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Put Stress on a Diet for Weight Loss Success If you are overweight and feeling irritable, anxious or on edge, it might be time to examine the stress in your life. |
The results of a recent survey revealed that most people's reaction to stress is to change their eating habits and the amount of food they eat. We gravitate towards less healthy choices and we eat more of it. A staggering 84% of women reported that they are more irritable and less patient than usual when under stress. They are much more likely to change the amount they eat and 44% said that they crave something sweet. It confirms what many of us already know: "GIMME THE SUGAR!" is the battle cry of the Stressed Female Species! "Cookies, cake, chocolate, candy, ice cream, OOPs, don't forget the gooey donuts!", your mind screams as you race down the aisles of your favorite grocery store! "Hey, the chocolate chip cookies are buy one, get one free. Oh goody! I deserve an extra box. I am so stressed!" And oh how irritated you feel when you discover that the lady in front of you at the ice cream freezer just snatched up the last box of your favorite ice creams bars! Now you are really anxious to get out and get eating! "I didn't need that!", you mutter to yourself, "let me out of here, fast." You wheel that cart as fast as you can to arrive at the check out counter only to find 20 people in line in front of you. The thoughts " #%*& " that whiz through your mind are not printable. And you thought you were stressed when you went into store! How's your blood pressure now? Is your head pounding? Are your shoulders tense? Are your palms sweaty? Besides wreaking havoc on our healthy eating plans and our nerves, stress studies show that prolonged or chronic stress makes us much more vulnerable to everything from colds and flu to cancer and heart disease. It's estimated that 75-90% of visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems. And 72% of women who participated in the survey said they do not feel physically at their best when stressed! Sounds to me like stress is similar to termites. Left unchecked, this termite called stress has a series of glorious meals at your expense, busily chomping away at your health and well being. Make no mistake. You pay dearly for ignoring or putting off doing anything about it. Physically, through illness. Emotionally, through negative thinking. Spiritually by failing to recognize that in order to experience life's nectar, you need a body to do so. I would challenge you to truthfully answer these three questions: How bad does stress have to get before I take action? What am I waiting for? How committed am I to taking responsibility for the quality of my whole life emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually? You see, weight loss doesn't begin with a diet. Weight loss begins by taking care of your whole self. So if you want to let go of weight, start by working on your life and put stress on a diet instead.
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