We all know people who can eat whatever they want, and never gain weight, and others just have to look at a picture and gain weight (this is actually true – they did research and found that for some people just looking at a picture of chocolate cake put on weight)
So what is going on?
Our bodies are NOT designed like a car, even though that is a metaphor that is often used.
Our bodies are highly sensitive, high grade, and highly complicated. In fact, there is lot that medical science still does not know about how our bodies work. Weight loss is one area where there is a massive amount of research, some exciting discoveries, and yet your doctor is struggling with her weight just as much as you are. (It always surprises me when there is as ad on TV about weight loss and they suggest you go to your Doctor. I bet they sit there and cringe when they hear that. There are drugs that can be used but they are dangerous and are contraindicated for most people.)
Our bodies really are fantastic. They try very hard to look after us. To keep us well, to keep us in balance and to keep us safe. And it does an amazing job.
Putting on fat is just your bodies way to look after you.
If you were in a situation where food was scarce, your metabolism slowing down is a brilliant idea. If you are about to face a very cold winter, having an extra layer of fat on is a great suggestion. And if you have been abused and you need protection, your body will lay down a layer of fat to try its best to keep you safe. If you are constantly undereating, or eating poorly your body will encourage you to eat more. It really is a brilliant system.
A simple way to describe what happens.
Something stressful happens – cold, famine, abuse, stress, late nights, poor eating, calorie restricted dieting. Our bodies hormones react to stress by pumping out more adrenaline – one of the stress hormones. This is the hormone that makes your heart beat faster, your palms get sweaty and your breathing increase when faced with a dangerous tiger, and these changes mean that your body is ready to run or if it must, to fight. We also pump out cortisol to give our muscles more glucose, so they can run faster. Good plan if it is a tiger.
It happens also when you very nearly have a car accident. I am sure we have all experienced that shot of adrenaline at the near miss.
But now there is nothing to run away from, there is nothing to fight. We just keep driving our car, sitting in the one place, trying to get our breathing under control. A few people will try to fight by giving you the finger, or swearing at you, but they are still stuck with this overdose of cortisol and adrenaline still sitting in the car. Now what?
We go home and more stress. The children complain about what is for dinner, your husband has had a bad day and wants to have a rest, or download his frustrations onto you. The teenager has earphones in and doesn’t hear when you ask for help. Now all those stress hormones are accumulating and you can feel the tension rising.
What are you going to do?
As the very good mother and wife that you are, you swallow your feelings, you keep getting dinner ready, and smile at everyone. YOU congratulate yourself for not blowing up and killing someone. (and I am pleased about that too)
But all those hormones are still there. They are still in your system. You clean up, get the homework done, and finally sit down to watch TV. And you are hungry, really hungry. You just have to have something to eat. And an apple is not good enough. It needs to be a “treat”. You deserve a treat, you need a treat, and you are going to have a treat, by golly. What about the diet – ahhh stuff it, who cares anyone.
What is happening to all those good intentions?
It is not lack of will power, it is not self-sabotage, it is not that you are weak. It is the hormone cortisol. All the stress, and the cortisol flowing through the system has reduced your glycogen supplies in your muscles and liver and your body wants to replace them, and replace them it will, No Matter what YOU want.
Then to top it all off, another hormone called insulin is going to come to play too, and it goes soaring through the roof, and then it decides that seeing you have been in such stress, and you now have excess calories, the smartest thing to do is lay down fat storage. So everything goes off to be stored for winter.
There you are at 11Pm at night, looking for something to eat, feeling stressed, worn out and still annoyed at everyone, but now you are annoyed at yourself too, because you feel like a failure because you have just finished of the block of chocolate. No you Not a failure, you are STRESSED!!!!
The solution – reduce the stress by tapping.
EFT – tapping is the quickest and easiest way I know of to reduce stress. By tapping on the tapping points, you are sending a message to the Limbic part of the brain to stop the fight, flight or freeze response. Saying out loud all the things that have happened that have been so stressful, all the annoyances, and the people that have treated you badly get the feelings out of your system. Say it, express it, and allow all those feelings to flow out. Once you calm down the stress response, then all the hormones can go back home, and your hunger will disappear. It can actually feel like magic.
The easiest way to understand what I am talking about is to experience it. I have a tapping video that deals with daily stressors and the desire to eat.
And let me know who you feel after.