Are you preparing for a new you? Jumping on the bandwagon with the number one Resolution? You guessed it: Weight Loss. Every year people continue to struggle with weight loss, emotional eating, excess fast food intake, stress, and of course lack of exercise. Have you been frustrated with your body or your health? Moderate successes followed by relapses and frustration? It’s rampant. The problem when it comes to weight loss is that people continue to believe that the solution is to eat less food and exercise more. This, my friends is how you lose your mind, according to Dr. Doug Lisle, author of The Pleasure Trap.
You see we are designed as humans with a motivational triad, according to Dr. Lisle, stating that all humans 1) Seek Pleasure. 2) Avoid pain. 3) Are driven by energy efficiency, that is, we want the most with the least amount of effort. With the food industry stripping our food of nutrients and creating high fat, high-salt, high-sugared processed foods they have catered to our addictive pleasure sensors that seek the pleasure of these foods. The more these foods are consumed, the more they spike the pleasure sensors, like a drug. Gravitating towards a whole natural foods diet will bring the pleasure sensors down, which means these foods won’t seem as enjoyable at first. The good news is that after several weeks our taste nerves actually adapt back to normal levels and the original “pleasurable foods” don’t have that same pleasurable spike effect. The drug effect subsides.
How to avoid eating less calories then? Look at the China Study. In rural areas of China they consumed more calories per day than in the US. As per the study 2641 calories/day on average were consumed in China vs. 1981 calories/day in the US. More calories. Less weight. Less heart disease. Less cancer. Less diabetes. The difference? Nutrient density of the food. Dietary fiber was 33g/day in China vs. 12 g/day in the US. Total calories of fat/day in China was 14% vs 34-38% in the US. Animal proteins 0.8% of calories in China vs. 10-11% in the US. The conclusion? Eating more fiber rich fruits, vegetables and plant based proteins and fill up on it!
Nutrient Density is a powerful tool to have the pleasure of feeling full without having a concentration of pleasure trapping calories that don’t serve you. You won’t have to go through the process of restriction and losing your mind! Adding a cup of oatmeal for breakfast every day or chia pudding (4 Tbsp Chia has approximately 16g of fiber. Combine with almond milk and cinnamon with blueberries and vanilla for a tasty breakfast) or try a cup of black beans to your dinner every day. Each will help you feel more satiated without deprivation. A large salad, with a simple lemon juice and sea salt and a couple Tbsp of olive oil. Try one option for 30 days to see the difference it makes.
The path to maintaining a healthy lifestyle will be filled with many obstacles to slide back into the pleasure trap. The path to health must be worthwhile for you. Remember the choices you make will lead to your continued frustration or your peace of mind.
Written by Kristin Fraser from Inner Glow Nutrition.
Check out Kristin and Sarah Zandbeek’s retreat in Nicaragua in March 2016. Live, healthy, raw food and restorative yoga in a beautiful setting!
>> www.breatheinlife.com/trainings/rejuvenation-retreat/welcome
