Stress Making You Fat?

I tend to eat when I feel stressed. I learned this "trick" early in life...not sure how or where since my mother tends to NOT eat when she is stressed. But I learned it somewhere...and I learned it very, very well.

Whenever I would feel stressed or anxious I would reach for food...and I don't mean carrot sticks! Comfort foods are rarely healthy and my favs were high-fat, high-sugar, high-carb items like ice cream, cookies, M&Ms and hot bread with gobs of butter.

Cramming these foods down led to a temporary sense of calm but it didn't last long. It was rapidly followed by a sugar crash and more anxiety.

Not only did the cause of my initial stress NOT go away, now it was compounded by my self-loathing. I was angry at myself for being "weak"...the sugar crash left me feeling depressed...and the resultant weight gain gave me yet another thing to be anxious about.

Was that enough to get me to break the cycle? Heck no! The fleeting pleasure was enough for me to go after it, again and again. Like any other drug addict, I had to eat more and more sugar to get the feeling...and more and more often.

Thus a vicious, fattening cycle began early in my life, and continued until my late forties.

Learning to deal with stress and anxiety in a healthier way is one of the keys to achieving weight loss success.

Some of the weight loss tools that I have used to drop 125lbs and teach others to use are meditation, affirmations and self-love. I have shared some of my weight loss tips for handling stress in earlier posts. I will continue to recommend and teach them and I am always looking for new tools for success. I know that learning is very important...and no single tool or weight loss tip will work for every single body.

Earlier this year I met a wonderful gentleman named Ron Matthews. Ron is a certified energy medicine practitioner and he has opened my eyes to this field. Very impressive stuff!

Ron has developed a course specifically about reducing the effects of stress and anxiety using energy medicine--the first course of its kind.

You've heard me talk about my good friend and mentor, Dr. Linda Larson (you can visit her site http://www.yourhealthandfitnesssource.com/)...well Dr. Linda and Ron have teemed up to offer a very special free teleseminar, teaching about stress & anxiety and how to tame it with energy medicine.

I'm very excited to attend this teleseminar and I hope you will join me! I'm looking forward to learning some healthy tips that will help me through the stresses that are just a part of life!

To learn more about this teleseminar--it is free and there is no obligation--go to http://thehealingpowerofbeinghuman.com

Let me know what you think about the teleseminar...what stikes you the most...how you are going to implement what you learned.

I've been talking to Ron about developing a special teleseminar specifically tailored for using energy medicine to assist in weight loss...and I would love to hear what you think about the stress and anxiety call and if you are interested in learning more about energy medicine.

Weight Loss Tip: Breathe Deep

We tend to forget to breathe deeply. The more tense we get the shallower we breathe. In this post, Dr. Linda helps you identify what type of breather you are...

Wellness Tips from Dr Linda: The Art of Breathing

Why is it important to breathe deeply? Well, for one thing you actually burn more calories when your body has ample oxygen running through it. Kind of like starting a fire or lighting a candle, the spark needs oxygen in order to become a roaring flame.

So pay attention to your breathing. Learn to breathe deeply. Take a few minutes to really get your body pumped with oxygen!

The Magic Pill for Losing Weight

Can prescription drugs help you lose weight?

I often wondered that. Many years ago I prayed hard for such a pill--but that is one thing I personally never tried. Certainly there are lots of them out there these days. But do they really work?

You can read Dr. Linda's perspective...this is one in a (at least) two part series on weight loss drugs.

I found it reaffirming that drugs are NOT the way to go.

If they are only going to help a person lose 5 pounds a year then the side affects are definitely not worth it.

Is there a "magic pill" for weight loss? I doubt it. I think the "magic" is our mindset. We can definitely use our minds and the power of positive thinking to drop fat--and a lot more than 5 pounds a year!

Lose Weight without Dieting Tip: Calcium Counts!

Studies have now proven that getting enough calcium helps us to process and eliminate fat from our bodies!

In fact, getting enough calcium can help you process up to 6-1/2 pounds MORE fat in a year than you would without it! 6-1/2 pounds!!! That's an easy way to lose weight without dieting!!!

To be effective, you need to get 1gm - 1200mg of calcium every day...that is WAY more than most of us get...or can get by eating foods today.

Rather than trying to force more spinach down...leafy greens are one of the best sources of calcium--you don't have to take in more dairy--most of us should take calcium supplements.

When choosing supplements you want to be sure that you combine calcium with magnesium...about 600-800 mg. Don't know what else magnesium does for you, but combining it with your calcium will help keep you, ahem, "regular"...as calcium can create kind of a roadblock...if you get my drift!

Check out your supplements carefully...supplements aren't regulated and so a lot of companies don't do much in the way of quality control.

I suggest you talk to my friend and health advisor, Dr. Linda...she can tell you more about supplements and things to look for...check out her blog and her website. Dr Linda has really helped me with a lot of my health questions and helped guide me during my 120 lb weight loss!

Stevia update from Dr Linda

My friend and health coach, Dr. Linda Larson published a very interesting post about stevia in her blog this week.

I love using stevia...it gives sweetness without calories and is all natural...but she taught me something to look out for that I hadn't realized.

Be sure to read Dr. Linda's blog--Wellness Tips From Dr. Linda-- she is one of the most brilliant people I know...and a great person...very giving...her desire for us to all be our healthiest is so genuine. She has really helped me on my journey!

Improve Your Body Image Step 5: Fast

Today in my series based on an article by Catherine Cardinal Ph.D., Dr. Cardinal talks about fasting and how it can cleanse and restore your body.

5. Fast one day every two weeks. Give your body a rest by feeding it only vegetable and/or fruit juices. This cleansing will help keep your weight down, minimize cellulite and give you energy. If you feel good about it, try once a week.

Dr. Catherine Cardinal has been a psychotherapist in private practice for 23 years. She has been a featured expert on many national TV shows, and is the best-selling author of A Cure for the Common Life: The Cardinal Rules of Self Esteem.

Visit Dr. Cardinal on FaceBook

I am not strict about fasting once every two weeks...sometimes I fast more often than that, other times less frequently. I believe that you have to start to listen to your own body. There are lots of different fasts and cleanses available. Some people will "fast" as she suggests with only juices...make sure that they are 100% juice, not stuff with sugars. If you are going to go on a juice fast it is best to make the juice yourself. And you do have to be cautious about juice fasts because fruit (and even some veggies) has a lot of sugar in it.

You might want to discuss fasting with your doctor...or consult with my favorite doctor--Linda Larson...she helped me to know what I could safely do in regards to fasting and cleansing!

You can find Dr. Linda Larson at Your Health And Fitness Source

Breathe Right for Weight Loss

Take a deep breath, in and out.

Breathing is not only essential to life, it is an important part of our fitness and weight loss routines!

In order to achieve the best benefit we must breathe correctly!

You mean there is a wrong way to breathe????

We all breathe unconsciously...that is one of the wonders of the human body. But most of us take shallow breaths which don't gather in all the oxygen our bodies crave. And if we take a deep breath we often focus on expanding our lungs--by raising our shoulders. Check it out in the mirror. Take a deep breath. Did it look like you were shrugging?

Expand our lungs, raise the shoulders--seems logical, doesn't it? But it is wrong...

To get a good, deep, fully oxygenated breath, we must breathe from our diaphragm--that area above your belly button. To train yourself into breathing correctly, sit down or lie on your back. Place your hand on your stomach--and think about pushing your hand forward with every breath in.

Practice breathing this way every day for a minute or two...or five is even better. With practice, breathing from your diaphragm will be 2nd nature. These deeper breaths get more oxygen to your bloodstream--and more oxygen helps our bodies to process our foods, burn body fat and use more calories...so just by breathing correctly we can accelerate our weight loss!

Now take that correct breathing and add fresh air as suggested by my friend Dr. Linda (Wellness Tips from Dr Linda: #3 Healthy Habit) and you have a winning combination!

Why Don't My Affirmations Work?

Dr. Linda and I are on the same wave length this week. Isn't that funny how that works. (That is called Law of Attraction in case you didn't know!)

I've been really aware of how my mental attitude and my ideas about my own health seem to directly manifest in my body. Check out her blog post and get her take on that concept.

If you find yourself saying "I can't go work out", or "My body hurts", or "I'm too fat to exercise", or "Eating right is too hard" then those things will be true for you. Immediately! Do you realize that those are all affirmations? They are just negative ones!!!

So if you have been practicing positive affirmations and you do those a couple times a day but the rest of the time you are saying (in your mind or out loud) negative affirmations you will be defeating the positive ones. This is the main reason your positive affirmations are not working!

Start to be aware of when you have a negative thought (or affirmation) and stop yourself. Louise Hay in the wonderful film "You Can Heal Your Life" says we should ask ourselves this question:

Do I want to experience that thought in my life?

If the answer is no! then you should stop right then and work out how to turn that negative thought into a positive affirmation.

You mind is an awesome tool in your toolbox for health and weight loss -- if you let it be!

The Power of the Mind in Losing Weight

Our mind is our biggest ally or enemy when it comes to maintaining our health including losing weight.

I'm not talking about willpower. As you read yesterday, willpower is not the answer.

Mindset is a different animal. What you tell yourself, especially if you tell yourself it over and over, will come about.

I'm convinced one of the reasons I got fat (besides being out of balance chemically) was that I said to myself and others repeatedly that I was fat. Even when I was not fat, or maybe just a little fat.

I was convinced I was so fat that no one would love me. I think I gained more weight just to try to "prove" my point!

Dr. Linda brings up in her blog that our subconscious doesn't know if what you are telling it is true or not, but it will work to make it true.

So start by saying affirmations about your health, your journey to a slender body, your willingness to be attractive...if you can say "I'm beautiful" or slender or loved that is awesome! But if you can't bring yourself to say those words without hearing "no I'm not!" in the background then practice what you can say positive about yourself. I've talked about affirmations before and how to use them to help achieve your goals...always a good thing to remember!

Phone Coaching Assists Weight Loss

Thanks to Lynda Lippin, the Fitness Diva for this information.

In a new study published in the November/December issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, researchers at Brigham Young University, headed by Dr. Larry Tucker, found that phone coaching has a an extremely positive effect on weight loss. In a 17 week study that contrasted men and women who were given 11 sessions of personalized weight loss phone coaching against a group who received no such support, the phone coached group shed an average of seven pounds in contrast to an average of four pounds in the uncoached adults.

Says Dr. Tucker, "Tucker: People tend to do better when they have a support system and when they have someone they report to each week. The weight loss coach can help people work through weight loss issues, barriers and problems. Compared to no coaching, phone coaching tends to show a benefit."

I couldn't agree more! My coaching with Dr. Linda (not the Fitness Diva, different fitness ladies!) has helped me immensely. I recommend finding someone who fits with your needs and who can support you in nutrition, attitude and exercise.

This is especially helpful if you live alone or in an area where it may be difficult to get support--or if you have family and friends who just "don't get" what you are trying to accomplish in your life!

I tried some of the groups in past (like Weight Watchers) and they didn't work for me. If they support you, that is awesome. But if not, give Dr. Linda a try, I think she is awesome!