Whenever I go out with my friends, they joke around that I don’t drink a lot. That I’m a ‘light weight’. Ya know what? I’ll take it.

“Oh Gilbert is nursing his beer again!”

Nursing is a great word.

It implies TLC. We could all use a little TLC, right?

Many people like to go to independently owned restaurants because it feels as though there’s more TLC that goes into the food. More effort. More love. More care. More thought.

We should try to nurse our food too. This way, we’d fully appreciate it and not take it for granted. We wouldn’t rush the experience of eating.What does that mean?

Not standing up while eating. The more we can ritualize our eating the better. That means fully tasting it. Noticing the texture. The crunch. The ingredients. The smell.

So many times we’re just shoveling food into our mouths. Let’s try to slow down and enjoy the fact that we have a plate of food in front of us. Savory is key. Without getting all corny (although I’m about to) – it’s pretty amazing if you think about it.

Our ancestors would be amazed at how readily available food is. We don’t have to hunt and gather.

And if we did – we’d probably nurse our food without question, and we’d be better off.

Cheers!

I’ll tell ya. I can people watch all day sometimes. Thankfully, in NYC, it’s very easy to do that. My favorite type to observe is the gym goer who insists on a smoothie for ‘energy’ before they exercise.

As soon as they’re done exercising 30 minutes later, they’re ’starving’! So, they get themselves a wrap.

Well, 60 minutes after the start of their exercise journey, 1000 calories has been consumed.

Let’s break it down: 30 minutes was used to eat and the other 30 to exercise. Interesting…

Trading 1 hour of our time in to exercise for 30 minutes so we can burn 200-350 calories only to consume 800-1000 calories isn’t worth it, at all.

Sure, it’s worth it if you want to feel good.

However, if you want to change the way you look –> this trade of time and calories for less time and more calories is not a good one.

If you’re exercising to change how you look it’s imperative to realize this.

You can run for 2 hours, be dripping in sweat, have burned 1200 calories, however, if you go grab a milkshake – you’ll have been better off not exercising in the first place.

THE reason why you see people in the gym over and over – looking the same again and again – is because they’re eating too much.

Are you exercising to change the way you feel or look?

No matter what, exercise will make us feel good! But if you’re exercising for weight loss make sure that you’re not the smoothie and wrap eating type or else you’re wasting your time.

By the way, did I mention the benefits of exercise?

Exercise is a key to happiness – which after all, is what it’s all about. Research shows that people who exercise are healthier, more energetic, think more clearly, sleep better, and have delayed onset of dementia. They also get relief from anxiety and mild depression, comparable to medication. And not surprisingly, exercisers also perform better at work.

Of course, there’s more to it than simply eating less – or else we’d all do it. Behavioral change is extremely hard, and if you don’t have any accountability, it’s almost impossible to make that happen. Consider MBT – we’ve helped 100’s of people throughout the US and world get the body they want via our proven methods and system.

A lot of people always tell me how on point they are during the day but once nighttime arrives, it’s very hard for them to not overeat.

Overeating is simply a way for us to change the way we feel. Or more so, numb how we feel so we don’t have to feel it. The only (sustainable) way to overcome overeating is to let yourself feel.

Through tons of research, and tons of experiments and experience, I’ve found that the best form of advice is in the form of questions.

So here are some to get you started:

What does the nighttime represent to you?

Are you lonely?

Do you wish you were with a lover?

Are you dreading another day of work?

Are you overwhelmed by the stuff all around you?

Are you extremely bored?

Are you haunted by your past?

Are you not intellectually challenged whatsoever?

Do you have a significant other/spouse that makes you feel even more lonely because you don’t connect with them in a way that you want to be?

If you want to crack the code on why you overeat at night start asking yourself these questions.

Here’s the deal though: Deep down we may know (even though we might not want to know!) the real reason so it’s just easier to eat so we don’t have to face the discomfort.

For everyone in this world, making big life changes is terrifying. Change is absolutely 1000% scary.

But if you’re going to ’stick it out’ whatever ‘it’ is, and choose unhappiness over uncertainty here’s my advice:

Make the best of your situation and accept it.

But don’t fight reality – a reality that’s in your control to change.

Because you can change it. Or you can make the best of it. But complaining is just useless. Wallowing has never made anyone happier.

Start thinking about these questions, and if you need some help, as always, I’m here for you!

I hope you had a great weekend! Coming back to reality can be stressful if you’re not prepared for it.

Just like bodies in motion stay in motion – when we get into a rut, it becomes easier to stay in a rut.

When you fall into the habit of overeating it gets easier to repeat that behavior. One binge can lead to three.

One episode of late night emotional eating can lead to a whole week of late night emotional eating.

When our brain is under stress there is a vicious cycle that gets created. In a study of chronically stressed rats the brains atrophied in the areas of decision making, while becoming overly developed in the area of habit formation.

Scientists note that behaviors become habitually faster in stressed animals than in the controls, and worse, the stressed animals can’t shift back to goal-directed behaviors when that would be the better approach. <--- A.K.A. a vicious cycle.

This might explain why when we're under stress we abandon all that we know - and all that we consciously want to do and fall back into old habits.

Scientists note that we're lousy at recognizing when our normal coping mechanisms aren't working. Our response is usually to do it five times more, instead of thinking, maybe it's time to try something new. <--- A.K.A. the definition of insanity --> Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.

So, even though overeating doesn’t really help us feel better, we can’t stop ourselves from continuing to do it because we’re used to doing that when we we’re stressed. It’s simply how our brains are wired to act when we’re under stress.

Although stress is a huge killer and leads to many diseases it’s also necessary for us to survive.

Fortunately, we no longer stress about what our ancestors did.

Our bodies have the most complex systems on Earth. What’s the benefit of our brain being prone to habit formation anyway? (I’m a nerd. I think about these things.)

Perhaps to help shift as many behaviors as possible over to automatic pilot so we can better focus on the crisis at hand.

And even if the crisis at hand is our boss yelling at us or our kids being disrespectful – if we feel stressed, we’re stressed. Perception is reality.

What to do?

Besides, taking a vacation and changing up your routine for a bit which can rewire your brain there is also a big opportunity for us to change.

If you can plan ahead what you’ll do before you’re stressed and actually start doing it when you’re stressed it’ll become a habit as well.

Our biggest opportunities for growth are always when we’re most uncomfortable.

Here are 5 ideas:

1. Listen to music.

2. Gather a few favorite emails or youtube videos that make you smile and read and watch the videos when you’re stressed. Be sure to save them all in one place so they’re easy to get to.

3. Get up. Take a big deep breath. Go for a 15 minute walk.

4. Read a juicy gossip blog that might make you feel otherwise guilty for doing so. (You’ll feel way less guilty reading than eating!)

5. Call your favorite person.

Pick one and try it next time. But instead of stressing how you’re actually going to do this each time you’re stressed, let’s make it simple: The very next time you feel stressed, try one of these. That’s it.