Everything! When we feel upset, out of sorts, overwhelmed, we eat. What’s worse is chronic low-level stress, via cortisol and insulin, decreases calorie-burning capacity and lays a foundation for weight gain.
Thus, when we are constantly on the move, feeling anxious and under pressure to meet our goals and/or are filled with fear, doubt and worry about the future (taking ourselves out of the precious present), we set ourselves up for digestive shutdown and decreased hormonal activity not to mention a long list of possible inflammatory and auto-immune illnesses. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose a different path.
How do we change course and turn our ship around? Well, just like Einstein commented that you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it, as long as you remain in a chronic state of high or low level stress, your body will remain in a state of alarm, a survival state, and will attempt to save you from the lion.
But there is no lion! You have created a mind-set that thinks a lion is chasing you and since the mind cannot tell the difference between something imagined and something real (imagine sucking on a lemon right now), your body is reacting to the mental image you have placed before it.
Solution? Change your mind. Begin with relaxation practices such as mediation, prayer, hypnosis and deep diaphragmatic breathing exercises. When you are in a relaxed state, program yourself to like exercise and watch yourself begin to change by exercising more and worrying less. Also, remember that thoughts are things and by challenging your automatic negative thoughts (called ANT’s by Dr. Daniel Amen) that tell us we don’t have enough time, energy, money, or ability to achieve our goals in a more relaxed, healthy way we begin to slay the lion and take charge of our lives.
