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Anorexia Recovery Weight Gain Stages

Anorexia Recovery Weight Gain Stages

What is Anorexia?

Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that causes people to develop an intense fear of weight gain. It can be characterized by extremely low body weight, and an inability to have a realistic perception of one’s own body figure. Often those that suffer from anorexia have such low body fat that it is very unhealthy and even dangerous, but the disorder makes it extremely difficult for them to perceive their own unhealthy appearance. In overcoming this disease, it’s necessary to reconcile oneself to anorexia recovery weight gain stages.

One thing that is important to keep in mind about anorexia is that those that suffer from it are not able to see themselves the same way that others can; simply explaining the risks of the habits they form as a result of the disorder is often not enough to get them to stop. Even when they can logically understand that what they are doing is unhealthy, the disorder hinders them from taking the necessary steps to change without proper help from professionals.

Anorexia recovery weight gain stages

More often than not, anorexia is accompanied by extreme measures that are intended to control weight gain. These measures can include severely limiting the intake of calories and of all food in general. Oftentimes an anorexic person will eat so little that they are effectively starving themselves.

There are also other common weight-loss tactics like diuretics, laxatives, and induced vomiting. This is not to be mistaken for bulimia, which typically involves extreme binge eating, and induced vomiting to “purge” the calories. Bulimia and anorexia are not the same thing and are not necessarily even linked directly.

Another thing that anorexic people often do is exercise to excess. People that are afflicted with anorexia are already malnourished in many cases, so extreme exercise routines can be especially dangerous for them. If you believe that you, or someone you know, is suffering from an eating disorder like anorexia, it is important that you seek professional help immediately.

The Risks of Anorexia

There are a lot of stigmas and stereotypes about eating disorders that have given people a false impression regarding the seriousness of the risk involved.

Here are some of the common misleading ideas about anorexia:

  • Anorexic people are just too thin.
  • Anorexia is just for celebrities and models.
  • Anorexic people just need to look in a mirror.

Misconceptions like those can be one of the riskiest parts of anorexia, because getting treatment early is vitally important, and those ideas can cause people to not take it as seriously as they should. Anorexia is a dangerous and very serious disorder that requires the help of medical and psychological professionals.

A few of the health risks involved in anorexia include the following:

  • Extreme weight loss
  • Fatigue
  • Fainting
  • Unrealistic self-perception
  • Temporary or permanent damage to vital organs

In some very extreme cases, anorexia can even threaten the life of those who suffer from it. There are many other risks associated with anorexia. In fact, some of the risks even come after one has successfully been treated for the disorder because part of the recovery process is regaining the weight in order to reach a healthy body mass.

Regaining weight after an extended period of malnutrition and starvation can be a difficult and sometimes painful process. There have been instances in which people have fasted for long periods of time, then broke the fast with a large heavy meal, and it caused serious health complications, including death on rare occasions. Anorexia recovery weight gain stages are a very important part of the process but must be handled delicately.

Recovering From Anorexia: anorexia recovery weight gain stages

Before we get into the specific stages that one can expect when recovering from anorexia, it is important to note that no one should attempt this alone. There is no shame in seeking help, and in fact, the first stage of weight gain after a body has been severely malnourished can be very dangerous. It is very important to have a medical professional help with a regiment and a diet plan.

The following is meant as a general guideline to help those in recovery know what to expect, but seeking the help of a medical professional is vitally important. One other note, this is a guide on what to expect after one has recovered from anorexia, not on how to recover from anorexia.

The more you know before you get started with your recovery, the less there will be to take you by surprise. It is not uncommon for people to be taken off guard by a symptom or reaction that is actually completely normal, and mistake it for failure. Fear of the unknown can often lead to failure.

Stage One: Getting Started

When an anorexia survivor reaches the point that they are ready to begin regaining weight, it can be a difficult process. There are many bloggers and vloggers that have recorded and described their experiences, and this can be a helpful way of finding out what is normal and expected, as well as a way of reminding yourself that you are not alone in your recovery.

After an extended period of malnourishment, your body can react in extreme ways when it is suddenly reintroduced with vitamins, minerals, and calories that it has not processed in a long time. One thing that many survivors say they experience is bloating. This can be particularly worrisome because the appearance of rapid weight gain can be a trigger for a relapse. It is vital to remember that the initial bloating is not fat, it is just liquids being temporarily retained in the body.

Bloating typically only lasts for a matter of days or weeks, then it will quickly subside. A piece of advice given by many survivors of anorexia is to avoid mirrors and scales. Weighing oneself and constantly looking into mirrors can trigger a relapse. Getting started can be one of the most difficult parts of the recovery process because it involves deliberately gaining back the weight that survivors once obsessed over losing. It helps to remember that it has been done before, just don’t give up.

Stage Two: Redistribution of Fat

Although this stage is called redistribution of fat, it is more accurately described as patiently waiting for the redistribution to happen on its own. After a few weeks of adhering to a recovery plan, the body will begin to gain a layer of fat all over. This is a very good thing since that layer of fat is an important protective barrier.

However, it may seem to be unevenly distributed at first. Those in recovery might notice one part of the body gaining weight faster than others. If you can be patient and stick to your recovery plan, the layer of fat will slowly redistribute itself more evenly over time.

Do not allow the initial appearance to cause a relapse; recovery takes time and patience. That is why it is so important to study recovery, and know exactly what to expect before it happens. This way, survivors will never be taken by surprise, and this will decrease the likelihood of a relapse.

Stage Three: Maintenance

The human body is not a machine that can simply be overhauled or replaced if it stops working, but there are some apt comparisons between a human body and something like a car engine. Even after an engine is built or repaired, it is important to maintain it and keep it in good working order.

Just like you cannot build a car engine and simply assume it will always run just as it should, survivors must stay vigilant and maintain a healthy diet and exercise habits even after the initial stages of recovery have passed.

If you have reached a healthy weight, meaning one that you and a medical professional have agreed upon, then you should have a plan in place on how to maintain that weight. It is dangerous to assume that, after the initial stages of recovery, the work is totally complete.

This is called “complacency”, and it can be the undoing of anyone that is not wary of it. Have a post-recovery plan in place before you need it, and stick to it just as diligently as you did when you were in recovery.

Final thoughts: Anorexia Recovery Weight Gain Stages

There are many different types of eating disorders, and the severity of the disorder can range widely, but the fact remains that any eating disorder is a serious threat to the person suffering from it.

While the hardest part is often getting someone to see that they need help, the treatment and recovery are always going to be a difficult and sometimes painful process. There is plenty of evidence that it is well worth it to endure until recovery is complete, and many of the bloggers that write about their own experiences with anorexia will agree.

It will take persistence, fortitude, and dedication to get through the first few stages of recovery, and even after that, survivors will need to stay on their guard and be alert for triggers that may cause a relapse. As difficult as that can sound, it is well worth it to get back to a place of assurance that you have a healthy body and healthy mind.

Body Stress Relief Techniques

Body Stress Relief Techniques

There are scientific reasons why stress can cause problems in your body, particularly due to the release of cortisol. This chemical is what is released into your body in times of stress to kick your fight or flight responses into gear and get your adrenaline to where it needs to be in order to cope with the stress that you are feeling in that moment. Heightened stress for prolonged periods of time can result in an excess of cortisol in your body, which can cause long-term damage which are basically the physical impacts of traumatic experiences. Rather than allowing stress to fester, there are ways that you can help your body lower the amount of cortisol being released in high-stress circumstances and avoid those negative impacts of long-term stress. Here you will learn about highly effective body stress-relief techniques to lower your cortisol levels quickly.

Stressed man practicing stress-relief techniques

How to lower cortisol production

  • The first and most obvious method is exercise. When you work out your body, you release endorphins which is a chemical that causes happiness and can counteract the effects of cortisol in your body. It also helps your body flush the cortisol out faster, so the impacts are not so severe. Exercise can also improve your sleeping patterns and immune system which will also lower the impact of stress. When you are sick less often and less severely as well as able to sleep soundly, you will see a significant reduction in stress and anxiety. Exercise can also provide a healthy outlet for you to focus your mind on in order to distract from the stress that you are dealing with in your life. That distraction is also important for heart health and other forms of wellness, so it will generally improve the status of your body even in times of stress.

  • There are many herbs, supplements and essential oils that can also impact your stress levels significantly. There are scientific studies that have shown the positive results of aromatherapy in stressful situations. The way that lavender or chamomile interact with the chemicals in your brain can change the way that you deal with stress and provide relief to the rest of your body.

  • There are also herbal supplements or loose-leaf products that can be ingested or used to make tea and calm your body down. The FDA does not always cover supplements or essential oils, so be careful to choose a brand that is credible and trustworthy before going down this particular route. You can also try using the science of these products in a different way by lighting a scented candle instead of something more invasive.

  • There are things in our daily lives that can also have an impact on our stress levels, such as caffeine. As much as we all may love a cup of coffee in the morning, try switching to green tea or something a little less strong. The reduction in caffeine can help your body relax in times of stress.

  • Additionally, try chewing gum when you feel stressed out during the day. It may sound silly, but most people tense their jawline while they are dealing with stress and sometimes cannot tell that they are doing it. Chewing gum will allow your body to release the tension in your jaw and that can make a huge difference in how capable the rest of your body is to release stress-related tensions as well.

Non-medical coping mechanisms that have been proven to reduce stress

  • Writing things down that you feel anxiety over has been proven to help your brain release the thoughts that are creating tension and get a sense of release. This is particularly effective in the office since most people are unable to voice every thought that stresses them out in a professional setting. Instead of biting your tongue and adding to your sense of frustration, write it down and get it out of your head!

  • Listening to music can also help rewire the brain with soothing soundwaves, but you have to select music that will calm and relax you in order for it to be effective.

  • Laughing is also important in reducing stress, so try to take time out of every day to watch a funny video clip or read a daily joke, or anything that will put a smile on your face!

  • Many people use yoga as a stress release technique, and it is highly effective in that regard. Yoga forces the practitioner to quiet their mind enough to listen to their body, otherwise their body will fail them during their yoga routine. One aspect of the practice that is often overlooked is the practice of deep breathing. Most yoga teachers can tell you that making sure you breathe deeply enough to feel an expansion in your belly is the best way to practice yoga. It ensures that you are getting enough oxygen to circulate throughout your body and it also gives you something other than the sore and tired muscles in your body to focus your mind on. Yoga has been proven to lower the chances of heart disease, high blood pressure and many other ailments that can be directly related to stress so it is a nearly certain way to avoid the negative impacts of stress on the body. Plus, it’s a great strength-building workout!

Social support for body stress relief

The human body was meant to deal with stress but it was also designed to prefer joy to anxiety. Giving in to stress will only cause your body to deteriorate, and one of the best things that any human can do to avoid stress and feel prepared to replace anxiety with joy is connection to other humans. Feeling a sense of belonging, feeling loved and secure are all things that come with being connected to other people. Even those who are shy and reclusive need human contact from time to time to be at their best, so make sure that you spend time with loved ones as often as you can.

From birth, the physical consequences to our bodies from a lack of human contact can be severe so be sure that you are hugging and kissing and cuddling every friend or relative that you can in order to feel the effects of that community on your stress levels.

In addition to human contact with loved ones, doing kind things for others will support that human connection and release your stress as well. Strangers in need will often have a story far worse than the stress that you are feeling, and helping them will accomplish stress relief in many ways.

Firstly, it will put your stress into perspective and that can lower how much it affects your body and mind. Secondly, it will bring you joy and those endorphins are better than any workout could ever give you! So do something nice for someone and see how much better you feel.

How to Deal with Weight Gain after Eating Disorder Recovery

Recovering from an eating disorder: the challenge of weight restoration and keys to persistence

Eating disorders can’t be classified under one umbrella, in fact, many of them are very different. For those recovering from an eating disorder, weight gain is a critical part of their recovery. This weight gain can be difficult for many to deal with, although in the end it’s healthier and for their good. Following a prolonged period of low food intake and high amounts of exercise, many still struggle with transitioning into eating more and putting more weight on. This article is your personal guide on how to deal with weight gain after eating disorder recovery.

A woman with the inscription "out of order" on her belly, who is struggling with the problem of how to deal with weight gain after eating disorder

Types of eating disorders

There are five types of eating disorders that exist: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, other specified feeding and eating disorder (OSFED), and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). The three of these five that are most often tied to weight loss and low food intake are anorexia, bulimia, and ARFID.

Anorexia is identified by a decrease in calories and an unhealthy obsession with weight, size, shape, and looks. It’s known as being the most deadly mental illness there is. Those who are anorexic will seek to be as thin as they can by eating less and exercising excessively. It’s common for anorexia to be tied with body dysmorphia.

Bulimia can be identified by overeating followed by a fasting or purging period where food is either refrained from or excreted from the body before eating again. These behaviors occur in the forms of fasting, using laxatives, and over exercising. The extremes of overeating with bulimia are often compensated for by extremes in reducing caloric intake following a binge. Those who suffer from bulimia might use the bathroom frequently, talk about their weight or body image excessively, and may abuse laxatives, diet pills or diuretics.

ARFID can be identified by abnormal shifts in food intake and eating habits that cause weight loss, malnutrition, and difficulty remaining healthy. Those who suffer from ARFID might feign interest in food or might have a disgust for certain food textures or tastes. Red flags for ARFID include severe weight loss and limited growth. Those with ARFID vary from those with anorexia in that they don’t have an obsessive drive to be as thin as they possibly can.

What is weight restoration?

For those who have an eating disorder, weight restoration is how they recover by reaching a stable weight. They do this by reaching a weight that is healthy for their size, provides their nutritional needs, and is a weight that they can stay at and stabilize for a long time. This process may take months to fully recover depending on the state the individual is in when they go into recovery.

Generally, this process entails a severe increase in their caloric intake to gain weight at a constant but safe rate. Those helping an individual recover will generally assign a meal plan that allows them to reach their weight goals safely and in a controlled manner.

Challenges with weight restoration

Weight restoration can be the most challenging segment of recovery for those with an eating disorder because it creates a need for a change in eating, but most importantly in their mindset. Eating can go against everything that these individuals have been thinking for the past few years and their body has likely adjusted to being malnourished and surviving on low food intake, although still being in a very unhealthy state. This can lead to the individual feeling overly full when following the food intake goals set out for them and they may experience difficulty staying on their meal plan.

Furthermore, those going through the weight restoration process might also experience physical side effects including bloating, constipation, headaches, and other stomach and intestinal complications until their body adjusts to receiving proper nourishment. Although these symptoms can be difficult to deal with, they will subside with persistence if the individual sticks to their meal plan throughout the trials of this process. The advice of a doctor or dietician can be crucial in overcoming the challenges of side effects and body adaptation issues, as they are experienced in these areas and can suggest methods that have helped other patients.

The recovery process of weight restoration can also pose a threat of mental and emotional repercussions like depression or anxiety. As stated before, weight restoration requires not only a shift in diet and food intake but a shift in mentality and mindset. Once someone has viewed their body and weight gain in such a negative light for so long, it can be hard for them to overcome that mentality and be okay with putting on additional weight to gain their health back.

For this reason, confronting these challenging thoughts can be helped by being guided along by a therapist with regular consultations and checkups to ensure that the patient is meeting their goals and is maintaining a healthy mindset throughout. Talking through the complications with a trained professional goes a long way into reminding themselves that their recovery process is making them healthier and it’s vital to their life. By consulting a therapist, they get a personalized answer to how to deal with weight gain after eating disorder recovery. A therapist can offer ways for dealing with these complex issues and can provide positive coping mechanisms to get through and stay persistent in their recovery.

Here is a general set of guidelines that you can follow if you’re dealing with weight gain in recovery from an eating disorder

HOW TO DEAL WITH WEIGHT GAIN AFTER EATING DISORDER RECOVERY:

  1. First, consult a trained treatment team. It’s recommended that you see a specialized treatment team that is familiar with patients with eating disorders and are familiar with what you’re dealing with and can provide appropriate resources. Through receiving care from these professionals at a designated eating disorder treatment facility, you increase your chances of success in overcoming your eating disorder and decrease your chances of relapsing back into it. They might provide you with a team of professionals including therapists, dieticians, and medical care that will give you support in every area that your recovery entails.

  2. Stick to your assigned meal plan. As stated before, it’s understood that following the meal plan can be challenging not only physically but mentally, but it’s possible, nonetheless. If you are experiencing noticeable difficulty adhering to your meal plan, consult your treatment team and they can find the resources and help you need to stay on track. With following your meal plan, persistence is key and with persistence and using your support and resources, it will eventually become easier once you’ve adapted. The process may be long and arduous, however, but you can do it.

  3. As you’re going through the weight gain process and even prior to starting it, accept that your body will be changing throughout this process and so should your mindset and how you see your body. You should try your best to remain open-minded to the recovery process and view your meal plan and team as ways to become healthier each day.

  4. Within and outside of your treatment team, identify a support group that you can use to get through the ups and downs of recovery. This could be friends or family or mentors. Having this group close by as you go through the recovery process can not only help you to overcome the difficult parts but celebrating the positive parts and victories can motivate you to keep going and keep getting healthier.

  5. Get rid of your old clothes by donating them. As you continue through weight restoration and your body continues to change, your clothes will no longer fit. Rather than continuing to store these clothes, donate them to those in need. With new clothes that fit your recovering body, you’ll feel more comfortable and can feel empowered by your strength throughout the process. If it’s difficult to deal with buying new clothes yourself, you can have someone from your support group to do the shopping for you and you can have them get rid of the sizes on the clothes before receiving them.

  6. Constantly remind yourself of why you chose to end your battle with your eating disorder in the first place and why you’re on the path to recovery now. Keep a journal or write a letter to yourself as reminders so that you can go back to these and boost your motivation when you need it most. Your health is often the first decision to impact many other major decisions in your life such as success in school and at work and raising a family. Those motivators can help you to keep your eye on the prize and stick with your recovery goals.

Final thoughts: how to deal with weight gain after eating disorder recovery

If you’re dealing with an eating disorder or you know someone who is, it’s important that you get help and support as soon as you can. Consult a medical professional or a designated treatment team as soon as you can and they’ll walk alongside you and provide resources and support every step of the way.

Stop Smoking Affirmations and how to Make them Work for You

Affirmations to help you quit smoking

Smoking cigarettes is one of the most dangerous coping mechanisms that people use to handle stress or depression or any number of issues that we have going on in our lives. Between cancer, high blood pressure, lung, heart and gum diseases, and bad-smelling breath and clothes, there are a lot of reasons why you should quit. Quitting smoking cigarettes is a challenge because the habit becomes a crutch for times that people feel that they need a release. The fact that we can walk into any store once we turn 18 and legally purchase these poisonous items makes the accessibility too easy to put them down without a fight. Although quitting cigarettes is challenging, it is not impossible! One of the tricks to help you psychologically when you feel those cravings is something called stop-smoking affirmations.

There are mantras that you can repeat to yourself to talk yourself out of the urge to sneak in a quick smoke, and when you are feeling a heightened sense of stress these phrases can help you curb that urge a lot more effectively.

Build your list of reasons for quitting

Everyone has personal reasons for why they want to quit and although the health concerns of cigarettes or vape pens should be the obvious reason, it often isn’t the main driving factor. Some people quit to save money or to be more presentable in a work environment without needing to take breaks. Others quit for the sake of their loved ones, because they want to be around for their children or because their spouse hates the idea of them getting cancer one day.

The next time that you have the urge to smoke, remind yourself of the reasons why you quit by saying, “I’m doing this for _____” and list as many reasons as you can think of that drove you to your decision to walk away from the cigarettes.

NOPE, not one puff ever!

Getting through each day without a cigarette is hard at first, but it gets easier with time. As you go through the process, a lot of people like using the acronym N.O.P.E. to encourage themselves, which stands for “Not One Puff Ever”.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that you will never slip up but the definitive declaration can help rewire your brain because that first puff can lead you down a path of relapsing. Just keep telling yourself “NOPE” every time that you are craving a smoke and over time, you will feel that it becomes more and more effective until it is so ingrained into your thought process that you won’t need to say it anymore!

Day-to-day focus

Every time that you relapse into smoking, don’t get discouraged. Just start from the beginning but make a commitment that you will not start over again this time. Try to remind yourself of how long you’ve been successful in order to keep the momentum going.

Every day say to yourself “I have made it ____ days/weeks/months without a cigarette and I am not starting from the beginning”. It can shift your entire perspective on how strongly committed you are to this new path in life.

I’m strong enough to quit smoking

Another stop-smoking affirmation that can help you reestablish that commitment to yourself is by reminding yourself that you are strong enough to beat those cravings and that you don’t have to fall victim to them anymore.

The main driver of people who return to smoking cigarettes even after quitting is stress. We fool ourselves into thinking that cigarettes help us in times of stress, but the nicotine in them actually heightens our blood pressure rather than calming us down.

There are tips and tricks like chamomile tea or other actually calming resources that have been proven to help combat that feeling, but ultimately you need to find a more rational way to deal with a stressful environment. Stress is real and you can’t avoid it by using other crutches in your life, so face it head-on!

A man broke a cigarette in half to illustrate that smoking is harmful, and it is possible to stop by means of a stop-smoking affirmations

Stress management

There are two stop-smoking affirmations that are crucial to your quitting that help you deal with stressful environments. The first is to ask yourself the question of what you are actually stressed about. You need to be able to identify the source of that stress if you have any hopes of tackling it in a healthy and impactful way. Instead of sticking to the standard train of thought and telling yourself that you can’t handle this stress and that you “need” a cigarette, shift your process to first asking yourself to identify the source of where the stress is coming from. Identifying the source of your stress is the only way that you can make an effective plan to combat it.k

Once you identify the source of your stress, you have to engage in part two of curbing your craving and remind yourself that smoking will do nothing to address that source of stress. If you remind yourself that the cigarette can’t fix your job stress or your family stress or your financial stress, and in fact, it can make some of these issues worse, then you will be less likely to rely on it for your coping mechanism. Instead, remind yourself of the commitment that you made to quit and think about all of the things in your life that the cigarette won’t do anything positive to solve.

Final thoughts: Stop smoking affirmations

Addiction is a hard thing to handle and it can add undue burdens to the people who you love most. Nobody wants to see their loved one die of cancer or even lose their beautiful white smile or their soft and gentle voice. The problem is that quitting any substance is easier said than done and those who want you to stop smoking may not understand the struggle that quitting is for you.

Instead of trying to make excuses for why you are on this island by yourself trying to quit without the understanding of others, try being your own personal cheerleader! Use these stop-smoking affirmations to remind yourself that you are all that you need to stop smoking because no matter how supportive anyone else is, the decision to quit has to come from within yourself.

Spiritual Meditation Techniques for Beginners

Spiritual meditation techniques for beginners: how to do it and how it will transform you

Meditation is a field that has a lot to offer and there are various ways to reap health, outlook and spiritual benefits from it. Meditation itself isn’t an identifiable singular thing, but rather a collection of many different disciplines and types of meditation. Today we’ll be looking specifically at spiritual meditation techniques for beginners and how you can begin to experience why meditation can be so transformative.

spiritual meditation techniques for beginners

Spiritual meditation has been around for thousands of years and has been offering its participants real value ever since. Being successful in spiritual meditation starts with knowing how to do it, what you can expect, and how to get better at opening yourself up to it every day.

Spiritual meditation can help you to reduce negative emotions, moods, and physical responses such as anxiety, anger, and stress. It can raise your levels of cognitive awareness, memory, focus and concentration. It can increase your immunity to sickness, increase your circulation, and more. There are many emotional, physical, and spiritual advantages to meditating.

To begin your meditation, you want to do the following:

  1. Locate a relaxed, distraction-free meditation environment.

    Find somewhere to meditate that you can be alone, undisturbed, uninterrupted, and focused. You need to be in a seated position where you’re comfortable and can be free of movement for extended periods of time. You don’t want to be distracted by yourself just as much as you don’t want to be distracted by other people and noises, this means not constantly shifting your position or feeling restless. You can also feel free to lay instead of sitting. Place your palms face up once you find a position that suits you.

  2. A vital part of meditation is mindfulness.

    This means that you need to be aware and present of the moment you’re apart of and the world you’re apart of. You need to feel your surroundings, be acute to your environment and how you’re in it. To do this, close your eyes and inhale deeply. Then, notice what you hear, what you smell, and your sense of touch. Be in tune with your senses and what it is that is feeling, hearing and smelling these things. Locate any spots of stress or discomfort in your body, places that need to be decompressed. These exercises will put you on your way to becoming more aware of yourself and your environment, not just while meditating but also throughout your day.

  3. Breathe.

    Breathing is the linchpin of meditation, its what holds it all together and makes it work. Center your attention on your breathing, in and out. Take long, deep, even breaths. Feel where this breath is coming from as it travels in and out of you and picture what it is inside you that is controlling this breath. Picture that your breath is cleansing you and promoting good and peacefulness in your life and dispelling negativity, stress, and anything else weighing you down.

  4. You can add in positive affirmations that you repeat.

    This could be a word, or it could be an extended phrase, something that you feel compelled to focus on. Visualization and focusing on this word or phrase can help you to manifest it and see how you can center yourself on it.

Meditating is as simple as these few steps. But growth and results require repetition and it requires that you improve at focusing and interacting with your meditative experience. If it’s hard for you to sit still for extended periods of time, say 20 or 30 minutes, start with a few minutes and work your way up to your goal. The process shouldn’t be something that causes you discomfort, and any amount of time you can devote to meditation is going to offer you value.

How to meditate regularly without obligation

As previously stated, the key to growth in meditation is repetition and routine. You want to do this daily to find yourself more centered, optimistic, and healthy emotionally and physically.

Find a time in your schedule where meditating should work almost every day. It doesn’t matter when it is unless there’s a time where you feel it’s most necessary. This could be in the morning when you wake up, it could be at night before you go to bed, or somewhere in between. Any time where you consistently have a few minutes free to increase your awareness and meditate.

Once you get used to this routine, you’ll become aware of its changes and transformation in your mindset and outlook.

The beauty of meditation is that you can meditate anytime and anywhere. Of course, you can do it at home, but you can also do it at work on lunch, or in your car before you go into work, in other words, there’s no excuse not to meditate nearly every day. As with anything that you want to achieve success at and see results, you’ll need to regularly practice.

man meditating under the water

What you’ll realize as you meditate regularly

As you embark on your meditation journey and start to grow within it, of course you’ll begin to feel better, but you’ll also start to feel what you are. You’ll slowly start to let go of energies that are causing you harm and you’ll begin to realize there’s much more to your being than you might’ve initially thought. You’ll realize that there is a light within you. This light is from our creator and is in each and every one of us. This IS-ness is what we can find connection with others in and what allows us to understand and deeply connect with others once we realize that we are all apart of this grand interconnectedness.

Once you are aware of this connected light that flows from us and into others and vice versa, you’ll find yourself having much more positive interactions and letting go of anything that doesn’t promote this love and understanding that we have for each other. You’ll begin to realize that this mindset and practice of meditation isn’t just good for your spirit and awakening this truth in you, but that it’s important for your physical well-being.  Once you’re able to let go of these negative energies that hold you down, you’ll feel a physical unwinding and decompression in your body and your emotional state.

Meditation will give you more insight into effective decision making. You’ll approach problems and interactions from a fresh perspective that’s centered around connecting to others and providing a result of love rather than any material or worldly influenced motives. This pure form of decision making will serve you well as you go about your day and interact with those around you.

How to level up your spiritual meditation

Once you’ve mastered spiritual meditation techniques for beginners like the breathing meditation, you can start to move into other forms of spiritual meditation, this includes “Present Moment Meditation.” In this meditation, you realize that your ego is simply something that distracts you from where you are right now. You let go of the idea of time that your brain has created and move into focusing on your consciousness and being.

To do this form of meditation, you start with breathing just like you’ve already learned. Then you take all of your worries and stresses and as they come, you lay them in front of your Creator, and let go of it. Envision that you have no past or future, that all you have is this present moment. Let go of any straining you have for desires of your ego.

Earlier positive affirmations were mentioned, but also repeating phrases that increase your awareness can help you stay focused on your meditative state. You can try repeating “I am here, now” to yourself. If this doesn’t work or it makes you feel uneasy, try whatever it is that make you feel present and aware of your consciousness and being. Use these verbal affirmations to remind yourself that your mind and ego can be causing stress to distract you from what is really important in your being and the love and light that is in you.

phrases that help you stay focused on your meditative state

Final thoughts: Spiritual meditation techniques for beginners

As you meditate, realize that you are one with your creator and your consciousness is God. This oneness with God will help you to feel this sense of peace knowing that you have this love that never goes away, no matter what other temporary things in our life do go away. Through this realization, you’ll also realize that we are all apart of this collective consciousness and we are all one with God. Thus, any separation that we form between ourselves and others is unnecessary.

Hopefully, this has helped you to realize not only how to meditate, but what meditation is and what the meditative state of mind is like. It will offer you great peace, love, and understanding.

101 Ways to Reduce Stress Hormones

Great tips to kill stress before stress kills you

Stress is a common thing that everybody experiences. Loss of your loved one, schooling, in your relationships, or even car troubles, stress is everywhere. And of course, no one likes the feeling of being stressed, but luckily there are many ways to relieve it. If you are experiencing physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension, here are 101 ways to reduce stress.

101 ways to reduce stress

101 ways to reduce stress

  1. Going for a run will help you take your mind off your problems and redirect them in a positive way.
  2. Take a nap as sleep makes everything better.
  3. Listen to a podcast, any podcast, it could be funny or a more serious one.
  4. Sunbathe for an hour to relax.
  5. Treat yourself in general, get the slice of cake or get that new shoe, you deserve it for being so stressed out.
  6. Stop drinking caffeine, caffeine will make you more hyper therefore more stressed.
  7. Stop and smell the roses, literally go smell some flowers or essential oils.
  8. Learn about something you always wanted to learn about.
  9. Buy lemonade from a local lemonade stand in the summer.
  10. Get a house plant to care for, it will be like your own child but with less responsibilities.
  11. Visit your city museum, you will find many different parts of history in one place.
  12. Do some yoga, it will help you channel your inner Zen.
  13. Drink a cup of cold water, you are probably dehydrated right now.
  14. Eat a meal, eating almost always makes anyone feel better, but make sure you eat responsibly.
  15. Read a book, an interesting book will take your thoughts to a different place.
  16. Go for a bike ride around your local park and stop for a minute to take a deep breath of fresh air.
  17. Discuss with a friend your problems and see what they suggest you should do to resolve the undying issue.
  18. Try accepting the stress, stress is completely normal and you just must accept life sometimes.
  19. Learn how to knit, then knit yourself a scarf.
  20. Create a journal or a diary to put down your life on paper.
  21. Focus on the parts of your life where you can control what happens, you can’t control everything in your life.
  22. Take a multivitamin, these will help you feel stronger each day.
  23. If you are religious, pray a short prayer.
  24. Do unpleasant tasks of the day at the very beginning, so it is out of the way as soon as possible.
  25. You can relax in a hot tub if you have access to one. It makes it even more enjoyable if it’s cold outside.
  26. Love yourself for who you are.
  27. Mix up your routines, doing the same thing every day will feel like you are stuck in an endless cycle.
  28. Buy yourself a stress ball and squeeze it when you are feeling stressed, you can also throw it at a wall if it’s that type of stress.
  29. Open the doors and the windows of wherever you are, like the airflow and get some fresh air.
  30. Stop everything you are doing and breathe in and out slowly. Focus on the air coming in and escaping from your lungs.
  31. Clean your living space, a cleaned room will instantly improve your wellbeing.
  32. Treat yourself to an ice cream cone.
  33. Take a spoonful of honey, not only will it help the medicine go down, but it will energize you.
  34. Go on a road trip, but without any maps, see where life takes you.
  35. Eat fruit, such as a banana or an apple.
  36. Start training for a running fundraiser, anyone can donate to a good cause and run a 5K.
  37. Wake up early in the morning so you can be more productive through the day.
  38. Eat breakfast every day, it will improve your overall mood.
  39. Plan future activities so you can ensure no stress will occur when things happen.
  40. Play video games, blasting aliens or zombies is always a very enjoyable task.
  41. Much like a video game, play a board game, I love Monopoly.
  42. Chewing gum will put your anxiety from the brain into the chewing motion of experiencing gum
  43. Paint a painting like Bob Ross.
  44. Resolve your problem right now, you won’t stress if they aren’t there anymore.
  45. Bake some homemade cookies, just like your family always made.
  46. Act stress-free, the more you pretend you have no stress, the sooner you will become stress-free.
  47. Set a future goal for yourself. Looking forward to the future will help you deal with the present.
  48. Cook your favorite meal or cook for someone else.
  49. I personally believe hot chocolate is a yearly drink that is delicious.
  50. Do that house chore you have been procrastinating, this will increase your standard of living in general.
  51. Go for a drive in the rain, it’s pleasantly relaxing.
  52. Grow a garden in your backyard or inside.
  53. Take a shower, this will rinse the stress from your body and calm you down.
  54. Eat an orange while showering. This sounds strange, but you must try it once.
  55. Light a candle and experience pleasant smells.
  56. Lay down outside (on a blanket or in a hammock) and watch the sky.
  57. Snuggle with a loving dog.
  58. Be nice to others, much like a golden rule, if you want life to be nice to you, start being nice to others.
  59. Listen to new songs that you have never heard before.
  60. Try looking the stars at night, see if you can find some order to the chaos.
  61. Write a letter, this letter could be to your future self or to an older relative.
  62. Go on a vacation. Have you ever wanted to go somewhere? Book that ticket today.
  63. Watch calming videos on YouTube like hypnosis for calming anxiety.
  64. A great way to reduce stress is to fall into the deep serenity of sleep.
  65. Lift weights, nothing feels better than successfully lift a heavy weight off your chest.
  66. Talking to your friends in general will help you get your problems out of your mind.
  67. Write down the stresses on a piece of paper, then shred the paper to remove the stress from your life.
  68. Play a sport, preferably with friends, competition will lift the stress from your shoulders.
  69. Reach out to old friends and catch up with each other’s lives.
  70. Prepare for the next day the night before, pack your lunch and pick out your clothes.
  71. Volunteering we always make you feel better for yourself as you help others.
  72. Only think positive thoughts.
  73. Remove negative people and thoughts from your life.
  74. Stop using social media, social media always makes you feel worse about your current life.
  75. Smile and laugh, these two things will make you feel significantly better.
  76. Sit down and meditate for fifteen minutes to get your mind off things.
  77. Listen to an audiobook, much like reading a book, but you can do other activities.
  78. Go for a drive around your town, you will never know what you will find.
  79. Go to local yard sales. It will help you meet new people and find new items you never knew you needed.
  80. Getting a haircut will create a semi-fresh start in your life which you might need.
  81. Have a bubble bath. Bubble baths are not only for girls! They can be relaxing for everyone and will take you back to your childhood if you have some toy boats.
  82. Go for a swim in a pool or even a lake.
  83. Write poetry to get your creative juices flowing.
  84. Visit the zoo and talk to some of the lions in the cage.
  85. Draw a picture and put it on your fridge.
  86. Take photos of yourself or with your friends.
  87. If someone stressed you out, the best course of action is to forgive and forget.
  88. Go to the club or a party with your friends.
  89. Eat chocolate, let it be dark or milk, chocolate always makes me feel better.
  90. Watch your favorite television show, I recommend FRIENDS.
  91. If it is snowing, make a snow angel.
  92. Hug someone, hugging will always make you feel better.
  93. Watch a play at your local theatre.
  94. Sleep in on the weekends, get fully rested so you can conquer the upcoming week.
  95. Stretch your muscles every day.
  96. Sing your favorite song.
  97. Learn a new instrument, you will surprise yourself of how much progress you can make in a short period of time.
  98. Go fishing, this is a calming activity that is very rewarding and allows time for you to think.
  99. Complete a puzzle, this will put your mind completely in the pieces, allowing you to put your mind back together.
  100. Take each day one day at the time, tomorrow is for tomorrow.
  101. Put on your favorite song and just dance, let your heart out.

Final thoughts: 101 ways to reduce stress

So, there it is, 101 ways to reduce stress in your life. Hopefully one of these ways will help you get your life back in order. But remember, stress can be good, along with having a good outlook in life.

If you face heavy levels of stress and you can’t cope with it, you may want to seek help from a specialist.

How to Stop Being an Alcoholic

No thanks, I don’t drink

The answer to the question “How to stop being an alcoholic?” lies within yourself. The first step to quitting alcohol is to admit you have a problem, the old mantra is true. Once you can acknowledge and identify that problem then the next step is to take full accountability for it.

You cannot blame anyone else, not your stressful job or family drama or trauma in your past. Yes, addiction is a disease but it is a disease that causes you to make choices and those choices are what you need to take accountability for.

How to stop being an alcoholic

Developing a personal action plan for alcohol addiction recovery

Once you are ready to get better, the next step is developing a plan of action. Most people will go straight to the extremes of rehabilitation centers or Alcoholics Anonymous, and these are very valid and helpful options. However, not everyone can speak openly in a group like that and not everyone can afford a full-time in-house rehab facility. They can cost thousands of dollars and state-run facilities can have year-long waiting lists or even more.

So, if you have found yourself in this circumstance, what should you do? You’ve admitted that you’re an alcoholic, you know that you cannot afford or take the time off for an in-house rehabilitation center and the idea of sitting with a group of strangers to divulge the deepest parts of your journey makes you cringe.

This is the time for something that experts call “spontaneous sobriety” in the sense that people spontaneously decide to quit without having professional help and aren’t sure of what they are in for.

Studies have shown that those who spontaneously decide to quit are actually between four and seven times more likely to remain sober. This could be because they are truly ready to stop and are deciding it out of their own desires to quit without influence from others.

This is part of why the prep work is so important so that you can be certain that you can quit on your own and stick to your plan. So how to stop being an alcoholic? There is a commonly used process that many people find effective called CORE: Commit, Objectify, Respond, and Enjoy. Keep reading and find out how this technique can help you put the bottle down for good!

How to stop being an alcoholic – the Prep Work

Admitting the problem and accepting responsibility are two parts of the preparation that you need to do before you can start implementing CORE. The next step is to get an understanding of the problem that you have. You need to do some self-reflecting to get to what drove you to drink in the first place, what triggers in your daily life make you want to drink, why have any other attempts in your past failed and what do you need to do this time to make it stick.

Part of why addiction is hard to shake is because the chemical imbalance that substances cause in our brains becomes normalized. This tricks your brain into a survival instinct that allows it to think that the chemical substance is a necessity to its function. That means that the more dependent your body becomes on a substance, the more your brain tells your body that it needs that substance to survive.

Getting to the root of why you began drinking can help give you the foundation to rewire your brain to run interference when it starts telling you that you crave alcohol. It will also help you to develop a plan of action for each step of the CORE recovery process.

Getting to the CORE of Addiction

C.O.R.E. of alcohol addiction

Now it’s time to get started on the first step of CORE – Commit.

You need to make a commitment mentally to your goal, no more “Well, I’ll quite this weekend” or “I’ll just stick to beer”. You need to say it out loud to yourself, “I will never drink again”. You have to acknowledge this from an honest place and that comes from the prep work.

You know that there are withdrawal symptoms with weening off of any substance in your life, so alcohol will not be an exception to that rule. When you make the commitment to stop drinking then you also need to commit to going through the physical pain and discomfort that the detox process is. You need to make a commitment to having a support system around you, the type of meal plan that you will use, ensuring that you have a sufficient supply of drinking water or herbal teas that will help you flush your system out.

The detox experience will depend on how heavily dependent you have been on the substance and for how long. Alcohol is a depressant but dependency on it destabilizes your emotions. As a result, you can get depressed while your body is detoxing from alcohol and you can become very melancholy. If you have a higher dependency on alcohol, your experience could be more extreme than others.

If you are concerned about being on the higher end of this spectrum, then you should consult your doctor prior to detoxing. Remember that the detox process is not curing your alcoholism, it is simply allowing your body to start over without physically interacting with the substance. If you are severely dependent then the withdrawal process can cause tremors, seizures or hallucinations and all of that can cause other medical concerns if they are not monitored correctly.

Let’s get to step two in the CORE process – Objectify.

This part may sound a little silly, but it is rooted in psychology that rewires your brain so it really does work! If you objectify the part of your brain that is dependent on alcohol as something outside of yourself, it can help your ability to cope. This helps your brain view the craving as something that “it” wants rather than something that “you” want and that will help you feel like you are in more control.

The process of objectifying the part of your brain that craves alcohol is intended to teach your brain that the need for alcohol is unnatural. It is not a part of how your body actually operates in a healthy way so that craving in itself is like an invader. That invader needs to be controlled and kept in check and that part is done by the healthy part of your brain, which is seen as a part of you. So, start thinking to yourself that “it” wants you to drink but “you” want to go to a yoga class instead!

The third step in the CORE process is to Respond.

This is where you start capitalizing on that commitment and the objectification of your cravings. Remember, that part of your brain is not a part of you, it is an invader and needs communication from you to be put in check so don’t be afraid to respond. Don’t respond with any hemming or hawing before giving a weak “no”, instead give a full-throated and determined “never” as your answer.

And keep bringing these conversations back to that initial commitment. Next time that your brain says that it wants a drink, respond to it by saying that you never want a drink again. Think of it as that annoying college buddy who always wants to relive the glory days and let that friend know that you have made a commitment to your sobriety. This will help you for when you are in social settings and providing a more polite response while in your head screaming “NEVER” at the top of your lungs.

The final step in the CORE process is the best part and this is the part that will set you up for years to come – Enjoy.

This is when you start to replace alcohol with things that make you happy but that are also good for you. Whether it’s joining a book club to exercise your brain or a cooking class to learn a healthier recipe to enjoy, you need to start filling your life with things that improve your health and are also fun.

They say that idle hands are the devil’s playground, and idle minds are that for addiction cravings. Do not be afraid of a relapse, because that is the addicted part of your brain trying to convince you that doing the work isn’t worth it or that you are not capable of quitting.

Keep working through these steps and over time you will see a world of difference, but try adding new tools every time that you relapse to see if there are natural supporters that you can work into these steps.

What Else Can Help?

  • Breathing techniques: We mentioned a yoga class earlier, and that was no accident. Part of the benefit of yoga is taking the time to learn about your own body. The positions being held and being able to move from one to the next all the while focusing on your breathing forces you to listen to your body and feel more in control. This process of becoming more in tune with your body can help you feel more in control of your addiction and recovery.

  • Acupuncture: There are also natural supplements and therapies that can assist you with the detox process as well as the lifestyle change that comes with recovery. Acupuncture is one that has been proven to support circulation and flow of the blood in your body. This is effective for repairing liver damage and making it function better after your detoxing. This also allows you to feel the positive effects of life without alcohol more deeply and feel healthier as you move into this new chapter of your life.

  • Light therapy: One of the side effects of alcoholism is the problem with sleeping. It is typical to develop insomnia as time moves forward. Light therapy is a great natural remedy for those who are struggling with this issue because not being able to sleep can be an easy trigger to give in to. Light therapy will help your brain fall asleep with more ease and consistency.

  • Cayenne pepper: There are foods that can assist the detox process as well, and yes they tend to be the standard healthy foods but they are even more important than normal when you decide to quit drinking. Cayenne pepper has been proven to suppress cravings so try adding it to your meals that first week. Many people will drink water infused with lemon and ginger as a cleansing version of regular water to drink throughout the day. If you are interested in the infused water, then add cayenne pepper to it and put it in your water bottle to have a handy tool against cravings throughout the day.

  • Low-fat proteins: While you are detoxing, part of the planning process when you make that commitment is to have healthy foods around that will give your body strength and maintain as healthy of a balance as possible. Make sure that you have a lot of low-fat proteins around the house like eggs or fish to keep your body strong.

  • Fruits and vegetables: Also be sure to have replacement sugars that are healthy for you like fruit. This will help curb the cravings for those sugar-laced cocktails or that glass of wine. The vegetables are also important in the detox process because the fiber will also support your body in the cleansing process.

  • Kudzu: If all else fails and you are still relapsing repeatedly or if you are struggling to be in social settings or are afraid to re-enter social settings then there is another natural product that can help you. There is a Chinese herb called kudzu that has been demonstrated to help people curb their drinking. It has been proven to increase blood flow to your brain and because of that, people who take it prior to drinking will drink significantly less quantities at a much slower pace.

This will help you stave off getting drunk or at least will cause you to feel the effects differently which can help you sip your drink rather than drinking the way that you used to.

Final thoughts: How to stop being an alcoholic?

At the end of the day, nothing works until you do. You have to be ready to make a change, to be healthier and to be happy in the truest sense of the word.

These remedies should help you succeed, but hopefully, the first step will come from within you because that is the only way to guarantee that success.

Prayer for Weight Loss Success

A powerful prayer for weight loss motivation

To lose weight, a lot of exercises and strict diet must be followed, but remember that the prayer for weight loss is a great way to get even better results, but only if your faith is strong enough. Praying to God on your weight loss journey can help you speed up your weight loss plan. God is one! God loves to give you what you need when your requests align with his will.

helpful prayer for weight loss

Believing in God will make your life better

Inflammatory processes in the body caused by polluted air, smoking, various viruses and bacteria, and, above all, burnout and constant stress, contribute to weight gain. A number of studies have shown that people with a strong spiritual will have half less inflammatory substances called C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in the body, which do not only increase body weight but also susceptibility to serious health complications, including heart attack and diabetes.

If you don’t believe in a higher power, it is better not to try at all. Prayer must be consistent with your beliefs, so you need to listen to the inner voice. Some people believe in God, others in natural or omnipotent universal laws, power of positive thinking, etc. In this article, you will learn how to seek God’s help.

You have to pray every day to keep track of your goals. By taking the time to talk to God every morning you will be shocked that all the routine you planned for a healthy lifestyle leading to weight loss would fall into place the way you want it to be. Do not make the biggest mistake of trying to change out of the pure will. Instead, seek God intervention.

Listed below are prayer points to lose excessive weight

do all to the glory of God

Start a prayer for weight loss

Thank the Lord for introducing this new diet into your life because it is only by his help you can achieve what you seek in life and in your weight loss journey. Also, seek Gods intervention to give you the strength to continue and not relent at all.

Adhering to a diet prayer

Pray to God to take away temptation that would bring negative consequences of self-defeating behavior. This is because with God you can successfully resist the devil and achieve results and without him, you can’t. You just can’t do it alone. Tell God to guide you through this journey, give you the strength to stick to the diet plan and to overcome all drawbacks.

A power to succeed prayer

This prayer point is aimed to seek God confirmation. Seeking the Lord blessing and strength to continue with the weight loss program.

Pray and seek for God’s grace to make you have the courage to keep going and not giving up on yourself. Truth be told, with God nothing is impossible. Let the Lord know that you believe in him always and you would surely see the reward.

Resist cravings prayer

Seek the Lord intervention for strength to stay away from anything that is unhealthy like alcohol, junk food, smoking, etc. Also, pray to the Lord so you can focus on your health and fitness.

Pray to God that this power will focus on the discipline of your body and make your training devoted. Your prayer point should focus on everything you do, eat or drink and work on.

I pray that a support group pushes me to the finish line. I ask all this in this prayer, Lord please give me the strength as I believe in you that u can help me through this journey. Amen.

Prayer to stop eating too much

God, I thank you for the great food you offer. I love your food so much that sometimes I eat too much until my stomach hurts. I admit that I cannot do it myself and I need your help. Please, give me the strength to eat only what I need. Amen.

Prayer for weight loss journey

Heavenly father, I want to thank you for creating me and giving me this body to serve you. Today, I need your guidance to help me with my weight loss journey.

I have reached the end of my rope, sir. I tried so hard, but my self-control is exhausted and if I’m wrong, I feel like a failure, and I want to give up. But you tell us to run with stamina, so I’ll keep trying and relying on the strength of your Almighty.

My stretch marks, my belly, my arms, and my whole body can be so frustrating for me. Never let me distract myself from the fact that my body is so valuable to you.

You created every part of me and you have never made a mistake. You created me for a special purpose. You have knitted every part of me with love and care. My broken ship sometimes feels weak and embarrassing, but you have created it as a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Always let me remember your gift and teach me to take care of my body better. Give me the sense to follow your commands. Sir, I know you love me, no matter how much I weight you’re always here for me. Your judges are not based on the size of my pants or my appearance. But you’re worried that this extra weight makes my life difficult with pain, health problems, physical limitations, and so much insecurity.

Help me lose this weight, sir. Help me to glorify you in my eating habits and to worship you in my exercises. I do not want to treat healthy eating and sport as a punishment. I want to be a good steward of the body, so give me the strength to choose foods that nourish my body and make me look fit.

My God, I do not want to be a slave to food, indulge in emotional consumption and eat unhealthy junk food. I want you to fill me with your fullness and holiness so that I can break every limitation to my weight loss journey with your help. Please remind me to choose grace instead of blaming myself for repeating the old same mistakes all over again. Help me build a support system in my life that brings me responsibility and encouragement. Please be my strength, encourage my success and support me in difficult times.

Above all, please teach me how to get closer to you through prayer. My desire is for more of you and less of me. Allow me to rest every morning in the comfort of your untiring love and new mercy. Today I offer you my whole self as a living sacrifice. I love you so much and I ask for these things in the holy name of your Son. Amen.

Are you Eating to Fill a Void?

Eating to fill a void – when food put down emotions

Eating to fill a void (emotional eating) has adverse effects on health but to understand how to deal with this problem we should first know what filling a void means. Filling a void refers to the feeling of inner emptiness. “Emotional eating” is not a problem of weak will and control, it’s mainly a lack of awareness of why it’s happening – what brings us to the point of preferring to eat rather than facing a certain “difficult” situation, emotional state or thought.

Knowing this will help you cope with unpleasant emotions and situations. To get rid of such emotions and feelings there should be something to fill that void.

For example, you can find a partner or a friend to spend time with or any activity that makes you feel good and confident such as sports, educational programs as well as relaxation or meditation techniques. The purpose is engaging in any other activity which will keep you away from unpleasant emotions.

Emotional imbalanced woman thinking about eating to fill a void

Why we eat the way we eat?

We think that people eat to fill their belly only, but this is not correct. Some people use to eat just to cope with their emotions easier. So at some point in your life, it may happen that due to emotions you’ll be eating foods with lots of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients. All this will soon be reflected in the form of extra pounds, which will further put you in a bad mood.

It is true that everyone is overeating here and there, but sometimes the reason for it is a mental disorder. For people with this disorder, overeating is a compulsion that they cannot control. Overeating occurs regularly and frequently, at least once a week for several months in a row.

So, there are two types of eating i.e. physical eating and emotional eating.

Physical Eating

It is related to hunger. We eat to remove hunger and fill our belly. This will provide us with nutrients we need to survive and the energy to do the work.

Emotional Eating

Emotional eating means to eat to get rid of emotions. This helps us to cope with different types of emotions, be it positive or negative. In most cases, these are negative emotions that can be very strong and unpleasant.

Episodes of emotional eating can last for short periods in life, especially when we are exposed to stressful situations or are facing important life challenges. The situation is usually normalized by itself, but it can also take longer and turn into a chronic form. At that time, the body fails to follow the rapid emotional fluctuations, and excess pounds begin to accumulate steadily.

Emotional eating is also known as eating to fill a void. Eating to fill a void means to eat to fill the void in your life. In this case, you do not eat because you are hungry, but you are eating due to emotions. Everyone wants to get rid of negative feelings that are related to loss of control. Eating can make you feel good or better but only for a short time.

Why eating makes you feel good?

The food we take to fill a void usually contains fats, carbohydrates, and sugar in excess such as chocolate, pizza, cookies, snacks, etc. When you consume these foods, two types of hormones are released in your brain – Endorphins and Dopamine. Both hormones are feel-good hormones.

Dopamine will make you feel good and create a feeling of bliss and motivation, while Endorphins will let you cope with pain and stress. During the massage, Endorphins are released which reduces stress.

eating chocolate to fill a void and improve mood

The effects of emotional eating

There are many problems related to this habit, we will discuss each one by one:

  • Obesity: This is the major problem of emotional eating. Eating to fill a void has nothing to do with hunger, it doesn’t matter whether you are full or hungry. You eat just to feel better. This kind of eating leads to excessive caloric intake which increases your weight and often leads to obesity. Everyone is familiar with the effects of obesity, it is linked with many diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, respiratory problems, and cancer.

  • Feeling shame: Due to excess eating, you will become overweight and this will make you feel shame. You will regret it after emotional eating. Eating to fill void makes you feel good for a specific period and you will start feeling the same again after some time. But this time you will have one more unpleasant emotion and that is shame or regret. Just think that you were trying to feel better but the result is feeling worse.

  • Finding comfort in unhealthy food: Eating to fill a void does not care for hunger. When you are physically hungry you can take a variety of food to get rid of it, but emotional hunger can be fulfilled by specific food only that makes you feel good. Usually, it’s junk food.

Are You Eating to Fill a Void?

It is necessary to find the answer to this question before its too late. To save yourself from emotional eating you’ll have to look at yourself and your habits carefully. The following characteristics will let you know whether you are eating to fill a void or not.

  • When you detect hunger in the head and not in the stomach: Craving for food based on emotions is happening in the mouth and mind. Your mind is overwhelmed by thinking about the food you currently want. The real hunger is recognizable by sensation in the stomach – you feel emptiness, rumbling, and even stomach pain. Eating when you’re not actually hungry could be more harmful than you think. For example, eating to keep someone company can make you an emotional eater in the worst moments. Or you might think that eating snacks while playing games and watching movies is fine. Not really! You should have control over this habit. Having control means that you have the potential to avoid these foods when you are not hungry. If you are unable to avoid eating in such cases, then this can be an alarming situation.

  • Eating when you are bored: Some people eat pizzas and ice cream when they are bored. If you are alone at home and your family is not with you, then you may want to eat junk food. If you like to eat when you’re bored, then you should certainly control yourself.

  • Eating when you are in financial problems: Many people get into emotional eating after losing in business, game or bet, etc. When these things happen, people like to spend time alone and eat to find relief. The only thing they do is to eat because they lack confidence in facing the world.

  • Eating when you have problems in a relationship: You might have gone through clashes and misunderstandings with your loved ones. This situation can make people emotional eaters. You should control your eating in these situations.

Methods to stop eating when you’re not hungry

Potato chips

If you are eating to fill a void, then you should follow these methods to stop!

Ask a Nutritionist:

The first thing is to know which food can make you an emotional eater. A nutritionist can guide you very well in this regard. You should see a nutritionist and tell them what you like to eat and what you don’t and ask them about healthy foods that can be consumed when feeling empty.

Make a Diet Plan:

You should look at what you take the whole day and specific occasions. Check your weight twice a month and calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). Your BMI should be between 18.5 and 24.9. To maintain your BMI, calculate the calorific value you should consume daily to maintain a healthy weight. You should always take the required calorific value daily and try to avoid the excess of it.

Find a companion:

Eating to fill a void can be due to loneliness, sadness, and stress. When you are alone or stressed then you should call your friend and discuss your feelings or problem with them. This will make you feel better and your friend can give you a solution to that problem which is making you stressed.

Massage therapy:

Massage also releases Endorphins in large amounts which fills your brain and makes you feel better. It is a better substitute for those Endorphins that you get from food.

Hobby:

Everyone should have a hobby. If you don’t have one then find one. Find out what you like to do in your leisure time, except for eating. Your hobby can make you feel better. One of the best choices is physical activity. If you take some time to exercise every day, your muscles will release lactic acid into your bloodstream. This represents a useful source of energy for brains, reducing the need for (unhealthy) food. In addition, exercise stimulates the secretion of hormones that act as temporary appetite suppressants. A book is like a good friend, you can read your favorite books when you are alone. You can watch TV shows, especially comedy to divert your emotions. Try meditation or Yoga – both techniques have a beneficial effect on both physical and mental well-being. There are many activities and hobbies that you might like and that can help you end up emotional overeating.

Stress relieving toys:

There are many stress-relieving toys available in the market nowadays such as Fidget Spinner, Stress Balls, Magnetic Toys, etc. This will help to cope with stress and you can carry most of them in your pocket.

Final thoughts: Eating to fill a void

Eating to fill a void is dangerous to health. You should stop it because it will create more stress and problems in your life. Your stomach is not a dustbin, therefore, you should think before eating anything.

It is crucial to recognize what triggers overeating. The simplest method is to keep a diary of everything you eat and also all the feelings you had during the day. This way you can quickly recognize patterns of behavior and find out the key trigger factors for overeating.

Eating to fill a void is just denying the problems, but not solving them. The key that unlocks the door of the vicious circle is to find out the essence of your problems since this is the only way you can solve them.

“Your health is your real wealth”

Losing Weight After Bulimia: Stuff You Need to Know

What you should know about losing weight after bulimia

Let’s find out what it’s like losing weight after bulimia. Bulimia is characterized by massive consumption of food over a very short period of time.

For a person with bulimia, regardless of quality, only the amount of food consumed is important. A desire for a specific food, hunger or enjoyment of eating are not present. Bulimics are suffering from a food crisis entirely and feel only a strong sense of loss of control.

Why losing weight after bulimia is difficult
  • Get professional help if you need it. Go to your physician or discuss your problem with a specialist in eating disorders.
  • Get help from those around you. Don’t hesitate, do yourself a favor. Ask for help, seek support. At the same time, protect yourself from stressful people and avoid family pressure.
  • Improve your lifestyle. Listen to your body. Sleep more, move more and eat lighter. Do not use painkillers and avoid alcohol. Walk! Walk! Twenty to thirty minutes of walking daily are ten kilos less per year.
  • Change negative thoughts. Avoid putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. Master your own judgments and look at what you have already accomplished. Examine your negative thoughts with kindness. Reflect on the progress you have made and enjoy the fruits of it. In short, be impeccable, but not perfect. Do your best but remember: no man can defeat Superman!
  • Take care of yourself. Relax, you have the right to do so. Get a massage, choose a hobby. Try to clear some time in your schedule.
  • Finally, determine your priorities. They are detailed in two ways: urgency and importance. Plan the important, not urgent things (taxes, holidays, time with your spouse). Do what is important and urgent, but keep in mind that there are not so many things that really fall into this category. Not urgent and unimportant – simply eliminate it. The urgent but unimportant task – try to postpone it.

What is the purpose of bulimics?

Maintain a low weight, or lose weight. These eating behaviors are therefore generally accompanied by self-induced vomiting, taking laxatives, diuretics, intensive physical activity…

Losing weight after bulimia needs to be kept under control: nutritional and psychological care

The care of a person with bulimia nervosa must be carried out on 2 levels:

The Nutritional Plan: to help a person with bulimia you need to control their diet. Bulimics tend to skip meals for fear of being overly tempted and overweight. Without a nutritional structure, they only respond to crises when their bodies can no longer resist and demand food.

It is therefore essential to help them rediscover the notion of culinary pleasure, from a gustatory but also a human point of view and to learn to see the table as a friendly place, a place of exchange and mutual pleasure.

The Psychological level: Bulimic attacks are “food responses” to situations of stress, anxiety, anguish, boredom, loneliness… It is often a latent depression that unconsciously pushes bulimics to act. This is the cause of a vicious circle because after food crises comes to guilt, which reinforces depression. Only psychological work will be able to break this vicious circle. So that people with bulimia nervosa are no longer in a position to suffer from food, it is important that they regain control over their meals and eating behavior, and finally themselves. To do this, there are different methods to try.

Behavioral and cognitive therapies

Behavioral therapy focuses on the symptom: the psychotherapist will help the person understand where his or her bulimic attacks come from. It will therefore make the bulimic think about his seizures: where, when, why they trigger? And also to put in place preventive strategies to deal with these crises.

The therapist can also help bulimics relax, gain self-esteem and “socialize”, as it is about people who tend to isolate themselves and eliminate their boredom with food.

cognitive behavioral therapy for bulimia

Talking to make you feel better

Bulimics are individuals in great pain, who are often afraid to go to a doctor or therapist for fear of being misunderstood and judged. Focus groups can therefore be very useful, especially for people who have never dared to speak about their illness openly.

In these groups, anyone can talk to individuals who are experiencing the same experience, the same suffering, and who also understand this. They are usually run by therapists or ex-bulimics. But groups are not just for sharing your pain. Bulimics also share their anti-crisis tips, feelings, and experiences about treatment options and more.

Psychotropic drugs

To treat addiction to food like bulimia nervosa disorder, psychotropic medicines can sometimes be prescribed.

These antidepressants help the patient overcome excess food consumption by providing the same feelings of well-being that a bulimic feels right after a seizure. Sometimes these antidepressants are necessary after abruptly quitting overeating, which accentuates patient’s depressive disorders.

As they have relatively little impact on the scale and frequency of crises, they must be used as a complement to psychological and nutritional follow-up.

Do people actually lose weight from bulimia?

Having a bad self-image, a bad body image is the main reason that pushes some people into this catastrophic decision. So yes, vomiting right after craving, exercising intensely beyond the limit or stopping eating for a specific period of time can limit weight gain. But this represents health risks.

Anorexia is not uncommon in these cases. In any case, these are not sustainable weight loss solutions. At some point, you will need to get treatment and return to a normal, healthy and balanced diet.

Moreover, by being abused in this way, the body will adopt a self-defense mechanism that consists of storing more to prevent possible shortages. In this case, bulimia nervosa even makes you gain weight.

Many patients consult because they believe, rightly or wrongly, that they have a certain number of kilos to lose.

Sometimes the demand is simply to stop thinking about sweet or fatty foods and have the strength to monitor your diet: a capacity that existed and has been lost through pregnancy or life’s worries.

From bulimia to a strong appetite, from a strong appetite to an obsession with weight (rightly or wrongly), one must cope with the inability to maintain reasonable dietary guidelines.

In the event of simple overweight, therapeutic suggestions include:

Eating behavior: attraction to natural foods, not giving in to the feeling of hunger

Mental activity: strengthening determination, self-confidence, fighting stress and anxiety.

The digestive system: visualization exercises of the esophagus and stomach are used to amplify the sensation of gastric fullness, to be quickly satisfied.

These suggestions are particularly interesting because they show the possibility of obtaining physical reactions through words on the organs involved. For example, in this case, the stomach feels and suggests spasms that interfere with food absorption.

Hypnosis thus enables good monitoring of weight loss candidates who are 20 to 30 kg overweight and for whom stabilization is at least as important as weight loss.

Treating bulimia nervosa with hypnosis

Patients can no longer tolerate these self-destructive acts, these compulsions for overeating or alcohol, which have become a must-have ritual.

They find out how much time and energy they have wasted during the ritual (force-feeding-vomiting), which is supposed to calm them down, but in fact, it was humiliating and harmful.

Repeated vomiting also leads to various physiological disorders such as gastritis, vitamin deficiencies and repeated fatigue that alert the patient.

Related: How to lose weight with hypnosis

hypnosis for bulimia recovery

Therapeutic suggestions:

  • Listening to positive, emotionally laden words that inhibit reflex seizures.
  • Mental imagery and visualization: visualizations about healthy normal foods like fruits and vegetables.
  • Genesis research: influence of parental healthy-eating attitudes and nutritional knowledge.
  • Replacing high-calorie unhealthy products with fruits and vegetables.
  • Keeping a record of eating and emotions in combination with the elements of psychodynamic therapy.
  • Slowing down when eating to achieve satiety.

The exercises depend on the patients, their relationships and rituals. Each difficulty is an interesting problem to solve. Every step forward, however modest, is proof that change is possible.

Hypnosis sessions are more frequent in the first weeks, followed by a pause according to the results. Number: 5 to 10 sessions + interviews as needed.

Final thoughts: Losing weight after bulimia: stuff you need to know

Self-motivation is crucial in the treatment of bulimia. The most appropriate is the treatment that not only eliminates symptoms such as vomiting, starvation, taking laxatives but also identifies where the causes of the disorder occur and establishes satisfactory mental and social functioning. So losing weight after bulimia recovery will be much more successful.