Are you stress eater or comfort eater?
In this section of Seattle Organic Restaurants, I want to talk about comfort eating and stress eating. In times of stress our body looks for dense and looks for foods high in calories, salt, sugar and fat. When we are stressed the biochemistry of our blood changes as well.
It happens when our brain feels a danger so it sends signals to our body that there is something wrong. This signal triggers the adrenaline glands that release adrenaline (also known as epinephrine) and cortisol. The combination of adrenaline and cortisol will turn the fat cells into a fat storing machine. When we are stressed out our blood is full of cortisol and epinephrine that was triggered by the brain and that makes our body to look for foods that are high in sugar and fat.
So the only factors that contribute to obesity aren’t how much we eat and how little we exercise, it’s also how much adrenaline and cortisol is in our blood. Stress or relaxation will control if we are in fat storing mode (lower metabolism) or fat burning mode (higher metabolism). When we are stressed and surrounded with abundance of high fatty and high sugary foods we unfortunately are destined to eat them.
The other contributing factor is the culture of fast food that has drastically changed our mind set about mindful eating. One of the tips on losing weight is mindful eating. Mindful eating can help our body to recognize that if we are eating because we are stressed and depressed or we are truly hungry.
The worst thing you can do is restricting your body from food when you are hungry. If you want to feel healthy and be in control of your body you should start listening to your body. One of the reasons that your body is hanging on to all its abdominal fat is because your body knows that you keep it hungry for long hours. When you are straving yourself, your body wants to hold on to all its stubborn fat, in case it needs energy later. If you eat regularly throughout the day and sense your food instead of stress eating you will start losing weight gradually. One of the worst diets on the planet is low fat or non fat diet that does not work. Our bodies need good fat in order to get rid of bad fat and lose weight.
