One of the biggest obstacles in any woman’s natural weight loss plan is emotional eating. Emotional eatingcraving then consuming foods you are addicted tooccurs when you cannot or will not allow yourself to feel, express, or deal with your negative feelings.
If you cannot deal with them as they arise, a common protective mechanism is to avoid experiencing them on an emotional level and instead shut them away or bury them in your body. Emotional eating is a common way of doing this. Instead of feeling sad, worthless, angry, or resentful, you anesthetize yourself by bingeing on foods like potato chips, pizza, or ice cream. In other words, you eat instead of feel.
Today and over the next several days, I will give you techniques and supplements that have been scientifically proven to curb emotional eating, provide appetite control, and help aid in natural weightloss. The first step is in this journey is to use a method called relaxation training.
Anxiety causes cortisol elevations that can quickly sabotage any natural weight loss plan. Relaxation training can help you deal with anxiety and reduce emotional eating that can sabotage your weight and health. In a recent study, three months after completing 12 weekly relaxation training sessions, obese women had fewer depression and anxiety symptoms, fewer episodes of emotional eating, and significant weight loss.
A great way to start is to use brain wave entrainment, which uses a preprogrammed session of flickering lights and/or rhythmic sounds that pulsate at the alpha brainwave frequency (the brainwave associated with deep relaxation and a meditative state). The therapy coaxes brainwaves into that target alpha frequency to bring about a relaxed state. My favorite BWE device is the MindSpa.
Other relaxation techniques that I use and recommend include yoga, deep breathing, Tai Chi, Qigong, grounding, and aerobic exercise like walking or hiking. Whatever method(s) you choose, please commit to having at least a 15-minute relaxation session every day to ease your mind.
To learn more about natural weightloss and appetite control methods, visit my Web site.