When your blood sugar is imbalanced, intuitive eating can feel really hard.
It can feel like it’s not working.
That’s because imbalanced blood sugar is one of the biggest factors that stifles the connection between you and your intuition.
If your blood sugar is imbalanced, what you think is intuition is most likely impulse.
And that’s not your fault, plus, blood sugar can be corrected.
When your blood sugar is imbalanced, your body screams for quick sources of energy.
It asks for things that create stability fast (even if only temporarily), like refined carbs and sugar that crash your energy 1-2 hours later.
The voice that asks for quick energy is impulse – your body’s most basic instinctual drive to keep you resourced.
Your intuition is the softer, more grounded voice telling you something else is going on.
Whether you know that blood sugar is a factor for you, or feel it might be something else, your intuition is always trying to guide you.
Ironically, intuitive eating is what ultimately stabilized my blood sugar the most, after a decade plus of…
- Intense cravings
- Dizziness
- Energy crashes
- Hormone imbalances
- PCOS
- Mood swings
… and many more symptoms of imbalanced blood sugar.
However, when you’re making the transition to intuitive eating, it can be a little rocky, and the anchors I’m sharing today will help make your transition smoother than mine was.
If you’ve been struggling with intuitive eating, feeling like it’s not working, today’s post might be just what you need to read.
We’re going to cover five factors that impact blood sugar, five signs your blood sugar is imbalanced, and five anchors to balance your blood sugar.
When your blood sugar is balanced, you’re no longer in survival mode.
In this regulated state, intuitive eating becomes second nature, because you can sense what you truly need, beyond survival impulses.
5 Factors That Impact Blood Sugar
There are so many factors that impact blood sugar.
Let’s look at five of the most common factors:
1. Stress and emotions.
It took me a long time to fully understand how much stress and emotions impact blood sugar, because I was raised in a push-push culture: one fixated on work, achievement, body maintenance, and eating less above all else.
When you’re going through a stressful time – or just having a stressful conversation – your brain burns through more sugar, leaving you exhausted and hungry.
Science confirms this. Not new or fringy science, but basic, age-old science.
The brain uses sugar, and the brain is central to the nervous system, which directs emotions.
When the brain is stressed or overwhelmed, it uses more sugar, leading to exhaustion and emotional dysregulation.
2. Food.
Skipping meals, overeating, or eating too many refined carbs and sugars can spike then tank your blood sugar.
Foods high in fiber like beans, veggies, and whole grains can slow down the absorption of sugar, giving you stable energy.
Protein and fat are also key for stable blood sugar, since they regulate digestion and absorption, helping you avoid energy spikes and crashes.
3. Movement.
Exercise can increase insulin sensitivity, helping your body use glucose more efficiently.
This leads to more stable blood sugar, which means more stable moods, hormone balance, and dozens of other positive side effects.
On the other hand, exercising too much can tank your blood sugar, leaving you exhausted and depleted.
4. Sleep.
When you’re not getting enough sleep (or deep enough sleep), your insulin sensitivity is impaired, and insulin is what regulates blood sugar.
Most people can confirm this:
After a night of disrupted sleep, it’s typical to feel moody, tired, and hungrier than usual.
Why are cravings more intense after poor sleep?
During the night, all your bodily systems and hormones are restored and reset, including ghrelin and leptin (the hunger and fullness hormones).
When you miss out on that precious time, the body wants more fuel, and fast, often in the form of carbs and sugar.
5. Alcohol and caffeine.
Alcohol leads to a spike then sharp drop in blood sugar.
Over time, it can create insulin resistance – an inability to regulate blood sugar.
Since alcohol is a toxin, drinking also slows down other processes like digestion, since the body must prioritize detoxing the alcohol as quickly as possible.
Caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant, also raises then tanks blood sugar, since it triggers a stress response in the body, aka “fight or flight” state.
Over time, this leads to blood sugar dysregulation and burnout.
When you drink caffeine, you feel like you’re gaining energy, but that’s actually just adrenaline.
Caffeine, ironically, creates a net loss of energy, as the body tries to climb back to equilibrium after using extra energy to activate the stress response.
Do you think any of these factors are affecting you? If you’ve been struggling with intuitive eating, it’s very likely that at least one of these elements is at play.
Now, let’s look at five signs your blood sugar is imbalanced.
5 Signs Your Blood Sugar is Imbalanced
1. Emotional overwhelm and stress.
Whatever the root of your blood sugar imbalance – whether it’s skipping meals, eating processed carbs too often, or lack of sleep – a common symptom is emotional overwhelm, stress, and irritability.
When your body isn’t regulating blood sugar properly, it’s very difficult to feel balanced, because your brain probably isn’t getting the nutrients it needs to function.
As a result, you can feel dysregulated throughout your nervous system, which shows up as emotional overwhelm and stress, even if your plate isn’t too full, and especially if it is.
2. Fatigue and muscle weakness.
When blood sugar is low, the body doesn’t have enough glucose for energy.
This can translate to feelings of extreme tiredness, weakness, and lethargy.High blood sugar can also cause fatigue, since the body is flooded with more glucose than it can efficiently manage.
3. Strong cravings and increased overall hunger.
Low blood sugar levels trigger hunger, as the body seeks to replenish its energy stores.
This hunger can be intense, and when you’re in this state, the body typically wants refined sugar or carbs, since they give you quick energy.
The problem? These fast release carbs perpetuate blood sugar rollercoasters.
4. Excessive thirst and frequent urination.
When blood sugar levels are too high, the kidneys try to remove the excess glucose through urine, which leads to dehydration.
This can make you feel super thirsty, while also needing to go to the bathroom more often.
5. Numbness or tingling in hands and feet.
Over time, blood sugar imbalances can lead to neuropathy (nerve damage), which may show up as numbness, tingling, or feeling “pins and needles” in your hands and feet.
You might also get cold hands and feet, and other signs of poor circulation, like swelling, pale skin, and shortness of breath.
Are you experiencing any of these five signs of imbalanced blood sugar, or have you historically? If so, intuitive eating may feel a lot more difficult.
Now, let’s get into the five anchors to balance your blood sugar.
5 Anchors To Balance Your Blood Sugar
1. Practice emotional regulation.
Life will never be perfectly stress-free, and you wouldn’t want it to be.
Even after moving to paradise and living my dream life, stress is still a major factor sometimes.
What matters most is our ability to self-regulate.
My favorite ways to support my emotional health are:
Prioritizing sleep, taking social media breaks, authentic communication and boundaries, regular meals and snacks, yoga, meditation, dance, time in nature, journaling, self-led somatic practices, and connection with the Universe, Mother Nature, Goddesses, and Gods.
2. Nourish your body consistently.
Starting with breakfast, eat consistently throughout the day.
Generally – and especially if you’re struggling with blood sugar – I recommend eating breakfast within 30-60 minutes of waking up.
A balance of protein, carbs, and fats will provide the nourishment and balance you need.
I strongly recommend eggs for blood sugar balance, since they’re such a true superfood, full of protein, healthy fat, and micronutrients like choline, which is key for brain health.
So many clients have transformed their blood sugar and health just by switching to eggs for breakfast.
After breakfast, I recommend eating every 3-4 hours, keeping that balance of protein, carbs, and healthy fats in mind.
Of course, I practice and teach intuitive eating, and I never recommend eating when you’re not hungry.
However, in cases of blood sugar imbalance, it may serve you to lovingly guide your body to eat more consistently and balanced, if it’s something you struggle with.
The subconscious drive to eat as little as possible is ingrained in so many women (for years I was one of them).
It’s so important to lovingly realize that you may be subconsciously restricting – especially if you have symptoms of low blood sugar.
It’s also incredibly important to hydrate with good quality water throughout the day.
However, avoid drinking large amounts of water with meals, since it can dilute digestive enzymes and cause further dysregulation.
3. Find your movement sweet spot.
Too little movement can leave you feeling lethargic, and too much movement can leave you exhausted and ravenous for the rest of the day (that’s what happened when I was practicing Bikram Yoga).
The right amount of exercise helps with insulin sensitivity, which means that it helps you regulate your blood sugar.
Regulated blood sugar means regulated energy, hormones, mood, and so much more.
Right now, I love walking, biking, yoga, and body-weight workouts.
In the past, HIIT, running, and Bikram have made it more difficult to regulate my blood sugar.
Experiment with different types and amounts of movement to see what works best for you.
4. Prioritize healthy sleep.
Sleep is my favorite.
It’s so fundamental for every bodily process, including blood sugar regulation.
All the tips work, but it’s important to not be dogmatic about it, and to just find a way to get solid hours of deep sleep.
What works best for me, right now, is going to bed when I want to and waking up when I want to.
It sounds so simple, but for the first 28 years of my life, between school and work, it was rare that I could do that. Very rare.
Simply allowing for my natural sleep flow has transformed my health, blood sugar, and hormones, including naturally healing my PCOS.
After struggling with my cycle and hormones for a decade, I’ve now enjoyed years of healthy cycles that come like clockwork.
While following my flow with sleep has been so key for me, I understand not everyone can do this.
Here are a bunch of sleep tools to play with:
Turning off screens one hour before bed, sleeping in a cool, dark room, avoiding caffeine in the late afternoon and evening, reading fiction before bed, meditating in the evening, and journaling before bed to release overthinking and anxiety.
5. Get honest about alcohol and caffeine.
Alcohol and caffeine are both toxins and central nervous system stimulants. They can affect every area of the body and mind.
If you’re struggling with anxiety, fatigue, low mood, irregular periods, or digestive issues, alcohol and caffeine are probably affecting you.
I understand that it’s a process to stop drinking these things, or to truly limit them as much as you want to, because they’re chemically addictive.
I highly recommend the books Quit Like A Woman and Caffeine Blues to support your journey, as well as personal coaching.
Remember that when you skip alcohol and caffeine, you’re showing your body love.
You’re not actually depriving yourself – you’re giving yourself so much.
You’re allowing your energy, enthusiasm, and magnetism to grow and build, without these stimulants tearing you down.
Do you struggle with blood sugar regulation?
Have you noticed that it blocks your connection with your intuition, and makes intuitive eating feel more difficult?
By supporting your blood sugar through holistic nutrition, intuitive eating becomes much easier, until it’s effortless – simply a part of who you are.