Fighting your weight or hating your body will almost guarantee failure in achieving ideal weight. The paradox is explained in the Course. Fighting or hating yourself becomes the reason you gain weight. You will find the keys and lessons to separating your weight from your identity.
Thin people or people with ideal weight do not have superpowers, better luck, or better genetics. They do what the Ultimate Exercise teaches, which allows them to eat differently.
The Ultimate Exercise wipes out emotional eating.
Being overweight is a symptom of;
It is a fact that if you eat more fuel than you burn, you will gain weight. There are times when you eat limited calories and still gain weight because of cortisol, hormones, and or gut microbe issues. The purpose of gaining weight is not a mistake. Those exercising and reducing caloric intake, and not losing weight will have a hormone or gut microbe issue (or Sugar handling issue). Hormones and microbes imbalances explain different weight patterns that are not connected to calories consumed. If you take away or interfere with someone's hormones, they gain weight. Hormones give you lean body mass. Stress/cortisol and poor diet destroy hormones (and naturally decrease as we age) that purposefully increase weight. Why cortisol decreases sex hormones is explained in the adrenal section.
Microbes are similar; if you take away the beneficial bugs and replace them with dysfunctional bugs, you will gain weight. Gut microbes are affected by stress/cortical and diet. Restoring gut microbes is only accomplished by dealing with stress and food choices. Dietary choices and stress lead people not to exercise or not eat the correct fuel for their needs. At the root of these choices are your emotions. Emotional eating is frequent with boredom, anxiety, guilt, loneliness, excitement, anger, or general stress.
Why someone chooses processed, toxic foods or Overeating is emotionally rooted. When you have feelings buried, they direct you to destructive food choices to create discomfort to urge you to look inside. Yes, your buried emotions want you to gain weight to slow you down. Unrelenting standards, perfection, etc., often create unrealistic goals for superwomen creating high cortisol levels that intentionally suppress hormones (to prevent cancer and other inflammation). The side effect of hormone suppression is weight gain.
The weight gain is intended to slow you down. Instead, many superwomen (mons) get more stressed because of the weight gain and unattainable goals, and the problem perpetuates. The biological purpose of Overeating is connected to scarcity and an advantage to store fat. Obesity was rare 100 years ago. On an evolutionary level, humans are prone to store fat (think about a bear storing fat for the winter). Today we have processed foods, gut microbe (bacteria) imbalances, and estrogenic toxins, of which we can influence all factors. Sometimes gaining weight will provide a physical barrier or protection for those physically or sexually harmed. For those who have experienced trauma, their weight helps them create a barrier to the outside, both metaphorically and physically, making it harder for people to touch them. The subconscious force to the shield/barrier is to minimize their sexuality or appeal to those that hurt them. Some report not wanting to lose weight because it makes them look and feel more child-like.Some of the abused/victims overcompensate, become bulimic or anorexic to make themselves perfect to either make themselves more powerful or unattractive.
The same emotional patterns exist in the unhealthy underweight person as obese. Starving and depriving oneself is self-punishment for guilt and shame. Binge eating has a connection with being abused in the past. Gaining weight can slow you down - make you uncomfortable. It can help avoid malnutrition or food scarcity. For those eating highly processed foods, fat stores allow toxins to be stored to limit damage to organs or the nervous system. Weight gain is beneficial for energy for growth, reproduction, and immune function. It does serve many purposes. To maintain a pregnancy, you need to gain weight. This weight is what your body uses to withdraw stored hormones and nutrients. The inflammatory aspect of weight gain is directing you to your feelings. Overeating aids in numbing painful feelings, Overeating is a way to punish yourself.
1. Hormones
2. Gut Bacteria
3. Inflammation
4. Medications
5. Metabolic Setpoint
6. Stress and The Nervous System
7. Toxins, Intolerances
See podcasts in Course:
SURGERY:
DRUGS: Appetite-suppressant & Fat absorption blockers. Drugs that suppress appetite have numerous side effects, from muscle-skeletal, blood pressure, insomnia, and death. The risks outweigh the short term benefit. The benefits are always short term. Other drugs suppress the digestion of fat—blocks fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, K. Similar to gastric bypass. Blocking the absorption of nutrients that prevent weight loss and hormone production is dangerous long term. Most cancers result from a failure to absorb nutrients A, D, E, K. No drug or pill has ever been proven to aid in weight loss long term, without serious complications greater than the risk of obesity.
COUNTING CALORIES: Trust your gut. When you address emotional eating, there is no need to count calories or worry about the ratios of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. You will know how you feel. Similar to exercise, you don't need a count your steps to know how much to exercise. Calorie counting is NOT essential. Instead, eating whole foods, carbs, fats, and proteins (natural, whole real foods versus eating processed low-carb, low-fat, or low-protein garbage. Counting empty calories in food is like counting monopoly money. Yes, it would be best if you used more calories than you consume. People that maintain ideal weight don't count calories just as those with ideal finances don't need a 'budget.'
DIETING: Each fat cell stores about 1.2 micrograms of fat per cell. The cells do get bigger when nutrients, toxins, and hormones need to be stored. Your fat cells can even double in size. The problem is when eating in excess or eating empty calories. We make more fats cells. When we create excess debt with payday loans or credit card debt, we can reverse the debt. However, when the debt mounts, we see it takes longer to reverse. Fat debt is no different. No lottery ticket/diet will save you. When you start to reverse the fats stores, the additional fat cells you made can stay around for a while, up to a few years. Anyone selling you a diet or pills and not preparing you for this is not your friend. Deprivation Dieting or reducing calories will slow your metabolism (slow metabolism affects sleep, energy, sex drive, body temperature, etc.). The paradox is dieting makes it more difficult to lose weight. You may get drawn in by the new diet or new testimonial for a person losing 60lbs while attributing it to a 'diet.' The fact is this person lost weight and likely addressed buried emotions at the same time. Instead of giving herself credit for doing the emotional work, she gives up her power and claims it was the 'diet.' Temporary weight loss is almost always witnessed while on a diet. Over 95% of people that lose weight do not keep it off and instead gain more back. So what about the @5% of those that keep it off? The doctor, Jenny Craig, or multi-level marketer will claim it was their diet or pill. Common sense will tell us if it did work, it would need to work on at least 51% of the time or greater. The science is settled diets don't work. They harm you. The 5% succeeding knowingly or unknowingly has resolved some emotion-link, conflict, or personality trap that is allowed to fall off. Weight-loss, like getting out of debt, is not easy, nor is it hard. It just takes time. Science has concluded that diets don't work. Anyone claiming otherwise is remiss. Thoughts to consider:1. 95% of people who lose weight by dieting will regain it in 1 to 5 years. 2. Diets can be harmful when they lack essential nutrients and provide calorie restriction with processed foods. 3. Deprivation/restrictive diets can take all the pleasure out of eating, making a choice either good or bad. 4. Dieting leads to eating disorders, guilt, shame, victim, and failure traps. 5. People selling pills and treatments often take advantage of these vulnerable people. 6. The purpose of weight gain is hardly ever examined and appreciated. The Emotional connections must be addressed, so cortisol and other stress hormones decrease to naturally allow for healing. "...about 95%..." From the National Eating Disorder Information Center (NEDIC) website, http://www.nedic.ca/knowthefacts/statistics.shtml (accessed 10/07/08)." people who diet" Matz, Judith. "Beyond the Diet Mentality," http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/currentissue/923-in-consultation (accessed 10/19/10)." early life trauma" Wylie, Mary Sykes, "As the Twig is Bent," The Psychotherapy Networker, Sept/Oct 2010, or http://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/magazine/currentissue/1107-as-the-twig-is-bent
CAFFEINE: Many use caffeine for weight reduction; it is a stimulant that may speed up metabolism and fat burning; however, over 400mg daily will likely lead to depression, mineral loss, and other side effects. Caffeine has benefited as a digestive aid, helping with liver detox and moving bowels. It also has a mild appetite suppression effect. Caffeine should not consider weight loss; the cost is higher than any long term benefit.
SMOKING: Smoking like coffee is a stimulant and short cut to weight loss with a greater long term cost. Nicotine has a strong appetite suppression. SUPPLEMENTS: No supplements will help you lose weight long term without dealing with the cause. Probiotics and prebiotics are essential and best obtained in food. HORMONES: Hormones are essential and not recommend long term nor recommended if there is prolonged stress. The two (2) secrets in weight loss are balancing hormones naturally and maintaining healthy gut flora—the only way to achieve this by stress management, lifestyle changes, and the emotional-link.