you have survived. You've made it through a really hard day. And once again, you're gonna want comfort food. So this is where, you know, really starting to pay attention to what are some foods that feel comforting to me that my body is craving, but that helps me to feel satisfied and energized in a good way so that I feel nourished. And then That grounding food is something that's going to help to decrease stress, help you to feel respected and supported in your body. And that can help you to unwind in a really nourishing way. Maybe you'll get better sleep because your body has what it needs. You can rest, wake up, feeling light and energized and ready for the day. Those foods are going to help your brain to feel even better. And it's. Just gonna really set you up for success. If you do really like things like Mac and cheese, another recipe on my blog that you can check out is a, it's a spaghetti squash casserole. I think I called it this is healthy, cheesy spaghetti squash caserole. It's really comforting and delicious. And I designed it so that it has a really great cheesy flavor, but, um, it is lighter on the cheese and the cheeses that I used are. Um, a sharper cheeses and that can be helpful even if you don't always tolerate dairy very well. So, um, the sharper cheeses, like a sharp cheddar or Parmesan, they have much less lactose than, um, some of the other cheeses, like mozzarella for example. And so sometimes people can tolerate that better. So that's definitely one recipe to check out. I also recommend checking out the pecan pie nut butter recipe, cuz that's given so many things. And that also leads me to the life boost jumpstart program. So the next round starts really soon. It starts October 10th and that is perfect timing. If you really want to just start doing healthy in a way that feels really energizing, satisfying feels good. If you want to start partnering with your body, treating it with respect and really just making connections and listening to how the way food is making you feel and calling out some of the other things in your life that might be draining your energy. It is eight weeks that will truly transform the way that you view health. You know, no more fad diets, no more relying on discipline and willpower, no more ignoring your body, depriving yourself of food that you want. This is about empowering you and partnering with your body and understanding what it truly needs. I, I promise you, it will change the way that you approach health forever.. And part of it is I really set you up in the food department and I have tons of exclusive recipes in the program. And there are so many great ones for fall there. One that I'm really craving. I just bought an acorn squash and it's just this like ultra comforting stuffed acorn squash recipe. That is just it's so filling and satisfying and comforting, but it doesn't weigh you down. And I there's this another like nourishing cauliflower rice bowl that has all the flavors that stuffing does. And I'm really feeling inspired as we're heading towards Thanksgiving to be creating even more recipes. When you join the jumpstart program, you become a life booster for life. So it's an eight week program, but you join the life boost community forever. There's a private Facebook group and I continue to share recipes. You can turn there to get coached to post questions, talk about challenges and successes. And you just are a part of a community where everybody really supports each other. It's just a very positive place, and I'm excited to be making some more recipes there. So I made it start October 10th because that is perfect timing. As you head into the holidays, It's going to mean that as you head into Thanksgiving and Christmas, you're really going to be in a place where if you tend to overdo it on the holidays, if you have a lot of trouble like resisting all the temptations, like if they're just like all the holiday cookies and sweets that pile up at work or you have a hard time going overboard or the holiday parties, if you feel a little bit out of control and tend to be like, Ugh, fine, after the holidays are over, I'll kind of get back on track. With this program you are gonna, you're gonna get out of that cycle so that you are able to fully enjoy those foods, you know, like if on Christmas morning you always have these like epic cinnamon rolls, you're gonna be able to just enjoy that guilt free without going overboard. You'll be able to see all of those holiday treat and chocolates and troubles at work. And you may be able to like have one if you want it, but you're truly not going to want all of those, the majority of the time so that you're not having to either white knuckle your way, just like trying to resist it and quote, unquote, be good. Or just like at the end of the day, you're gonna be like, why did I eat seven, uh, seven holiday cookies? You know, it'll, it's just gonna help you to get out of that vicious cycle. So if you want to sign up for the jumpstart program, you can do that. If you can visit my website, www.life boost.today. If you click on the work with me, you'll see a tab for the life boost jumpstart program. You can learn more about it. Read testimonials as well and sign up. I'll also leave a link in the show notes. I've left you with lots of things you can do. Number one, check out the pecan pie, not butter recipe, but really I want to encourage you just to start pay attention to your current comfort food. And really pay attention to, are those comfort foods truly making you feel comfortable or are they leading to some uncomfortable feelings? And what are some foods that do help you to feel grounded and supported and nourished, uh, help you to feel good long term? In a way that helps you to feel good and to have positive energy as we are going into the, the fall season and the holiday season. Okay. Cheers here. Inevitable health, happiness, and success.