The holy grail of weight loss is for it to be easy and permanent. Weight loss is easy if you regain the stop button. Weight control is also easy when that stop button works.
The main driver of not having a stop button is long term or chronic stress. When we are stressed we are driven to comfort eat – either during stressful periods or when on holiday. In life, shit happens and we can’t stop that. But we can stop the stress arising from our body’s systems. As this lowers, our reaction to the everyday stressors drops and our need to comfort eat goes away.
Whilst I said weight loss is easy, getting those underlying stressors down requires considerable persistance and modern knowledge, so the weight loss is not a quick fix.
Whilst I do not have an issue with weight, I have had many years of issues with food intolerances, plus the resultant bloating and poor skin; with insomnia; also very low body temperature; extreme low energy and chronic depression. I came into this industry because I desperately needed to move – I moved far more than I needed to, as is common with many other instructors. Eventually it all grinds to a halt.
I have spent some nine years working on my brain and body and now I can eat the foods I couldn’t, my sleep is vastly improved, my body temperature has risen from sub 35° to 36.7°C, I have far more energy and am surviving these extremely challenging times OK emotionally – !! The thing that is weirding me out the most is the regain of the stop button; I cannot stress how bizarre it feels to stop eating because I’ve had enough – I don’t want anymore fruit/wine/chocolate/crisps. I didn’t want a glass of wine in the first place – !!!! When you eat foods you are intolerant to, the body produces opioids to calm the resultant inflammation, so you are actually addicted to those foods causing you so many problems; eating them makes you feel, initially, wonderful. Bummer or what! ((Alcohol is different to difficult foods. When we drink alcohol, the effect in the brain is like the neurotransmitter, GABA. GABA is a nice, relaxing neurotransmitter – which is why that first sip is just so good.))
High levels of stress cause the junctions of the gut wall to open, and increase the likelihood of developing food intolerances. Yes, we all should be able to eat everything (( – although I would still argue that variety matters; it is asking for trouble to eat the same thing for breakfast every day)). But, due to lifestyle alone, nobody has done the work needed to earn this – because this knowledge is new and has yet to reach the UK.
The reason it’s taken me so long is the cause of my high level of chronic stress is a traumatic cycling accident in which I fractured my face, neck and leg – and still have complete amnesia of it. The amnesia is undoubtedly why the rehab is sooooooo long. My body is stuck in its stress position and digging it out of there is a terrific task. I’m finally starting to win: my shoulders are creeping out of my ears, my scoliosis is far improved and my spine is better able to fully lengthen up.
What have I worked on? My principal issues were with my vestibular system – as is common with anybody with a scoliosis; with my medulla, the lowest part of my brainstem, with my midline cerebellum, and with my Insular lobe. It is the latter improvement that enables me to let the stress go. A huge part of this rehab for me has been warming my tummy and neck. And yes, other stuff too,
As the long held stress dissolves, the desire to overeat or drink has gone away. It will go for you too. You just need to do the right work, not beat yourself up with failed dieting, and persevere.
Much love.
