Many different diets, exercise regimes and techniques are put forward as the best method of weight loss but are we helping ourselves by concentrating on these things? Perhaps it would be better to keep our attention a little closer to home.
Self awareness could be the best tool we have for achieving our target weight and maintaining it afterwards. Many of us think we are self aware as we live in our heads, experiencing our thoughts constantly but this is not really self awareness. The kind of self awareness I am describing means getting in touch with how we are feeling physically and emotionally and making this awareness a conscious part of our lives.
If I were to ask you ‘How are you right now?’ how would you answer? Many of us would quickly answer with ‘fine’ or ‘great’ or ‘a bit stressed’ but do we really know what this means? In order to answer the question with honesty most of us would have to check in with our body first. Our bodies are where we experience our emotions, not our minds. For example, if our answer to the question above is ‘I feel like I need some time out’ then we are expressing a thought or belief not an emotion. If that same person takes time to notice the sensations of their body they will discover the underlying feelings of sadness or anger.
Try listening to your body right now. Notice whether your muscles are tense or relaxed, notice feelings of emptiness or pressure within your body. With practice you will become more adept at reading your body and clearer about what it is trying to tell you. Sometimes you will be able to address the emotion and take action to change things. You might find that you can remedy anger by taking deep breaths or sadness by undertaking an activity you enjoy. At times you will find that you need to accept the emotion, know that it will change in time and that it is right for you to be feeling that way at that time. The more you practice these moments of actively listening to your body the more you will learn it’s language and begin to understand what it is trying to say. Eventually you can develop an awareness that means you are constantly in touch with your emotions.
This kind of awareness can be a great ally in our attempts to achieve a healthy, maintainable weight. As an example, imagine a car dashboard with a vast array of warning lights connected to sensors. Each one of these warning lights is labelled in some foreign language that we do not understand. When a warning light is displayed we can only think of the most obvious cause and put in more petrol. If we have not dealt with the actual cause the light will keep showing and will continue to do so regardless of how much petrol we add. Of course eventually the petrol tank will overflow but our body’s fuel tank doesn’t. We are capable of holding huge reserves for a later date.
If we misread what our body is telling us we may decide it needs food when it doesn’t. No amount of food will cure anger or sadness or hurt and eating at these times will lead to storage as fat. Learn to read your body and to recognise when you need to eat. Most of us have a really good feedback system that tells us when to eat, and when to stop. Learn to listen to your body before deciding to eat and listen so that you know when to stop and you’ll take in only as much as is needed to maintain your body in healthy balance.
Your body is already talking to you.... are you listening?
