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Episode: 276 - Exploring the Financial Implications of Emotional Eating

In today’s discussion, we tackled an often private yet significant issue: the link between emotional eating and financial stress. This connection can create a negative cycle where financial pressures lead to unhealthy eating habits, which in turn contribute to further financial difficulties. Brad Nelson, the founder of Debt Free Dad, recently discussed this topic with Amber Romaniak, an expert in emotional eating, digestion, and hormonal health. 

 

 

How Financial Stress Fuels Emotional Eating 

Amber explained how financial anxiety can lead to poor eating habits. Many people turn to food as a way to cope, procrastinate, or avoid addressing their stress. Financial hardship can heighten this tendency, leading to emotional or binge eating, which then compounds both health and financial problems. 

Amber Romaniak’s Story and Expertise 

Amber’s insights come from her personal experience with emotional eating. She spent years trapped in a cycle of restrictive dieting and binge eating, all while pouring money into quick fixes that never addressed the underlying issues. It wasn’t until she confronted the emotional and physiological causes that she found lasting healing. Now, Amber’s mission is to help others, particularly women, break free from similar destructive patterns. 

Recognizing Emotional Eating and Financial Triggers 

Distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger is key. Physical hunger is accompanied by signals like a growling stomach, while emotional hunger is often sparked by stress, such as financial concerns. Becoming mindful of these triggers can help you understand the underlying issues fueling your behavior. Amber recommends keeping a journal to track episodes of emotional eating and their triggers, which can reveal patterns and help in developing healthier coping mechanisms. 

The Financial Burden of Emotional Eating 

Amber advises calculating the financial toll of emotional eating. This includes money spent on binge foods, groceries that go to waste, different clothing sizes, and ineffective supplements. When these costs are added up, the financial impact becomes clearer, serving as a motivating factor to pursue change. 

The Health Consequences of Financial Stress 

Financial stress can trigger the body's fight-or-flight response, leading to conditions like adrenal fatigue, thyroid imbalances, and hormonal disruptions. These health issues can intensify emotional eating behaviors, creating a vicious cycle. Addressing financial stress is not only essential for improving your finances but also for enhancing your overall health and well-being. 

Steps to Start the Healing Process 

Recovering from emotional eating requires more than just willpower—it’s about understanding and addressing its root causes. Amber suggests: 

  1. Awareness: Differentiate between emotional and physical hunger. 
  1. Identifying Triggers: Keep track of emotional eating episodes and their triggers. 
  1. Financial Reflection: Assess the financial costs of these habits. 
  1. Seeking Support: If self-guided efforts fall short, consider professional help. 

Breaking the Cycle for Financial and Emotional Freedom 

Amber's message is one of hope—you can escape the cycle of emotional eating and financial stress. By addressing both issues directly, you can gain freedom in both your health and finances. 

Available Resources and Support 

For those looking to regain control over their finances and emotional eating habits, there are plenty of helpful resources. Podcasts, YouTube channels, and personalized support are available. Amber provides tools such as a free emotional eating quiz, workshops, and consultations via her website, amberapproved.ca. 

Final Thoughts 

Taking charge of your finances can help alleviate the stress that contributes to emotional eating. Just as Amber overcame her struggles to live a balanced life, you too can find freedom from financial and emotional burdens. Begin by recognizing your triggers, assessing the financial impact, and seeking the support you need. The journey toward change starts with awareness, accountability, and a commitment to take positive steps. 

 

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Amber Reomaniuk: https://amberapproved.ca/

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Transcript: 

Brad Nelson (Host)
00:00
Hey guys, so today we are talking about a sensitive and often very private topic: emotional eating and financial stress. It can be a double-edged sword that can trap you in a vicious cycle. Now, I'm thrilled to have a special guest, Amber Romaniak, here, who is an emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert. Amber will help us unpack how financial stress can drive unhealthy eating habits and how those habits, in turn, can deepen your financial woes. Amber has helped thousands of women over the years, from all walks of life, fully overcome emotional eating, binge eating, regain their energy, calm digestion, lose weight, and balance their hormones so that they feel happy, confident, and capable of anything. Stay tuned.

Announcer (Announcement)
00:51
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast with Brad Nelson. Brad and his co-hosts experienced the anxiety of living paycheck to paycheck before learning the fundamentals of financial success. They are now on a mission to empower regular people to pay off their debt for good and enjoy happier, less stressful lives. Keep listening for inspirational interviews, tips, tricks, and practical advice to gain financial freedom.

Brad Nelson (Host)
01:22
Hey guys, I'm Brad Nelson, founder of Debt-Free Dad. I paid off about $45,000 of debt, and I've been debt-free now for more than 11 years, outside of my mortgage. I've also been fortunate to help thousands of other people over the years save and pay off tens of millions of dollars with the work that we do here at Debt-Free Dad. After listening to this episode or any of our episodes, if you want to take your finances to the next level, reduce financial stress, save more money, get out of debt, and start seeing better results in as little as 30 to 60 days, we'll be sharing some details on how you can get started with that later in today's show.

So, Amber, welcome to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast! I'm so excited to have you on to talk about such a sensitive subject for many people out there who are struggling with this.

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
02:08
Yeah, thank you for having me, and I'm really excited to dive in so that we can honor the sensitivity of this subject, but just let people know that you're not alone and you can fully gain freedom from it.

Brad Nelson (Host)
02:15
Yeah, and I think that's so important to say. I hope you can speak to this because, you know, eating disorders and people who struggle with these types of things—it can be a very private and almost like this secret thing that we keep because we don't want people to know. Obviously, you can shed light on why those things are. But from a financial standpoint, I also see a lot of people doing that with their finances. It's easy in today's world to want to celebrate your new car purchase or the latest trip you went on, but we're not quick to share the real financial skeletons in our closet—paycheck-to-paycheck living and all the stress that goes with it. We can keep it very secretive, and I love that you're opening the door and shedding some light on this, just like we are on the financial side.

So, it's a pleasure to have you on. Can you share a little bit about your background and how you got into helping so many people overcome this challenge?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
03:16
Yeah, so for me, it was through struggling myself. I unconsciously emotionally ate throughout my upbringing and didn’t realize it. We all have different defining moments that push us into self-sabotaging behaviors. For me, I was bullied when I was five by older boys on the bus, and I was called fat and ugly. I took on that identity for the next 20 years of my life, and it led to chronic dieting. My mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis before I was born, which was a huge shock for her, and she coped through food addiction—though I didn’t realize it until I healed myself.

There was a lot going on, and I heavily started binge eating in my early 20s. I had lost weight quickly but couldn’t maintain it. The more you restrict and overexercise, the harder it is to sustain, and eventually, I started binge eating until I felt sick. I went through a period of binging and purging, which was a full-blown food addiction for me.

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
04:55
I was obsessed with food—planning my next binge, my next diet, or restriction. I was gaining and losing weight so fast—up and down 30 to 50 pounds every three or four months, which is incredibly unhealthy for your body, hormones, blood sugar, and mental health. It was through my lowest point, where I was literally eating out of the garbage can, that I had my wake-up call and realized, "I can’t keep doing this."

From that point, I began healing and realized there wasn’t much support out there for women struggling with emotional eating. So, I made it my mission to create a safe, non-judgmental space where women could heal. I spent about $50,000 in five years on binge eating and quick fixes. It wasn’t until I addressed the root of the issue that I found true healing.

Brad Nelson (Host)
07:48
You're absolutely right. I know someone close to me who struggles with this, and I think it’s shocking how little education there is around eating disorders and emotional eating. You've helped thousands of women, and I do want to talk about the financial side of this too. But when does someone recognize that they have a real problem with emotional eating, and how do they know it’s time to seek help?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
08:19
Most people don’t realize they’re emotionally eating. They're using food, shopping, or wine to numb their emotions or avoid dealing with stress, and they don’t recognize it as a problem. One of the biggest blocks is the diet, fitness, and weight loss industries. They’re multi-trillion-dollar industries, and they don’t want you to heal because they want you as a lifetime customer. Just like with debt-driven consumerism, people don’t realize there’s a different way to manage food or finances. The media also plays a huge role, selling us unrealistic beauty standards and Photoshop images that distort our views on body image.

Brad Nelson (Host)
12:16
Right. I’ve always thought the whole diet and food industry is so similar to the financial crisis. Debt is everywhere, but so is food. How can someone who struggles with emotional eating start taking positive steps toward healing, whether on their own or with a professional?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
13:11
The first step is awareness. Start asking yourself: Am I using food for other reasons besides physical nourishment? Am I eating because I'm stressed, bored, or overwhelmed? Start paying attention to when and why you’re eating. Is your hunger physical or emotional? And once you give in to emotional eating, start tracking your triggers—what caused you to eat? Understanding your triggers can help you address them. If it feels too overwhelming to handle alone, seek support from a professional.

Brad Nelson (Host)
16:10
You mentioned that you spent $50,000 on binge eating. What do you suggest to people from a financial standpoint? How do you balance the emotional and financial challenges?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
17:12
One exercise I always recommend is to write down how much it’s costing you to stay in this habit. How much money are you spending on binge food, groceries you throw away, different sizes of clothing, diets, and supplements? Add it all up, and you’ll see how much you could be saving or putting towards debt repayment. It’s uncomfortable to face these issues, but taking responsibility is the first step to truly changing.

Brad Nelson (Host)
18:52
That’s great advice. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with finances and emotional eating, but your message of not feeling shame or guilt is powerful. You’ve mentioned hormones and digestion—how does emotional eating affect overall health?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
19:29
It’s significant. Emotional eating and stress put your body in a constant fight-or-flight response, which raises cortisol levels. Over time, this leads to adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, weight gain, brain fog, increased cravings, and more. When you’re constantly stressed, whether it’s about finances or food, your body is always in a reactive state, making it harder to deal with daily challenges.

Brad Nelson (Host)
22:58
That’s fascinating. Can you share what life is like for you now, after healing, and how different it is from before?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
23:25
It’s like night and day. Fifteen years ago, I was broke, stuck in a retail job I hated, eating out of the garbage, and dealing with multiple health issues. Now, I don’t fight with food or my body anymore. I’ve built a successful business helping women heal, started a podcast, and have a healthy relationship with money. It’s all about creating freedom in every area of your life—mental, physical, emotional, and financial.

Brad Nelson (Host)
25:14
That’s so awesome. It’s important for people to hear that there’s a whole other life out there beyond the stress. Where can people learn more about you and how to get help?

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
25:48
You can find me on the No Sugar Coating podcast or visit my website at AmberApproved.ca. I offer a free emotional eating quiz, a free workshop, and a 30-minute consultation if you need someone to talk to and get support.

Brad Nelson (Host)
26:41
Thanks so much, Amber, for being on the show! This was a bit different from our usual topics, but financial stress can trigger so many issues, including emotional eating, and it’s important to understand the connection.

Amber Romaniak (Guest)
27:03
Thank you for having me.

Brad Nelson (Host)
27:09
Alright, guys. This episode highlights how much financial stress can affect so many areas of your life, including your health. The key is to seek help, get informed, and take control of your finances. If you’ve been enjoying the Debt-Free Dad podcast and want to save more money, get your finances in order, or pay off more debt, you can start seeing results in as little as 30 to 60 days. Head over to DebtFreeDad.com, click the green button at the top of the page, and we’ll show you how to get started today.

Announcer (Announcement)
28:07
Let's talk about debt. Tune into Debt-Free Dad.

Brad Nelson (Host)
28:29
Alright, it’s time for the celebrations of the show! First up, we have Paige, who paid off her $5,000 credit card. She had $640 left and paid it off just last week. Congratulations, Paige! Great job! Next up is Hope, who set up her high-yield savings accounts. She’s optimized her savings with a great tool like Ally Bank. Fantastic job, Hope! Last but not least, Aaron had an emergency vet trip but paid for it with her envelope money, without even touching her main emergency fund. Great planning, Aaron!

Brad Nelson (Host)
29:29
Hey guys, thanks for hanging out with us on today's show. We know that getting out of debt isn't easy, but with our help and your hard work and consistency, this can be some of the best work you do in your entire life. Thanks for joining us today.

Announcer (Announcement)
30:08
Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad Podcast. Connect with us on Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Just search Debt-Free Dad. If you found value in today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. For resources, show notes, and links mentioned in today’s show, visit DebtFreeDad.com. Catch you next week.

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