Stress has a strong effect on our food habits. When stressors arise or are persistent, there can be a strong possibility that the energy drain caused by them will cause your eating habits go on autopilot as you grab sugar, booze, coffee etc… as a way to cope with the energy drain.
The mindful practice is to start paying attention to your eating habits and areas of your life that are stressful to see if you can build cause and effect. The following series is a list of some of the more common stressors that make it very difficult to sustain healthy eating habits until the stressors are dealt with first. Some of these are obvious, others are hidden. Pay attention and see if any apply to you.
Posture – When the body is out of ideal physical alignment, muscles have to work overtime to try and hold the body in balance. Tension builds as the body is constantly expending energy to keep itself in physical balance. Sitting in a chair all day is a big culprit of poor posture for many. Over time this can create an enormous energy drain. Great posture is one of the unsung benefits of exercise. The contribution to overall health and well being by having good posture cannot be overstated.
The Drain of Pain – Physical pain from injuries undealt with, repetitive strain or inflammation all create quite a large drain on the body’s resources over time. For many, poor food habits are the body’s way of recovering the energy used to manage pain. However, food habits used in this way inevitably create weight gain, which adds more pressure to the joints, which further amplifies the pain. This can be a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of. If you struggle with poor food habits and have been living with pain, then it is very possible there is a connection.
The Busy Mind – Your brain can use up to 80% of your blood sugar when you are over thinking. When blood sugar drops, you get cravings and there goes all self control. Excessive worry, anxiety, problem solving, or analyzing gets you wound up and then makes you crash later. As resources drain in the long run the hyperactive mind keeps going but the body wears out leaving you in a state of “wired but tired.” Using meditation as a tool to develop a calm clear mind is one of the best ways to reduce the drain of constant over thinking.
Negative Thinking – Our emotions have a very powerful effect on our physical health. Positive emotions feed you and negative emotions drain you. The emotions generated by constant criticism and judgment of self or others can create black hole within that just sucks away your vitality. A cornerstone of meditation is the practice of loving kindness, gratitude, and forgiveness. Though consistent practice over time, joy and happiness to become your way. This will keep your energy high and your body healthy.
Denial/Self Deception/Avoidance – I have worked with many people over the years who struggled to keep their health because they were choosing to stay in a toxic situation like a relationship or job. Once they finally were honest with themselves and acted accordingly, they very quickly sprung back to life. Do not underestimate how much living a lie can affect your health. Always be truthful to yourself and follow your heart. Any time you avoid a problem you know needs addressing is when you are choosing to take on extra baggage that can really weigh you down.
Night Light – This can be very important for people who sleep a lot but never feel rested. Any light from phone, computer or tv after the sky is dark interferes with your physiology by suppressing melatonin and keeping cortisol high. This imbalance in body chemistry over time creates a large drain on the body’s resources as artificial light prevents the body from getting to the deeper r.e.m. stages of sleep necessary for healing. Melatonin plays an important role in your immune health, but lesser known is its strong connection to appetite regulation. Get the blackout blinds, turn all artificial light and tech off at least 1 hour before bed. This gives time for cortisol to drop and melatonin to rise. Lights Out!
Altered Body Rhythms – Circadian rhythms are a cornerstone of physical and mental health. We have evolved to be in rhythm with the cycles of moon and sun. Modern living has distorted that to the extremes for many. The culprits here are shift work, travelling across different time zones frequently and erratic sleep and wake times. The body likes to be in rhythm and when that rhythm is disturbed it takes enormous resources for the body constantly try to reset itself. When body rhythms are chronically off, appetite and mood regulation are near impossible.
Pollution – In multiple hair, blood and urine tests I came up toxic in copper, mercury and aluminum. This caused my mental and physical health to deteriorate, and my vitality went down the toilet. In my experience nutrition and sleep were not enough to restore balance to my body and many times exercise was not even an option. I had to go through specific detox protocols to clean my insides out to restore my vitality. After experiencing this it is my opinion that the burden of pollution is one of the greatest hidden barriers to restoring health vitality for many.
Financial Debt – Financial debt triggers our deepest unconscious fears around safety and security. Once you are under the thumb of debt then the sum of the mental and the physical drain of always having to work just to keep up with your debt creates a large drain on vitality. The problem is that debt has become such a normalized way of being for society that many are completely numb to the underlying stress that is being caused until the problem gets very bad. The desire for more “stuff” and the pleasure of shopping is baked into our psychology from a very young age and are contributing factors to this issue. Learn to overcome these mental programs and live a simple life. Let go of what you want and be happy with only what you need.
Pay attention to see if you can notice when your eating habits are off and draw any link between which stressor is the cause resulting in the effect of the poor eating habit.
Much Love
Dave
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