Mindful Eating For Stress Relief AND Weight Loss: The Amazing Paradox that Actually Works!

Trying to lose weight is stressful! It’s stressful that you got overweight. Stress actually had most of the effect (not the food) of getting you overweight in the first place. Dieting and starving yourself to lose weight is stressful. And, over-exercise, and certain types of commonly done exercise to get the weight off, can also be one of the contributing factors to stress. Add to the fact that most people want to lose weight fast and get back to their “normal” life, losing weight fast is very stressful to your body.

Weight challenges are probably the hardest problem people have to deal with. You are faced with “your devil” – food, at least three times a day. If you were addicted to a drug, or alcohol, you don’t NEED to have it in your life to survive. But food is everywhere, and much of your day is spent planning, shopping, preparing, eating or cleaning up facing your eating challenge. It’s STRESSFUL. Especially when there are few absolute, definitive answers to the entire area of nutrition and weight.

There is a way to USE that focus to your advantage. Instead of fearing meals, this time and your relationship with food can be used positively for stress relief.

Stress is the one variable that all DIETS leave out when they tell you how to lose weight. It’s like when you ask for a recipe from a cook, but they leave out the essential ingredient and the food just doesn’t taste as good. The essential ingredient to lose weight is stress control!

Stress has the most important impact on your ability to maintain a healthy weight, to lose weight, and even to get nutrition from the food you eat! Bottom line- if you're stressed, you are doing damage to your body that is exhibited by extra fat that is generally seen on your belly! Your outside body is reflecting that there is something wrong going on inside your body.

Our bodies are actually very intelligent. They know how to heal themselves from all sorts of maladies, injuries and diseases. But people think that they are smarter than their body, and fight against our natural response to healing. For instance, when you get a flu and get a fever, that rise in temperature actually is designed to kill germs! But people don’t like feeling the heat, and take medications to lower the fever. And what happens? The flu lasts even longer.

In that spirit, I want you to consider that your body makes you crave certain foods, especially when you are stressed. Salty foods are high on that craving list for most people. The fact is: when you are stressed, your adrenal glands need more salt! But again, the Diet/Medical industry has told you to avoid salt.

I don’t know about you, but I believe in the innate wisdom of my body. It's taken really good care of me when I listen and follow what my body tells me.

Stress Eating & Your Body’s Innate Wisdom

Have you ever thought that EATING can actually be a stress relief practice? When you think about it logically, people are already actually trying to use food as the drug of choice for their stress. When you eat from the effects of stress you call it eating "comfort food".

This shows that your body is on the right path! But if you are using eating in the wrong way, that's why the food isn't serving the function to relieve stress! Stress relieving eating will be slow, and mindful. It’s relaxing. It takes your mind off what is bothering you, and gives you a focus on self-nurturing, and on the delicious sensations of food. Take your time, enjoy it, and observe your stress losing strength! Furthermore, there are actual foods that DO help relieve stress- and believe me, you will be SHOCKED!

So many people say they "don't have time" to do meditation, or any other kind of stress relief. But when you use mindful eating as your stress relief, it gives you A LOT of time! You have an opportunity at least 3 times a day when you nurture your body with food.

So listen to your body; eat slowly, mindfully to turn off the stress. Let food take your mind away from negativity and unhappiness, and focus on self care. You’ll feel better, and the effect will last for hours. And as a side benefit, when you habitually eat this way, the likelihood is that you’ll also lose your belly fat!