Transcript

Lisa Virtue

Okay. Here we go. Hi, Duna. Thank you so much for being here and talking to me today about stress at work and mindful eating and all the things we all need to worry about, because it's so important. Our health is so important. So why don't we just start with you telling a little bit about how you came to be, where you came, how you came to be here in your career.

Duna Zurcher

Well, thank you so much for having me here first. So I'm now an emotional eating health coach, but I am a former teacher. For a lot of years, I taught in Andorra. And then at some point, I was like, I don't want to do this my whole life. So I started traveling around, but always having struggles with food and my body. So at a certain moment in my life, I was in Switzerland recovering from an injury that I had in Laos. So it was very emotional because I was traveling with my backpack. I had this accident.

So go back to your dad's house. You haven't lived with him in a long time. And stepmom. So emotionally was very hard. Then the pandemic happened, and then my dad was diagnosed with stage four cancer. So at that time, emotionally, it was very hard. And I had my struggles with food. And in an emotional moment like that, it was even worse.

Right. And then when my dad got his diagnosis, he told me, you know, I'm very happy with the life that I had. I have regrets, because everyone does. But looking back, I've done everything I wanted to do, and that, for me, was a wake up call. I was like, I want to be able to say the exact same thing when the time comes. And although I was not unhappy with the life that I had, I did see that my relationship with food and my body was getting in the way. Because when you hate your body, when you don't really want to look at the mirror, because you don't like what you see, when you feel out of control around pizza, fries, chocolate, cookies, and when you have constant food thoughts about your body, too, you're not really present in your life or in social gatherings. So I really thought, okay, there's something here, and I need to work on this.

But I started looking on the Internet. What can I do? And I wanted to study something, so I looked different things, but everything was focused on nutrition. And at the end of the day, we all know, eat more veggies all the things we should be doing, we all know those, but there is a reason why we are not all doing the things that we should be doing, right? And I came across with this school that had a holistic point of view of health, where what's important, it's not only what's inside your plate, but also outside your plate. And that really clicked and resonated with me. So I enrolled and I started studying. And then I felt that coaching was my purpose. This was a coaching school about integrative nutrition. And I felt, oh, this is my purpose.

This is what I really came here to do. And it really resonated with me. But then I was here in the states and I went back to Switzerland to be with my dad. During his last month of life, I had the chance to be with him, but at that moment it became even more clear that, oh, I've been working on all this thing with food, but I'm feeling out of control. And there is where it clicked. I am an emotional eater, and all my struggles with food were because I had a negative and unhealthy relationship with food and my body, but also because that's my way to cope with my emotions. And there it clicked. So, because I know how difficult it is to struggle with food, with your body and emotional eating, I made my mission to help other women break free from food guilt and body shame, transform their emotional eating habits into mindful nourishment.

And from that point, it's much easier to focus on what's truly important to you, like your passions and dreams, and truly enjoy life.

Lisa Virtue

What a story. Oh, my goodness. So usually we see these big changes and mission based work come from triggers. So when we see that life is short, looking at our career and our journey and what we're spending our time all day on makes a lot of sense that that was a time for you to do that reflection. So you were mentioning this click that you saw. I'm curious, for anyone listening that's thinking, am I an emotional eater? And as it relates especially to career, we know there's so much that goes on. I'm guilty of it too, like rushing to eat through the day or eating at my desk or, oh, yeah, maybe it's hormonally I'm like, oh, I'm craving something. It must be my period.

Coming up. Us women, there's all sorts of body shifts throughout the month. What kind of signs and symptoms should people be looking for if they think they might be an emotional eater?

Duna Zurcher

So I think for you to be an emotional eater. Everyone eats emotionally. And I think this is very important to say. And that emotional eating, it's not a bad thing. We eat emotionally. It's a human thing. It's just natural. And when your boyfriend breaks up and you eat the pint of ice cream, I mean, yes, you're eating emotionally.

However, when it's your only coping mechanism and then it's followed by guilt and shame, then it becomes a problem. And usually what I've seen is that emotional eating is a problem. When you have an unhealthy relationship with food, when you categorize foods as good or bad, when you are always thinking on diets because you feel that you can't control yourself around food, but then diets are not sustainable, so you fall off the wagon and then you need to, okay, I'm going to eat wherever and then I'll get back on track on Monday. All these things that really, when you feel out of control around food, when you have off limits foods, but then there's a feeling of deprivation. And then when an emotion comes and it doesn't have to be a big emotional event, after a stressful day, you get home and you just want to eat cookies, and you start one and two, and next thing you know, you ate the whole package. And then you feel guilty and ashamed because you are not supposed to eat that and you couldn't control yourself. And sometimes you even are like, what? I ate all this? I didn't even notice because you are not even present in your eating experience. So when these emotions happen, or big emotional moments, or just not feeling what you are meant to feel, because emotions are there with a message.

And if you don't learn how to feel your emotions, emotions don't go away. They stay in your body. So then if you don't know how to deal with them and food makes us feel better, that's a fact. There's serotonin and all these things. And food is meant to be enjoyed. But if it's the only way you know how to make you feel better, then you are emotionally eating.

Lisa Virtue

And I'm sure it veers on the unhealthy intake too, right? Where you're overloading your digestive system and not getting that balanced nutrition that you need. That could pop up, too. Yeah. So I love what you just said about emotions stay in our bodies. So physically and mentally, we need to be releasing them and feeling them and sitting with them, which can be really hard, especially if we're busy, busy, busy. We're going through. Let's say a workday, and we're just, oh, I don't have time to think about that. Or, oh, I need to suck it up and not cry.

Right now I'm so frustrated I can feel the tears coming. Because maybe you're even angry and you want to cry. It doesn't have to be sadness that causes us to get to tears, right? Or it can be something you're turning red in a meeting and then it's lunchtime, or it's snack time, or you want to go to coffee with a colleague, and all of a sudden now it's food instead of working through that. So what kind of tips do you have for the working woman who's maybe doing some kind of office job around people and needs to collaborate and they're having a struggle with this, instead of turning to food in that unhealthy manner, what would you recommend?

Duna Zurcher

Well, I think that a very important thing is to take time to eat, because we live in a very fast paced world, and with work, we are work, work, and we don't even take time to eat. So we are actually telling our body that's not important. Work is more important than listening to my needs. When you feel hungry, when you feel that you need to go to the bathroom, when you're tired, your body's telling you something, and your body is your friend, it's not your enemy. So if it's giving you these signals, it's because it's asking for something. So I think that listening to those needs and meeting them, it's the ultimate expression of self care and self love. So take at least ten times to eat, to sit down, put your work away and eat. And eat mindfully, really being present.

What does that mean? Maybe take a couple of deep breaths before you start eating so that you ground yourself. You're not thinking about work. Oh, well, okay, I'm eating, but I'm thinking about what I have to do later. No, let's come to the eating experience. Deep breath. Maybe be grateful for the food that you have in front of you, for the people that planted the seeds, that helped the vegetables grow, or wherever it is, or the people that transported the food to your groceries, the people that put the food in the shelves. All this being grateful for what you have in front of you. And then engage your senses.

Look at what you have there. Look at the texture, the colors, the smells. And then when you eat, be there, present. Taste the food. Really? Because a lot of times when eating stressed, that's also the problem. When eating stress, it affects how much we eat what we eat and how we eat and how do we eat when we are stressed out of control? It feels out of control. It's the opposite of mindful eating. Right.

So be there very present, and taste the food and be there. Really? And also put your cutlery down. Don't go, 1234 bites. Put your cutlery down. And then every now and then, check with your body. Am I still hungry? Am I full? Should I stop? Should I keep going? Because when we just keep eating, a lot of times we are not connecting to our body. So we end up overeating and then feeling sluggish or I'm too full, and then it's even more difficult to go to work. So taking ten times to eat mindfully at work, it's, to me, an expression of self love and self care.

And actually, your brain needs a break. That's the way the brain works. It needs breaks, and that's a break. And then you'll be better equipped to keep on going with work because you are nourished, your mind, your body, and you gave a break to your brain.

Lisa Virtue

I love that. Did you mean ten minutes or ten times? You said ten times.

Duna Zurcher

Oh, ten minutes. Yeah, it's better. 20. But I understand that at work it's difficult, but at least ten minutes if it's possible. 15-20.

Lisa Virtue

Yes. Understood. Okay, so I really like this concept of we talk about mindfulness, getting present, using your breath to come back to the present moment, calm down. That amygdala, the stress receptors, and this is a way to do that while being productive in your day of, we got to eat, we need to eat, we need to nourish ourselves, so at the same time, we can practice changing those neural pathways and getting more present, more grounded. And I'm going to assume something. So tell me if this is correct. Assuming that when we're doing that work and we're being very mindful and practiced about it, when we go to food now our brain has a different thought process, different pattern, so later it's maybe harder to overeat. Am I assuming that right where you're starting to shift that mindset around the meal time and food in general, the.

Duna Zurcher

More mindful eating you practice? It's not easy to mindful eat because we are not used to it. And a lot of times then people ask me, so what do I do? You eat, and it feels uncomfortable because it's no scrolling on social media, it's not working. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And then the slower you eat, the more you connect with your body, and then, yes, the less you will read, but because you are connecting to your body, because you are listening. Am I hungry? Am I not? Am I full? Should I keep going? And then, I don't know. If you want a little dessert, which is totally fine to want, well, then maybe you don't eat until you are full. You stop a little before so that you can have that dessert and not feel full afterwards, for example.

Lisa Virtue

Yeah, for sure. I have a terrible habit where I'll get a meal together and I'm like, oh, this is when I can watch the news or watch something that I have been putting off because I feel like it's so easy to do. So instead of multitasking that way, thinking about those neural pathways and training my brain and calming down my amygdala, I can see a lot of power there.

Duna Zurcher

And actually multitasking, it's not really a thing. If you're eating and doing something else, you are not present in the eating, and then you don't get the satisfaction. It happened to me a few months back that I was watching something and I was hungry. I took a snack and I ate it while I was watching, and 15 minutes later, I stood up to grab the same snack, and I was like, wait a second. I just had it. And it's like my brain hadn't registered because I was so focused on watching wherever I was watching. So it's really powerful to eat. Mindfully, it seems silly, but it is very powerful, and it seems so silly, but it's not that easy to do because of how we are used to eat while we do wherever.

Lisa Virtue

Yeah. Especially here in the United States. Right. You spend a lot of time in Europe, very different. You go through your day with meals and even socially, how long people will spend talking and eating. And here it's rush, rush, rush. And even at family dinner time, it's, oh, we got to do the next activity, or it's time for bed or whatever that thing is. So we're always rushing our children, too, if we have children, which I'm sure creates all sorts of terrible habits, which is why we're talking about it.

Right? Yeah. So as far as women at work with eating, these are great tips. Is there any other takeaways or anything you recommend for women?

Duna Zurcher

I would say that we have a lot of pressure on what to eat in front of other people. Oh, I need to eat the salad because otherwise they are going to think that wherever. So I think that here it's very important. A few things are important one. It's that we really need to stop comparing ourselves to others and giving other people the power of what are they thinking about me? Because that usually leads to feeling bad about yourself because our brain usually goes to the worst case scenario. Oh, she's seeing me eating fries. So then she's going to think that that's why I'm not that slim or all these thoughts that then spiral, spiral, spiral, and they don't lead to anywhere. And you can't control what other people think about you.

You can control what you think about yourself and how you behave and being aligned with your values, but what people think about you, that's something you can't control. So I think it's much more important to connect with yourself. And what do I feel like eating? Do I feel like eating the salad or the fries? If you feel like eating the fries, go for it. And what other people think, it doesn't matter because imagine that you actually feel that you want the fries, but you choose the salad because you don't want to be judged by the people that are around you. You are going to feel deprived because you are not really giving yourself what you feel like having. So then there is this deprivation that you feel, and maybe at the end of the day, you will end up eating something else to compensate because you felt that deprivation because you were restricting yourself. Now, am I saying eat wherever you want, whenever you want? No, that's not what I'm saying. But there is no diet that fits all.

We are all different, and we need to do the work to understand what works for us. And in my experience, and what I see is that when you restrict, that's also when you feel out of control around food because you don't eat what you really want. And then you binge or overeat on all those foods that you have off limits. I don't have off limits foods. And sometimes I eat ice cream because I feel like having ice cream, but because it's not something that is outside my limits, I don't feel that urge anymore because I have unconditional permission to eat it. And so I don't feel that, oh, when I have ice cream, let me eat all that I can because I don't know the next time I'll eat. No, I eat wherever I want. So if we can apply this to work where we don't compare ourselves to others, we try to not give the power to people to what they think having an impact on our behavior because we can't control it.

And really listening to our body. I think that can really help when we talk about eating at work and all the stress and all that.

Lisa Virtue

I can absolutely relate on the deprivation in our household. I'm the one that will buy ice cream or buy some kind of sweet and it'll sit there forever and I'll maybe have a little bit when I want it. My husband's the complete opposite. He's like, if we buy it, I'm going to want to eat it. It's sitting there. It's my face. So I know there's different personality types. So we've come to some agreements of, okay, if I buy, I kind of label it like it's mine.

You have to ask permission so that he doesn't feel compelled. Like, this is sitting here so long, it needs to be eaten, because then that can create unhealthy habits, too. So I think when you share a household and you share food with others, it's important, too, to have that conversation. Right? So people know your intention. They know what you're trying to accomplish when it comes to your own health and nutrition.

Duna Zurcher

Totally.

Lisa Virtue

Yes. Yeah. Well, Duna, these are fantastic tips. I'm sure there's going to be listeners that are. Might have, I want more information or I might have an issue with this. How can I reach out to Duna? So how can people get a hold.

Duna Zurcher

Of you so they can find me on Instagram? It's @MindfulHealthWithDuna. Also on Facebook or I have a website, mindfulhealthwithduna.com, and they can DM me on Instagram, send me an email to coaching@mindfulhealthwithuna.com, and I'll be happy to talk to them.

Lisa Virtue

I love it. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. And it's definitely giving me some takeaways of being more mindful and giving my body that nourishment it needs, but in a way that feels very, I guess, nourishing, feels very balanced and checking in. And I just love that concept of, like, the more you do it mindfully, the more your brain is going to turn to food when it needs it versus when we feel deprived or when we are emotional and we're just trying to physically do something with those emotions and the only thing we turn to is food. So I really appreciate that. So thank you.

Duna Zurcher

Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. And, well, I'm glad that you like those takeaways and, yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much. Awesome.