I returned the other day from a nice relaxing vacation with my Mom to see my younger brother and his wife in Southern California. It was amazing, great to see my baby bro and his wife and be on the beach. At heart, I am a beach bum.
You might think I am going to talk about how to eat healthy while on vacation, but not this time. Maybe some other time. What I am wanting to talk about is the impact of relaxing and being calm while we are eating, being on vacation just helped my thoughts for this post.
While gone, I was not as strict with my diet. I did eat very well and watched my grain intake, due to my intolerance, but I did eat some. I still ate fat and protein, making up the most of my diet as usual, but what is more important was slowing down even more than normally while eating. For dinner, Hublet and I take our time and eat. We spend time together, talk about our day and mostly, enjoy each other's company. For breakfast and lunch, if I eat lunch, I am usually alone. I try to not eat too quickly because I do not feel well when I do, but we will usually eat faster alone or in front of the TV, computer, whatever it is, than when we are with others. The other big thing is not being so stressed. This is what I want to talk about.
When we are stressed out when we eat, our bodies release different hormones than when we are relaxed and eating. This also goes for anytime of the day. When stressed, our bodies release many hormones that make us gain weight. When we are eating and stressed, instead of digesting the food and using the nutrients the way our bodies need to, we store our food. Our bodies have better things to do at this point than good digestion, like saving us from the lion that is chasing us.
Another problem is, we will eat more because our bodies are not going to send the full hormone signal, remember, we are too busy making other hormones to flee, not tell us we are full. You also need more food for your body to have the energy it needs to flee to safety. When stressed, you will eat more. If our bodies are constantly thinking they need to flee from that lion and we are eating more and more, but never actually fleeing, we will gain more and more weight.
I could go on and on about the negative impacts of eating while stressed, but I hope you understand the jest. Stressed out eating is very bad for you. It leads to weight gain, eating too much and horrible health.
Things to do to help:
*Have more fun in your life!
*Get control of your stress. This can mean different things for different people, but figure out what will work for you and over come your stress levels as much as possible.
*Try not to eat when you are stressed out. I know for many people this will be difficult, when they are stressed out they eat. When you are stressed, try to do something else like taking several deep breaths, going for a walk, some other type of exercise, journaling, something to help calm you down. Once calm, reevaluate and ask yourself, am I really hungry, if yes, than eating something healthy, if not than do not eat. Simple I know, but it is the simple things in life that work the best.
*Eat more animal fats.
*Have more fun in your life!
*Have more fun in your life!
*Slow down. Here in America we think we always need to be going, always need to be doing, needing to work 50-80 hours instead of 40 and then coming home and enjoying our family and friends. Take the time to enjoy your life. When you are on your death bed, you are not going to be wishing you had worked more, you will be wishing you had slowen down, enjoyed your family and friends and done some of the other things you wanted to do in life.
*When eating, take your time. Between each bite, put your utensil down. Enjoy the food, savor the food, taste the food. Know that you have eaten.
*Do not eat while you are distracted, TV, computer, driving, any electronic device, whatever your distraction is, put it down and enjoy your meal. Enjoy the company of family and friends.
*Eat at least one meal a day with your family. Family time is very important and we do not take enough time to eat as a family. We need to get back to the family dinner. Enjoy this dinner.
*Enjoy the food you are eating. If you do not like what you are eating, then change it up. Try something new at least once a week. You never know, maybe you will find a creative side you never knew you had through cooking.
*Have more fun!!!
We live in an over stressed society today and we need to slow down and enjoy. Not only so we can enjoy the beauty around us, but for our health.
Saving the world one stick of butter at a time.
God's many blessings,
Jenn
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