Address Your Emotional Issues
When Addressing Your Diet

Indeed, food is a part of life more primitive and fundamental than our most basic emotions. But, for many, food is so closely tied to emotions that it can quickly turn from that which nourishes and provides sustenance to that which causes harm.

The key to losing weight, looking young and feeling full of energy--in other words the key to living a truly healthy life--is to take control of the emotional challenges that are sabotaging your food choices. When you choose the right foods, you will naturally lose weight and your body will function at its most optimum level; even your appearance will reflect this renewed level of health. There is no secret potion needed, only simple, basic foods and the knowledge of how to overcome your emotional barriers.

The Weight Gain Culprits

Overwhelmingly, as evidenced by thousands of patients, the main culprits behind weight gain is lack of physical activity and simple carbohydrates. High-carbohydrate foods like bread, grains, cereal, potatoes, fruit and sugar are converted to glucose (sugar) in the body. When your body can’t burn off this sugar, it accumulates in the blood, causing your blood sugar level to rise. In response to this, insulin is released to break down the sugar and store it.

Your body will actually increase its output of insulin to compensate for the higher blood sugar levels. Over time this causes progressively increasing levels of insulin and resistance to the effects of insulin.

Insulin resistance is one of the fundamental mechanisms behind aging and all of its related diseases, including obesity as well as cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Of course, the hard part is not in understanding which foods to eat or avoid, the hard part is sticking to specific dietary habits. Mentally, you know that you should eat lean proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables, but emotionally you have been conditioned to crave certain foods, such as grains and sugars. In other words, successful eating is not a battle of acquiring the right knowledge, but a battle against your own emotions.

Hidden Feelings Behind Food Cravings

Most people have tried a diet or two (or many more!) in their lifetime. What you may not be aware of is that perpetual dieting destabilizes your self-esteem and self-image. You briefly taste dietary success and then inevitably fail, returning to your previous, or an even heavier, weight.

What does this lead you to believe on a mental level? That you are an overweight person, and it’s impossible for you to permanently lose weight. Further, on an emotional level, negative emotions or memories can prompt your taste buds to crave fattening grains and sugars to the point of addiction. The cycle is further encouraged on a metabolic level, where your digestion and metabolism, overwhelmed by an excess of grains and sugars, tell your body to store fat.

It’s important to break this cycle so that you can return to a new home base--a home base where you are at your ideal, healthy weight. Breaking the cycle is where most people encounter problems, because behind food cravings lurk emotions that have to be dealt with before the cravings will subside.

Emotions are powerful. If you are feeling sad, lonely, anxious, or angry, or are in need of comfort, sex, compassion or calm, you may be tempted to eat unhealthy foods as a way to cope with these feelings. The feelings are so intense, and your desire to deal with them by succumbing to food cravings is so strong, because behind those emotions are beliefs, which may stem from as far back as childhood, telling you how to think, feel and act, often without your realizing it. These are the emotional barriers that you need to overcome.

Despite the fact that emotional barriers are by far the most common reason why people ultimately fail on their diets, most popular diet programs do nothing to address this issue.

Overcoming Emotional Barriers

Providing emotional solutions can prove successful in treating overweight or obese people. There are various approaches out there for dealing with these challenges, from traditional counseling to prayer and meditation.

When physical problems are not the root cause of weight problems, emotional therapy to address factors that underlie eating patterns may be the assistance that overweight or obese people need to achieve their weight loss goals and maintain happy and healthy lifestyles.

On the Net

Health-e-Weight for Women

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