It's safe to say Amber Romanuik is well-versed in the area of self-care. Having gone through her own ups and downs re: self-care, Amber is now a leading health food expert that completely understands the struggles that we all go through when we don't make time for our number one—ourselves.
Recently, we connected with Amber about how true self-care means honouring yourself, the signs you may be neglecting your own self-care, and how we can deal with stress when it becomes too much.
First, let's start with the basics. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming a professional in the wellness world?
Always since I was a little girl, I've had a relationship with food that revolved heavily around it! In my early twenties I wanted to be thin, so I restricted by eating and exercise and lost weight quickly. I was then rejected by my first love, which flipped a switch in me. I fell into a bad food addiction for a few years, and ended up gaining a lot of weight very quickly. I felt devastated. Unknowingly, I then chose to figure out how to overcome my food addiction by shifting from self-hate to self-love—and embarking on my personal journey. Overcoming my food addiction inspired me to start my own business and support other women and men who struggle with their own weight issues, have unhealthy relationships with food, and are unsure of how to balance the body physically.
What does self-care mean to you?
Self-care means honouring self. By ensuring that we take the time every day to slow down, give to ourselves by resting, relaxing, mindfully moving, listening to our bodies, and nourishing them with wonderful foods. Practicing regular self-care is one of the key pieces to making friends with food, and overcoming any unhealthy relationships we may have with food and our bodies.
What are most common symptoms you see of someone who has been neglecting their own self-care?
Adrenal fatigue, tiredness, weight-gain, food cravings, emotional eating and binge eating, bloating and digestive issues, issues sleeping, blood sugar imbalances, inflammation and much more!
When life gets busy, it can be easy to put our self-care on the back burner. If you could give just one tip for someone looking to make more time for self-care, what would it be?
Open up your schedule and start blocking off daily time for you. Even if you're not sure how you'll spend your 'me' time, blocking it off ensures that space is there for us, and we can figure out what to do with it because it’s already there!
Have there been any books/music/movies that have influenced your view of self-nourishment and/or self-care?
Louise L. Hay—everything she has! Dr. Wayne Dyer, I’ve taken a big connection to identifying ego versus our heart self and brought this into my own personal journey and my coaching. It’s very transformational.
If stress cannot be avoided, how do you recommend dealing with it?
Become present to the stress, and then ask yourself: why are you stressed out? Is it really necessary, or are we letting our ego take our power away? The ego is the self-sabotaging side of us that wants us to be stressed all the time, and go to the food and self-sabotaging behaviours. So the simplest most effective thing is to ask is what does the stress feels like, and what is the positive opposite you want to feel? Then start to breathe in that positive and breathe out the negative.
Most of us will admit to having a sweet tooth. What's your best advice for keeping it in check?
Eat regularly through the day, manage your stressors, get enough sleep choose natural sweeteners over refined and artificial. If you are really struggling with intense cravings and can’t seem to overcome them, get assessed for emotional eating and get the support you require to eliminate your cravings.
What do you consider to be the single most important change you've made to your routine or lifestyle in terms of wellness?
Learning how to say no, and setting healthy boundaries to support and protect my health and well-being. Being able to block my schedule and manage it in a healthy way so I have wonderful work-life balance keeps me healthy, full of energy, hormonally balanced, and able to fully show up in both my business, coaching my one-on-one clients and enjoying relaxing time home.
Thank you so much, Amber!
If you live in Calgary and would like to learn methods for practicing self-care to combat emotional overwhelm, low energy, cravings, hormone imbalances, weight plateaus/gain and more, Amber is hosting an event at our Flagship Store on 4th Street next Wednesday, January 24th!
Tickets include:
- Take home worksheet to improve your self-care routine
- Tips and tricks to make 2018 your healthiest year yet!
- Exclusive discounts on nutrition packages and a shopping event at Neal's Yard Remedies
Do you have any favourite methods for practicing your own self-care? How do you deal with stress when it becomes too much? Let us know in the comments below!