Hey folks how's everyone doing on this wet Monday night?
So I told you I would be back today to talk about food and here I am. This one really interests me because if you take it on board it could really really REALLY change the way you are around food completely.
SO... here's what I want to talk about.
Stress and Guilt and FOOD
There are so many different types of people in the world when it comes to food. There are those who can eat in moderation, those who binge, those who overeat, whose who don't eat, those who love food too much and those who don't love food enough and a few in between. Whatever type you are and particularly if you are female here is something you need to know.
The more stressed you are about eating or anything food related, and the more guilt you feel around food, eating and anything related, the more damage could be causing yourself in relation to your body's ability to relax and recover and also in your body's ability to burn fat/loose weight.
Yeah.... you need to stop stressing about food, you need to stop worrying about what you ate when you ate it and how much you ate and just chill. You need to stop being angry at yourself for eating that bar of chocolate and you need to just enjoy it and move on!
Now before everyone in the world decides that this is the way forward there are many many people who this would not be an option. Those are people with serious eating disorders and for those of you who have any sort of eating disorder or problem with food, the first thing you need to do is recognise it and then seek help. Proper help because every eating disorder not only plays havoc with your body, it messes with your mind and has very long and difficult lasting results.
But for the rest of you, it is time to stop. Guilt can increase your stress hormone.... Cortisol and when that hormone is increased and released rapidly and regularly and the body's repair and relax response is not allowed to function properly then these can happen
I am highlighting those 2 particular points as my blog today is about food, stress and weight. There have been studies done which show that high levels of Cortisol can induce stress which in turn can make people (study carried out on women) eat more.
Studies of women who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol secretion have shown that these women also tended to eat more when under stress than women who secreted less cortisol. Another study demonstrated that women who stored their excess fat in the abdominal area had higher cortisol levels and reported more lifestyle stress than women who stored fat primarily in the hips.
Check out these articles
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53304
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm
Here it is in black and white and if you think about it, and then relate it to what's written above and then read the articles and maybe even do some research of your own you should really REALLY stop feeling guilty!
Excessive guilt has a similar affect on the brain as depression, bringing down not only our mood and spirits, but slowing our digestive system as well. Continuing to remain happy and grateful for that black raspberry cone will allow your body to process it more easily than guiltily gulping it down.
Aside from the digestive response, guilt can negatively alter our behavior when it comes to food. Feeling guilty is what causes us to sneak food, many times leading to our overeating. If we want those potato chips, but tell ourselves we “shouldn’t,” chances are we’ll still reach for them. Doing this with the mindset that the potato chips are bad, we’re more likely to sneak in as many as we can before the shame is too much to take or we think we’re being spotted by another dieting friend. If, instead, we approach the potato chips without guilt, we can more easily have a couple- enjoying each tasty, salty crunch. We’re more likely to stop at just a few because we’re allowing ourselves to fully enjoy the treat without rushing to cram them in before others, our ourselves, notice.
http://www.examiner.com/article/guilt-s-role-weight-gain
So here is what you need to do... you need to enjoy the food. If you are on a "diet" and you "slip up" DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. Just move on and keep going. If you want the bar of chocolate, have it. If you feel you need that burger, go for it. No matter what DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. Don't allow stress and guilt to be the things that keep you from achieving your goal if that goal is weight loss/body fat loss and even more so if that goal is to have a much more healthy relationship with food.
Enjoy the food people. There is so much of it out there it is a damn shame to restrict any of it. And lets change that word restriction to something much less negative....... Balance! If you have balance in your Nutrition, if you enjoy the healthy wholesome food, have a little of what you fancy when you fancy it without feeling guilty and are healthy then YOU HAVE BALANCE. That is a wonderful thing. Enjoyment and Balance. Imagine life if you did both :)
I would like to just say one more time, there are times when this will not apply as there are always extremes so when you read this please read with an honest and open view to yourself and whether or not this can apply right in this moment. If this enjoyment of the food and eating what you want when you want it is not where you are right now then...DON'T STRESS! Think about why it may not be and ask yourself if there is something you need to do to get you on the road to where this is YOUR BALANCE.
Have a super Monday night folks
xx
Ciara
So I told you I would be back today to talk about food and here I am. This one really interests me because if you take it on board it could really really REALLY change the way you are around food completely.
SO... here's what I want to talk about.
Stress and Guilt and FOOD
There are so many different types of people in the world when it comes to food. There are those who can eat in moderation, those who binge, those who overeat, whose who don't eat, those who love food too much and those who don't love food enough and a few in between. Whatever type you are and particularly if you are female here is something you need to know.
The more stressed you are about eating or anything food related, and the more guilt you feel around food, eating and anything related, the more damage could be causing yourself in relation to your body's ability to relax and recover and also in your body's ability to burn fat/loose weight.
Yeah.... you need to stop stressing about food, you need to stop worrying about what you ate when you ate it and how much you ate and just chill. You need to stop being angry at yourself for eating that bar of chocolate and you need to just enjoy it and move on!
Now before everyone in the world decides that this is the way forward there are many many people who this would not be an option. Those are people with serious eating disorders and for those of you who have any sort of eating disorder or problem with food, the first thing you need to do is recognise it and then seek help. Proper help because every eating disorder not only plays havoc with your body, it messes with your mind and has very long and difficult lasting results.
But for the rest of you, it is time to stop. Guilt can increase your stress hormone.... Cortisol and when that hormone is increased and released rapidly and regularly and the body's repair and relax response is not allowed to function properly then these can happen
- Impaired cognitive performance
- Suppressed thyroid function
- Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
- Decreased bone density
- Decrease in muscle tissue
- Higher blood pressure
- Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
- Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
I am highlighting those 2 particular points as my blog today is about food, stress and weight. There have been studies done which show that high levels of Cortisol can induce stress which in turn can make people (study carried out on women) eat more.
Studies of women who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol secretion have shown that these women also tended to eat more when under stress than women who secreted less cortisol. Another study demonstrated that women who stored their excess fat in the abdominal area had higher cortisol levels and reported more lifestyle stress than women who stored fat primarily in the hips.
Check out these articles
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=53304
http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm
Here it is in black and white and if you think about it, and then relate it to what's written above and then read the articles and maybe even do some research of your own you should really REALLY stop feeling guilty!
Excessive guilt has a similar affect on the brain as depression, bringing down not only our mood and spirits, but slowing our digestive system as well. Continuing to remain happy and grateful for that black raspberry cone will allow your body to process it more easily than guiltily gulping it down.
Aside from the digestive response, guilt can negatively alter our behavior when it comes to food. Feeling guilty is what causes us to sneak food, many times leading to our overeating. If we want those potato chips, but tell ourselves we “shouldn’t,” chances are we’ll still reach for them. Doing this with the mindset that the potato chips are bad, we’re more likely to sneak in as many as we can before the shame is too much to take or we think we’re being spotted by another dieting friend. If, instead, we approach the potato chips without guilt, we can more easily have a couple- enjoying each tasty, salty crunch. We’re more likely to stop at just a few because we’re allowing ourselves to fully enjoy the treat without rushing to cram them in before others, our ourselves, notice.
http://www.examiner.com/article/guilt-s-role-weight-gain
So here is what you need to do... you need to enjoy the food. If you are on a "diet" and you "slip up" DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. Just move on and keep going. If you want the bar of chocolate, have it. If you feel you need that burger, go for it. No matter what DO NOT FEEL GUILTY. Don't allow stress and guilt to be the things that keep you from achieving your goal if that goal is weight loss/body fat loss and even more so if that goal is to have a much more healthy relationship with food.
Enjoy the food people. There is so much of it out there it is a damn shame to restrict any of it. And lets change that word restriction to something much less negative....... Balance! If you have balance in your Nutrition, if you enjoy the healthy wholesome food, have a little of what you fancy when you fancy it without feeling guilty and are healthy then YOU HAVE BALANCE. That is a wonderful thing. Enjoyment and Balance. Imagine life if you did both :)
I would like to just say one more time, there are times when this will not apply as there are always extremes so when you read this please read with an honest and open view to yourself and whether or not this can apply right in this moment. If this enjoyment of the food and eating what you want when you want it is not where you are right now then...DON'T STRESS! Think about why it may not be and ask yourself if there is something you need to do to get you on the road to where this is YOUR BALANCE.
Have a super Monday night folks
xx
Ciara