Episode 3
Small Change, Big Results: One Easy Nutrition Hack to Reduce Cravings, Increase Energy, and Improve Sleep
This one simple change to your morning routine can be a game changer! Learn the easy trick I share with all my clients that helps them:
- Stay energized
- Make better food choices
- Get better sleep
- Avoid the midday slump
- Avoid triggering anxiety
One common morning habit can put you on a cortisol and blood sugar roller coaster throughout the day, which results in crashes and cravings.
Applications are open for Body Liberation Together! This is an intimate 12-week group program for people who want to take control of their health and create lasting change. Liberate your body and mind from chronic stress and fatigue with a program that’s designed to help you reduce inflammation, improve your sleep, and boost your metabolic health. Youʼll receive both group and 1:1 nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle coaching to help you establish habits you can stick to for results that last. Click here to read more and apply before doors close on June 12.
Interested in working with Jeannie one on one? Schedule a 30-minute Coffee Talk here.
Connect with me on Instagram @joliverwellness and check out the options for my more affordable self-study programs here: https://www.joliverwellness.com/diy-programs
Music credit: Funk’d Up by Reaktor Productions
A Podcast Launch Bestie production
Mentioned in this episode:
Applications are open for Body Liberation Together! This is an intimate 12-week group program for people who want to take control of their health and create lasting change. Liberate your body and mind from chronic stress and fatigue with a program that’s designed to help you reduce inflammation, improve your sleep, and boost your metabolic health. Youʼll receive both group and 1:1 nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle coaching to help you establish habits you can stick to for results that last. Apply at https://joliverwellness.com/body-liberation-together
Transcript
Hey there.
Speaker:Welcome back to the Nutrition Edit podcast.
Speaker:I'm your host, Jeanie Oliver, and today I wanna give you just a quick hack
Speaker:that's going to make your life better.
Speaker:I'm gonna do some of these little short hack episodes this season, because when I
Speaker:reached out to my listeners on Instagram and asked you what you want more of in
Speaker:season two, several of you told me, Hey, I'd love just some quick tips or tricks
Speaker:or hacks, whatever you wanna call it.
Speaker:To make changes in my life that are actually gonna be needle movers.
Speaker:So what are the small things we can do that can actually make a big impact and
Speaker:then lead to making more positive changes?
Speaker:And so today is gonna be the first of those.
Speaker:And what I wanna talk about today is being strategic with your use.
Speaker:Of caffeine.
Speaker:And you know, often I think people assume that when they see health coach or
Speaker:nutrition coach nutritionist, that we're gonna say, you can't have any more coffee.
Speaker:You have to stop drinking coffee.
Speaker:And you know, definitely you guys have heard me talk about this a little bit in
Speaker:previous episodes, but for some people, eliminating caffeine may be a necessity.
Speaker:You know, if you struggle with insomnia or you have really bad anxiety.
Speaker:Caffeine is obviously a trigger and maybe not.
Speaker:Obviously caffeine can be a big trigger for those things, and so, you know, if
Speaker:you struggle with those things, then maybe you need to revisit caffeine in your life.
Speaker:But I will say the biggest tip I have for you when it comes to using caffeine.
Speaker:And a lot of people will kind of bristle when you, you hear
Speaker:me say this, so bear with me.
Speaker:Stick around after I tell you what it is, because I'm gonna explain
Speaker:why this can make a big difference and why I think you should try it.
Speaker:So one of the first things that I have my clients do when they start
Speaker:working with AME one-on-one is to stop drinking coffee on an empty stomach.
Speaker:Now, I will say that this is more applicable for women than for men,
Speaker:but for women, I find that having caffeine on an empty stomach can
Speaker:cause a cascade of problems for them, for us, myself included on this.
Speaker:So some of the things that you may not think about that this can do for you is
Speaker:it can actually mess with your sleep.
Speaker:So that's the most important thing because.
Speaker:I always talk about sleep, the importance of sleep.
Speaker:It's one of those factors in our lifestyle that if our sleep is on
Speaker:point, if we're getting good restful sleep, enough, restorative, deep
Speaker:sleep, everything is so much easier.
Speaker:Life is better.
Speaker:Your brain functions better, your hormones are healthier.
Speaker:Your body is detoxing during sleep.
Speaker:It is doing muscle repair and recovery during sleep.
Speaker:We're actually burning fat during sleep.
Speaker:Our body is hard at work during sleep, so if we don't get enough
Speaker:of it, we really are not in a good position to function optimally.
Speaker:And we can really feel that in the form of, you know, low energy, brain
Speaker:fog, weight loss, resistance, injuries or poor recovery from our exercise.
Speaker:So sleep is just absolutely crucial in every way.
Speaker:And anything that throws it off is something that we wanna
Speaker:look at first to readjust.
Speaker:So I find that often when people are drinking caffeine before food
Speaker:in the morning, that it can actually affect the quality of sleep and
Speaker:throw off your circadian rhythm.
Speaker:So that's the first reason.
Speaker:That this change can be really impactful.
Speaker:Second, I find that often when we're relying on it in the morning for energy,
Speaker:what happens is that we kind of get this big spike in the morning, but then
Speaker:we have an awful energy crash, or that afternoon energy dip, you know, three,
Speaker:anywhere between three and 5:00 PM where I don't know about you, but when I used
Speaker:to get this, I could have fallen asleep.
Speaker:On my desk, I was so tired in the afternoon.
Speaker:And that is really not conducive to a productive life or just to feeling
Speaker:your best and you know, accomplishing the things that you want to during
Speaker:your day, or maybe having energy for a workout after work, or to spend
Speaker:time with your loved ones after work.
Speaker:So another one.
Speaker:And the reason that this can be really problematic is because, When you drink
Speaker:caffeine, it is essentially liquid stress.
Speaker:What do I mean by that?
Speaker:When we drink caffeine, the way that it wakes us up is by stimulating stress
Speaker:hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Speaker:Now, we tend to think of those as negative things because you
Speaker:know, stress not good, right?
Speaker:But cortisol and adrenaline have really important functions in our body, and I'm
Speaker:not gonna go deep into that because I don't wanna take up too much time today.
Speaker:But in short, Cortisol, one of its jobs is to wake us up in the morning.
Speaker:It's going to be at its highest when we first wake up.
Speaker:For most people, that's maybe shortly after dawn, or when light
Speaker:hits our eyes or whenever, you know, our natural waking time is.
Speaker:That's usually when cortisol is at its peak.
Speaker:And then it should gradually taper off throughout the day, being at its
Speaker:lowest when we go to sleep at night.
Speaker:And then it will again start to gradually increase, you know, in
Speaker:the morning again to wake us up.
Speaker:So if you hit your system with caffeine, what's happening is first
Speaker:thing in the morning when it's not buffered, the the caffeine, whether
Speaker:it's coffee or tea or whatever, but let's talk about coffee in this.
Speaker:context because coffee tends to be a little more intense when it comes
Speaker:to caffeine, and that's what most of us are drinking in the morning.
Speaker:So you have your coffee and your empty stomach, you haven't had breakfast yet.
Speaker:It's not buffered by food at all, and it causes your cortisol
Speaker:to spike to an unnatural high.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:And then what happens is that you can have a crash afterwards.
Speaker:So think of.
Speaker:You know, if you have kids or you've ever seen a kid on a sugar high, or if
Speaker:you've ever done, you know, shots of alcohol on an empty stomach, anytime
Speaker:it's not buffered, you're gonna get that initial high and then a subsequent crash.
Speaker:Okay?
Speaker:So when that happens, it's essentially putting you on this roller coaster
Speaker:of stress hormones and blood sugar as well throughout the day, and that is
Speaker:undesirable for a multitude of reasons.
Speaker:First, it's going to mean that you have.
Speaker:Ebbs and flows of energy versus having really nice, sustained sort of
Speaker:consistent energy throughout the day.
Speaker:And then, you know, being tired at bedtime, but it's also gonna set
Speaker:you up for cravings and blood sugar fluctuations, which are not ideal either.
Speaker:So typically my clients, when they are.
Speaker:Craving sugar after every meal or wanting to snack on sugar.
Speaker:And most frequently I've found that my morning coffee before food drinkers,
Speaker:the biggest struggle that they have are sugar cravings after dinner.
Speaker:you know, we don't often associate like what's happening in the
Speaker:evening, or especially cravings we're experiencing after dinner with what
Speaker:we're doing first thing in the morning.
Speaker:But this is one of the first things that I see going away when
Speaker:people stop drinking caffeine.
Speaker:On an empty stomach.
Speaker:So those are the things that it can cause.
Speaker:And again, it can be also a big time trigger for anxiety.
Speaker:And so if you're having it on an empty stomach without that buffer of food in
Speaker:the morning, particularly food that is high in protein and or healthy fats, that
Speaker:can really, really set you up for feeling more and more anxious or having panic
Speaker:attacks, however that manifests for you.
Speaker:It's also really dehydrating.
Speaker:Caffeine is it's a diuretic.
Speaker:So if you're not well-hydrated enough, even though initially coffee can stave
Speaker:off a headache or, or help with a headache if it's causing dehydration, you
Speaker:might find that you're having headaches more frequently if you're not drinking
Speaker:enough water along with your coffee.
Speaker:So, Again, I encourage you have something in the morning.
Speaker:It doesn't have to be huge.
Speaker:You know, many people, especially if you're used to having only coffee,
Speaker:first thing when you get up, you may not have a big appetite for breakfast.
Speaker:You may not want to eat first thing in the morning.
Speaker:gosh, I used to be the same way.
Speaker:I wouldn't eat until 1:00 PM or something like that.
Speaker:And I've found.
Speaker:For women, and I've talked about, I think in an episode last season, we talked
Speaker:about why fasting doesn't work in the same way for women as it does for men.
Speaker:But often we don't see a significant, benefit when it comes, especially to
Speaker:weight loss for women that we see with men when they are skipping breakfast.
Speaker:or you know, quote unquote intermittent fasting.
Speaker:So we don't get the benefit as women that men do.
Speaker:And when I was waiting till afternoon to eat something, I was
Speaker:50 pounds heavier than I am, and very anxious and had insomnia and
Speaker:was really desperately unhealthy.
Speaker:So that's just one example of, you know, the fact that this isn't necessarily
Speaker:beneficial for us to not eat in the morning and just have caffeine.
Speaker:Caffeine also breaks.
Speaker:Are fast.
Speaker:And so I wanna shout out to Dr.
Speaker:Sarah Gottfried cuz she talks about this.
Speaker:There's some debate on this in the nutrition and medical worlds
Speaker:that, oh no, you know, coffee, black coffee with nothing in it
Speaker:does not break the fast, but, Dr.
Speaker:Gottfried said, yes it does.
Speaker:And I believe that it absolutely does, because anytime that you are stimulating
Speaker:cortisol and adrenaline, that is stimulating a stress response in the body.
Speaker:When we have that stress response, we are also, our blood sugar is also
Speaker:increasing, and so that increase in blood sugar alone can break the fast.
Speaker:So, Keep that in mind, you know, if you think, oh, well, I'm just,
Speaker:I'm just fasting all morning.
Speaker:Well, not really if you're having that, that coffee.
Speaker:So going back to what to do.
Speaker:You don't have to eat a giant breakfast, just have something small,
Speaker:you know, for you it might work to have half an avocado or a, you know,
Speaker:a simple protein shake, or maybe you have an egg or two in the morning.
Speaker:I love to do smoothies in the morning that are high in
Speaker:protein and fiber, lower sugar.
Speaker:Those work really well for me, and it's more appetizing often, especially
Speaker:if I'm up earlier than having like a solid food or a real breakfast,
Speaker:which, you know, Often doesn't appeal to me and I don't have time to cook
Speaker:a full breakfast in the morning.
Speaker:I know most of you won't either.
Speaker:So a tablespoon of nut or seed butter could work.
Speaker:Just something that's protein or fat based that's going to
Speaker:provide a buffer to that caffeine.
Speaker:Have that just a few minutes before you have your coffee, your whatever,
Speaker:caffeine, you know, whether you're drinking tea or, um, you know, your
Speaker:ba ma, that kind of thing instead.
Speaker:that's what I would recommend.
Speaker:So give it a shot.
Speaker:Let me know how you feel and give it a few days.
Speaker:You know, I've seen people experience major results from making this small
Speaker:shift within a matter of two or three days, and sometimes it takes
Speaker:as long as a week or two for them to really notice the difference.
Speaker:But typically my clients, when they do this, they have improved energy,
Speaker:they sleep better and wake up feeling more rested, and they don't have
Speaker:the constant energy fluctuations or cravings that they were experiencing
Speaker:before they made this one little shift.
Jeannie Oliver:One of the concerns that people express to me when I
Jeannie Oliver:make this recommendation is they say, Jeanie, I need caffeine or coffee in
Jeannie Oliver:the morning to get my bowels moving.
Jeannie Oliver:And look, this is a legitimate thing.
Jeannie Oliver:Like nobody wants to feel constipated or funky and you know,
Jeannie Oliver:they wanna keep things moving.
Jeannie Oliver:So yes, I hear you there.
Jeannie Oliver:What I recommend.
Jeannie Oliver:For this is number one, hydrate.
Jeannie Oliver:So hydration is the most important thing that you can do for your body
Jeannie Oliver:to keep your bowels moving regularly.
Jeannie Oliver:And so hydrating in the morning is a really great way to go, but if you're
Jeannie Oliver:used to having a hot beverage, try having hot water, hot water with lemon,
Jeannie Oliver:you know, if you really just love your coffee first thing, even having.
Jeannie Oliver:Good quality.
Jeannie Oliver:Organic decaffeinated coffee is better.
Jeannie Oliver:Yes, there's still a little caffeine in there, but it's pretty gentle.
Jeannie Oliver:That is still a much better option than having that straight up coffee
Jeannie Oliver:on an empty stomach in the morning.
Jeannie Oliver:So you can try that.
Jeannie Oliver:Thankfully, there are some really delicious, Decaffeinated coffee's
Jeannie Oliver:out there right now, what I recommend is looking for what's
Jeannie Oliver:called Swiss water process decaf.
Jeannie Oliver:They don't use chemicals to do the decaffeination process, and so it
Jeannie Oliver:doesn't have that weird kind of acrid off flavor that decaf coffee often can.
Jeannie Oliver:So I have a couple of decafs that I drink that are Swiss water process
Jeannie Oliver:and I cannot tell the difference.
Jeannie Oliver:They're so delicious.
Jeannie Oliver:And even my coffee snob friends would agree that they, they love those ones.
Jeannie Oliver:So, They're out there.
Jeannie Oliver:Um, so that's another thing that you can try.
Jeannie Oliver:If you wanna see the benefits of this, but you like to have something
Jeannie Oliver:hot in the morning, you may also just make a more gradual transition.
Jeannie Oliver:So instead of, doing no caffeine, first thing, go from having your regular coffee
Jeannie Oliver:to maybe half decaf, or try having tea instead, and then gradually wean yourself
Jeannie Oliver:off of having any caffeine before food.
Jeannie Oliver:So, That's just another thing to try that I think is an important thing to mention.
Jeannie Oliver:So that is my quick hack for you this time and let me know what you think.
Jeannie Oliver:I'd love to hear how this works for you.
Jeannie Oliver:Come on over to instagram@joliverwellness.com and,
Jeannie Oliver:you know, leave a note on the, the podcast post or just DM me.
Jeannie Oliver:Let me know if this worked for you and what you think.
Jeannie Oliver:I'll be really curious to hear.
Jeannie Oliver:And as always, if you're interested in getting some help one-on-one
Jeannie Oliver:with your nutrition and lifestyle habit change, all of those things,
Jeannie Oliver:hit me up@joliverwellness.com.
Jeannie Oliver:You can book a free 30 minute coffee talk with me.
Jeannie Oliver:We can chat about your.
Jeannie Oliver:Unique challenges and needs, and we can go from there.
Jeannie Oliver:But anyway, give us a try.
Jeannie Oliver:Love to hear from you, how it goes, and I'll see you next time.
