Nutrition by Dawn - Blog

Welcome to a new feature from Dawn!  We like to collaborate with other wonderful professionals to share information and perspectives that are outside my scope of practice.  This helps to expand everyone’s view on a variety of subjects. 

Today, I am sharing a blog with you from Suzanne Thelen, Founder of The Divorce Squad (https://divorcesquad.com/), a community that provides support and resources for women before/during/after divorce. You will find great information from me as well as many other needed resource. Please visit her site to learn more.

Taking Control After Divorce

By Suzanne Thelen, Founder of Divorce Squad

When going through a divorce, everything can feel like it’s completely out of control.  The life you were leading is no more.  Your home space has changed.  Your relationship has ended.  Your confidence may be down, or completely shattered.  And while you’re going through a divorce, you may just feel lost.  While these feelings are all normal and typical, it’s easy to focus on all of the things that have changed and that you can’t control, and that’s not healthy or helpful to your progress to a better place.  

Taking control of your life after divorce takes a lot of time and is comprised of many little steps.  One such step is to spend time each day focusing on the things you can control.  And one thing you can absolutely control every day, is what you put into your body.  How we feel and what we eat are very connected.  Sometimes we eat because we feel happy.  Sometimes we eat because we feel sad.  Sometimes what we eat makes us feel sad.  And sometimes what we eat makes us feel happy.  Being aware of this relationship is important. 

Start to take notice of your patterns…..how are you using food, and how is it making you feel.

If you don’t like how you feel, make a change!  Decide you’re going to incorporate a new and healthy habit into your life.  For me, I simply started trying to drink more water.  Then I added in a healthy morning smoothie.  Every morning, I really look forward to this.  Find a heathy morning option you enjoy and incorporate that into your daily routine.  Adding things is always more fun than eliminating, but eliminating can me necessary.

I love coffee.  But too much caffeine can cause me to feel anxious and jittery.  I decided to cut back on my beloved afternoon coffees to help with anxiety, as well as help me sleep better at night.  I also love wine.  But wine can make you feel a bit sluggish the next day, and for me sluggish = yucky = sad.  So while I still enjoy my wine, I limit when and how much.  I never drink wine if I’m feeling sad.  I only enjoy it in a celebratory fashion.  That’s it.

Finally, know that if you’re not an expert on what you should eat, should not eat, what you should drink and not drink, that’s okay.  I’m not an expert either and don’t need to be.  Utilize the amazing resources available in books, podcasts as well as the expertise and support from a coach (like Dawn) to help you along your journey.  Every day you will feel more and more control over your choices, and with this your confidence will grow, along with a positive feeling about the direction your life is headed.  You can do this!