3 Essential Things to Remember If You’re Trying to Lose Weight

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3 Essential Things to Remember If You’re Trying to Lose Weight

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2009 | POSTED BY MICHELLE

By now most of you know that our main belief system here at Shrink Yourself is that the majority of overeating is a result of emotional eating—using food to cope with feelings. Therefore, when you learn to address your feelings (as we teach you to do) your desire for food naturally diminishes. However, since the body is an integrated system in which your physical health can affect your emotional health, and your emotional health can affect your physical health, weight loss must be approached from many angles. If you really have worked on your emotional eating and you’re still not getting the results you want there might be something physiological going on. Consider the things below:

1. Food: What Kind of Food Are You Eating?

Hippocrates said, “Let your food be your medicine.” I often find it funny that most doctors will ask if you’re taking any medications on a regular basis but they won’t inquire into what you’re eating or drinking. Obviously, food affects your physical health but it also affects your emotional health. If you’re consuming a lot of caffeine, you might feel anxious or have trouble sleeping. If you’re consuming a lot of sugar or simple carbohydrates you could have a sudden surge of energy followed by a crash or bout of brain fog. Also, if you’re low in serotonin you may crave sugar and/or simple carbohydrates because of the quick jolt of serotonin they give you.

Food allergies or sensitivities can also make digestion difficult and that can have you hold on to extra weight. These days allergies to wheat, soy, dairy and corn are very common.

Don’t just pay attention to how much you’re eating but also remember to focus on the quality of your food and how particular foods affect your levels of exhaustion, your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep, your mood, and your focus. Sometimes eliminating certain foods as an experiment can be really illuminating.

2. Vitamins, Minerals & Hormones : Are you Deficient In Any of Them?

People who don’t get adequate vitamins and minerals can have a hard time losing weight.
This week one of our members reported that after discovering she was deficient in Vitamin D (55% of obese people are deficient in Vitamin D), her doctor prescribed the amount she needed and she immediately started to lose weight. Not only that but her depression lifted and she was finally able to get adequate rest.

Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids can help you lose weight, too. The addition of good fats (for instance a fish oil supplement – I recommend Nordic Naturals brand which doesn’t repeat at all) like salmon, avocado, flax meal, and olive oil can help you to metabolize fat more efficiently

Hormones affect your weight as well. If you’re eating well and exercising and you still haven’t lost weight you might want to consider having your hormone levels checked. Thyroid levels (always ask to have your thyroid antibodies checked in addition to T3, T4 and TSH levels) and cortisol levels should be monitored. If you have hypothyroidism and take thyroid supplements pay particular attention to your cortisol levels. Supplemental thyroid hormone is like the gas in your car and cortisol is like the gas pedal. If you’re taking thyroid supplement yet don’t have enough cortisol in your body, it’s like having enough gas in your tank but not having any way to get it into your engine.

3. Stress: Do you Know How to Relax, Restore and Rejuvenate Your Body?

Human beings are physiologically equipped with a complex system for dealing with stress. Our adrenal glands control our fight or flight instinct. Animals in the wild, when exposed to stress, know how to shake off their experiences and return to a neutral state. We don’t know how to do this nearly as well. Our bodies can’t really tell the difference between the stress of being chased by a lion in the jungle and being cut off by a fellow driver on the freeway.

In modern day society we’re faced with constant stressors and never given the chance to restore ourselves. Traffic. Sirens. Loud noises. Tragedy on the news. Deadlines. Multi-tasking. Sleep Deprivation. Screaming children.

Prolonged exposure to stress can affect many of your body’s systems and inhibit your ability to lose weight. Learn how to relax. Shut your body down. Get enough rest. Find some quiet. By learning how to relax, your body can restore itself and it will be better equipped to digest food and metabolize fat.

Remember, it’s essential to look at how you might be using food to cope with feelings. But some of the foods you’re eating can be creating bad feelings, too. Always approach health and wellness from both physical and emotional angles.

12 Comments In the order they were posted.

scarlett said...

Today I found this website , because I have been mall walking (3-5 miles 4 days per week) I haven't lost a pound. I am an emotional eater and I have been under a extreme amount of emotional stress. I must learn to deal with it and make choices that will benefit me. One of my new choices is to drink 2 mugs of either hot water or tea each morning before breakfast-which most likely will be raisin bran and soy milk, I am going to drink at least 8oz of water before I eat anything. I know I can do this- no exceptions , I will let you know how it works out.

hopeful2010 said...

How true this is. I have been gettig the emotional eating part under control, I have only had 1 episoed in 1 1/2 weeks. However, it would b e nice to beable to get my portion sizes under control. I know what to eat, but you can even eat too much of a healty food. This too, I will over come

bunk said...

I stumbled onto this site today feeling desperate and hopeless. I have to get control of my eating and my life. I am excited to be able to communicate in this annonymous forum.

Cath said...

Thank you- wellness , as I have found the hard way, is physical , mental, emotional and spiritual. Your words address each of these elements. I have learned to develop a living habit of properly and in a healthy way dealing with my emotion not with food and over indulgence. It is so interconnected with all the other areas. Thanks and to the others out there - keep on keeping on...a change will come.

dyna said...

Thank you for this article. For the most part I eat very healthy foods, just to large of portions. However when I do binge, about 1-2 times a week right now, I usually end up eating ice cream, breads or nuts. These seem to be my binge foods of choice. I have cleaned out my kitchen of these products and will not be buying them any more at the store. No matter how much I tell myself at the time that I buy them, I will only eat a single serving, I end up eating the whole carton of ice cream or the whole can of nuts. I will over come this with time and lots of hard work on my part

august said...

Just for today I will eat 3/4 of any food I eat... Feel, listen, look I will pay attention today. I am a newby to this site but I have been emotion eater all my life....... just for today I will eat healthy.

sally1963 said...

This is my first day on the site and I am off to prepare my healthy snacks and plan some meals for the weekend. Thanks for making me more aware of how out of control I have become and helping me realize that I can make things better even by just being more aware.

rosie21 said...

i not only love my food, but i also equally love my coffee, i always allow myself one before i start work, then tell myself "no more", but by the end of the day i usually have up to four. tommorow i will go without coffee completley so i can start taking back control over that little voice that says "go on have another, you deserve it". :

Anonymous said...

august1 said...

Start where I am, I have to look at what food I am eating....... I know sugar and chocolate are my triggers........ how do you give up your favorite thing? I end of eating around it but I can not just have one serving.