Our emotions are a powerful driver of what we eat. When we aren’t eating we are thinking of what we will eat for the next meal, or what we will cook. We even snack in between meals when we probably aren’t really hungry, but thirsty! We assume when we feel hungry the need is for food, but I’m sure 90% of the time our body is asking for water! We eat and eat and eat… it’s the western culture. We do not deprive ourselves – even if we eat healthy food.
If you really think about it for a minute, it’s our emotions that drive our eating. Stress, sadness, depression, feeling unseen or heard, the need for love, desire, and I could list 100 more…. Eating with emotions is slowly killing us, making us obese and unhealthy. I’ll write more on this topic later.
Back to overeating. Do you think our bodies need to eat so much? Think about it for a minute. Do you think our ancestors ate like we do? They hunted and gathered and probably didn’t eat for days until they hunted and collected again. Food was even more scarce in the winter – hunting was even harder so eating was few and far between. They had strong bodies and none of them were obese or had gut issues. I could be wrong since I wasn’t living back then, but have to think I have a point to some degree.
Have you tried fasting? Have you tried not to EAT ALL DAY LONG? Our bodies are used to eating so much that the liver and pancreas can not keep up with the demand of their time. They are overworked and tired. We don’t need to eat so much.
If you compare the overworked and tired feeling to your job, then you will begin to get some sort of understanding. I had a job once where I was working 70 hours a week, and in the beginning, I didn’t mind doing it for the “cause” of the organization, but then I slowly began to get sluggish, tired, have brain fog, and didn’t even want to get up in the morning to go to work. It took a heavy toll on every part of my being. I couldn’t keep it up but my boss demanded I do it.
This is the same for your body. It’s tired, overworked, and can’t keep up with the 24-hour pace of the job. But you are demanding your body do it by eating all the time. Yes, you are that boss! You may not want to be that boss, but your eating habits demand it.
I lived in Germany for 3 years and loved the way Europeans feel about work. I was the foreign money teller back when each country had its own currency. I loved the job. When I started, I was given 6 weeks of vacation to start, plus 2 bonuses per year – one in June (vacation bonus) and one in December (Christmas bonus) which was a full month’s salary. That would NEVER happen in the United States. Countries abroad believe in a happy employee. They believe people need a break from their job, promote vacations and in doing so, the employee comes back rested and happy. Happy employees become faithful employees. Happy employees want to show up for work.
Give your body a break. Let your stomach get empty – you won’t die! Don’t eat breakfast and slowly push back your first meal to 11 or 12pm. Eat a big healthy salad with protein. Chew your food 32 times before you swallow it. This breaks the food down so your stomach doesn’t have to work so hard. Take your time when you enjoy this meal. Savor the taste and time away from your job. TAKE A BREAK and give your body a break. Treat your body as you want to be treated. Love and respect.
Here’s to being Happy and Healthy.
Deanna
Grow your Life & Soul 