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Home » Exercise Programs » Who We Are As Eaters? – Thrive Global

Most of us have been taught to believe that good nutrition is simply a function of eating the right food and taking the right supplements. Of course, this is true, but theres more to the equation. What we eat is only half the story of good nutrition.

The other half of the story is who we are as eaters. That is, what we think, feel, believe, as well as our levels of stress, relaxation, pleasure, awareness, and the inner stories that we live out all have a real, powerful, and scientific effect on nutritional metabolism.

Recent advances in the mind-body sciences have been proving what ancient wisdom traditions have been saying for eons that the mind and body exist on an exquisite continuum, and profoundly impact one another.

So the good news is simply this: you can powerfully change your health and your nutritional status without changing anything you eat, but by changing you the eater.

Consider some of these key secrets that I think everyone should know:

Stress can put weight on relaxation can take it offIts fascinating how stress, fear, anxiety, anger, judgment, and even negative self-talk can literally create a physiologic stress response in the body. This means that we generate more cortisol and insulin, two hormones that have the unwanted effect of signaling the body to store weight, store fat, and stop building muscle. Strange as it may sound, we quite literally change our calorie burning capacity when were stressed. Whats more incredible though, is that, as we learn to smile more, ease into life, and breathe more deeply, the body enters a physiologic relaxation response. In this state, we actually create our optimal day-in, day-out calorie-burning metabolism. So, you could be following the best weight loss diet in the world, but if youre an anxious mess, the power of your mind is limiting the weight loss of your body. Far too many people adopt stressful weight loss strategies; impossible-to-follow diets, overly intense exercise programs, tasteless food, and extremely low-calorie meal plans, all of which can create the kind of stress chemistry that ensures our weight will stay put. Its time to relax into weight loss.

Happiness is the best digestive aidCan you recall what happens when you eat during anxiety or stress? Many people report such symptoms as heartburn, cramping, gas, and digestive upset. During stress, the body automatically shifts into the classic fight-or-flight response. This feature of the nervous system evolved over millions of years as a brilliant safety mechanism to support us during life-threatening events. At the moment the stress response is activated, something very interesting happens the digestive system shuts down. It makes perfect sense that when youre fending off an angry gorilla, you dont need to waste energy digesting your breakfast. All the bodys metabolic energy is directed towards survival. So, you could be eating the healthiest food in the universe, but if you arent eating under the optimum state of digestion and assimilation, which happens to be relaxation, you literally and metabolically are not receiving the full nutritional value of your meal.

Overeating its simpler than you thinkMost people think they overeat because they have a willpower problem. If only I could control my appetite, then I would stop being such a willpower weakling and start losing weight. Well, heres the good news you dont have a willpower problem. The problem for the majority of overeaters is that they dont actually eat when they eat. What Im suggesting is that we arent always fully present to the meal, aware of its taste, eating it slowly, or simply feeling nourished by the food. When this happens, the brain, which requires taste and satisfaction, misses out on a key phase of the nutritional experience. The brain literally thinks it didnt eat or didnt eat enough. And it simply screams back at us Hungry! So, you can dramatically decrease your overeating by increasing your awareness and presence at every meal.

Slower eating means a faster metabolismOne of my favourite nutritional questions to ask a client or student is are you a fast eater, moderate eater, or slow eater? If the answer is fast, then its time for an overhaul. Thats because the act of eating fast is considered a stressor by the body. Humans are simply not biologically wired for high-speed eating. So when we do eat fast, the body once again enters the physiologic stress response, which results in decreased digestion, decreased nutrient assimilation, increased nutrient excretion, lowered calorie-burning rate, and a bigger appetite. The bottom line is that you can literally empower your nutritional metabolism simply by slowing down. Whats fascinating is that for many fast eaters, slowing down is quite a challenge. But try this dont just eat slow eat sensuously, feel nourished by your food, and take in all the sensations of your meal.

Make sure you have enough Vitamin P Pleasure!Far too many people are taught to believe that pleasure is something frivolous. Well, its actually required by our biology. All organisms on planet earth, be they lion, lizard, amoeba, or human, are programmed at the most primitive level of the nervous system to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Well, if youre eating and not paying attention, the brain will drive you to seek more pleasure via overeating. Whats worse, if youre stressed while eating, the excess cortisol in your system actually de-sensitises us to pleasure so youll need to eat more food in order to get the pleasure we are seeking. The bottom line is this: If you want more pleasure from food, you dont need to eat more of the ice cream. Simply breathe, relax, de-stress, enjoy, and pay attention and the body will naturally experience the pleasure it seeks. And the great news is, since pleasure catalyses a relaxation response, it actually fuels digestion and assimilation.

Emotional eating its not the enemyAt our core, we are emotional beings rich, complex, juicy, unpredictable, feeling-filled creatures. We love, we celebrate, we laugh, cry, we break down, we rise up So how could we NOT be emotional eaters? We love food. We love our favourite restaurant. We love how food makes us feel good. Some of us love cooking for others. Some of us are passionate about nutrition. Its time to get over it if youre human, you will bring emotionality to the table. Once we embrace the reality that were genetically hard-wired for emotional expression we can relax a little more. Underneath the quest to eradicate emotional eating from ones life is often found a hidden desire to eliminate uncomfortable feelings. We strive for the impossible; to attain goals that constantly leave us frustrated and in failure. Yes, this thing called emotional eating can be very painful. But its not the actual problem, its a symptom thats pointing to something deeper. Its an alert mechanism from our bodys wisdom thats calling us to check-in, and follow the flow of emotions within us to see where our soul is calling for more awareness and insight.

Get rid of toxic nutritional beliefsFinally, many of us have absorbed toxic nutritional beliefs that are as harmful and debilitating as any of the toxins in our food. Heres what I mean: its surprisingly common for people to believe that food is the enemy, or food makes me fat, or fat in food will become fat on my body or my appetite is the enemy or as soon as I have the perfect body, then Ill finally be happy. Such beliefs may seem harmless, yet they can create a relationship with food thats filled with tremendous suffering and pain. Think about it if food is the enemy, then we are constantly in a fight or flight stress response whenever we eat or even think about food. Such a powerful stressor can cause all the problems of a stress-induced digestive shutdown, decreased calorie-burning capacity, and an inner life thats seldom at peace. The question is: Is your relationship with food nourishing, or punishing?

Lets bring back the joy of food. And the more we include a well rounded nutritional profile Vitamin R relaxation, Vitamin P pleasure, Vitamin S slow, and Vitamin L love the more we can literally nourish ourselves on every level.

written by Marc David and adapted by Michele Chevalley Hedge, Published on A Healthy View

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Who We Are As Eaters? - Thrive Global

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