3 Ways to End the Struggle
“Diet” is typically a 4-letter word in most people’s book. It brings on angst and discomfort. The knowledge that restriction is right around the corner is troublesome for most. The discomfort and angst bring on more weight gain.
It is astounding that this feeling around “diet” causes more health issues then the action itself.
The quote “The mind is everything, what you think you become.” (Buddha) This is truth.
Or Wayne Dyer “Keep reminding yourself: I get what I think about, whether I want it or not.”
If dieting is your M-O for each year, then this is the merry go round of your creation.
“OUCH!”
I know that hits close to home, so here is the break down.
If all you think about is dieting, then you will live on a diet each year. Your body will create this need via weight gain or inability to lose weight. The great fear and what I hear all the time is, “If I don’t diet, I will be big as a house.” Or “If I don’t restrict my foods, then I will go hog wild and overeat.”
This very fear is what is keeping you from living in a body you love at a healthy weight.
FEAR is the enemy NOT FOOD
The 2 main reasons why people go on a diet in the first place is:
- To lose weight
- Health issues
Both are particularly good reasons; however, diets do not give these same results for the long term. Why? Because very few people can live with this type of restriction day in and day out. In fact, 98% of those that go on a diet for the sole purpose to lose weight gain it back within 2 years. Eliminating foods that they love, living under the stress of the number on the scale, and knowing this is not the last time, is more than the human psyche can take.
Remember, what you think about is what you create. The environment dieting creates is a stress pool. And STRESS causes a collection of adipose tissue (fat) around the waistline (visceral fat).
So, the big question is: Why diet in the first place?
Are you in intrigued to try something new?
This criterion of eating works for those that experience:
- Overeating
- Binge eating
- Excessive dieting
- Restriction
- Fear of food
You name it…the following steps will repair your relationship with food, so you will see it as a friend instead of the enemy that causes weight gain, social issues, depression, anxiousness, frustration, despair…just to name a few.
Food is your friend, comforter, and nourisher. Food is grounding, it lets you know you are alive. So, how can it be “bad”?
Here are 3 actions you can take that will END the need for dieting in your life.
- Check to see if you are breathing!
I know this sounds funny, of course, you are breathing. You would be passed out at this moment if you weren’t. Instead, HOW you are breathing. Short and shallow or long and deep?
Long and deep is the way to go.
When you breathe short and shallow, the body goes into a stressed state. The blood is shunted away from the gut and into the arms, legs, and head, so you can think fast and move with herculean strength and speed.
When the blood is no longer in the gut region, digestion slows down, the body utilizes muscle for energy and stores fat.
If you want to mobilize fat while reading this article, then I suggest breathing slow and deep.
- Eat at a snail’s pace and enjoy the scenery!
Yes, you have heard this before, “slow down and you won’t eat as much.” Did you listen? The reason for this is to stimulate the head phase of digestion, your senses, and to wake up the gut brain. Doing this will increase your digestive power by 40-60%. AND you do not eat as much….so you have just given yourself the perfect portion control mechanism.
When the senses are present, taste, aroma, pleasure and satisfaction are experienced, and you actually enjoy and remember what you ate. When the gut brain is given time to respond that there is enough food eaten until the next meal, you leave the table feeling energized instead of lethargic because you ate too much.
Again, this is the perfect portion control mechanism.
- Protein and Essential Fat are the Key to Appetite Satisfaction.
Eat a protein and essential fat at every meal and you will feel satisfied. If you experience hunger shortly after eating, most likely protein and essential fat were not a part of that meal. These 2 macro-nutrients are key to weight loss efforts and energy.
Protein builds lean tissue and lasting energy. The greater amount of lean tissue on the body, the more calories the body will burn at rest. That is what we are after…more calorie burning power.
Essential fats are key to our health. Not only do they give us healthy skin and nails and a plethora of other vital needs, but also much satisfaction. When we experience satisfaction with food, we tend to not overeat. We enjoy the food instead of seeing it as the enemy.
The point here is, change the way YOU show up with food and food will give you the results you desire, energy, vitality, satisfaction, and pleasure.
For more tools to living in a body you love WITHOUT the Struggle, see me at www.ashlytorian.com
Ashly Torian www.ashlytorian.com