We’re told body fat only happens with an excess of calories. But that doesn’t make sense, because the less you eat the more you gain. Which brings me to answer the question, can you think yourself fat?
“I can look at a piece of food and gain weight.” She said it with laughter under her breath, even though her tone said it all – she believed it but didn’t want to.
This is one common blanket statement, so many of us throw around, looking for something to grasp onto an answer to the question of why your weight won’t budge.
We want to know, what is the deal with fat, and why does it seem to pack on so much easier than we can lose it?
Inside this podcast, we dive into the nature of fat – or maybe better said, the attitude of fat and learn can you think yourself fat? We’ll also dive into:
- The difference between body fat and dietary fat.
- What the purpose of fat is.
- How we gain fat and how we burn it.
- The emotional nature of fat.
- How to release it for good.
how you lose fat
Before we get into the nature of fat, I think it’s important to define how fat is lost. Because most people don’t have a clear picture of how this happens. In fact, nearly 90% of all health professionals could not tell you how fat is lost in the body.
While most would say that fat is converted to energy, or melted off and lost in your bowels, the truth is that nearly all fat lost happens through carbon dioxide output.
Yes, it’s lost via our respiratory cycle or exhaling.
Mind blow, right?
Say you lost 10 pounds of fat – 8.4 pounds is lost as carbon dioxide and the other 1.6 pounds is lost as water – either through sweating or urination.
This means that our respiratory system, next to our liver, could be the most metabolically active system that we have. But we also need to get to know fat, to understand how to lose it.
fat as an emotional insulator
Why is it so hard to lose fat, even if you’re doing everything right? I think this is the most frustrating conundrums health professionals face. There is no magic pill or bullet or system that naturally and easily helps you to lose fat.
The reason is that fat is highly emotional. Some call it the emotional insulator.
Research has shown that having extra fat on the body can help protect against feeling the intensity of unprocessed emotions. Like a thick coat of insulation on an extremely high-voltage wire – it keeps us in some semblance of balance, able to exist and function without becoming obliterated by our own emotional charge.
This means that fat is a semi-conscious strategy to help contain old trauma and possibly why ingesting fat can lessen feelings of sadness, affecting both our behavior and our neural response to negative emotions.
fat as a protector
It’s protecting our body from the charge that’s raging in our emotions.
So could it be that fat is the safest thing your body could hold onto? That is, as long as you’re holding on to old baggage and negative emotions.
Could you be carrying the weight of the world in physical pounds?
It feels like it, and it certainly is true, at least partially so for many of us. In knowing this, then we can come to understand a solution as to how to get the fat to budge.
how to get stubborn fat to budge
Of course, these aren’t your typical solutions, eat less, move more, restrict, deprive and starve – because if I’m looking at the statistics right – those do not work. That’s because, as shown, fat is emotional. What I mean is that it works to conserve or release based on our emotional perception.
Negativity, overwhelm, and stress pack on the pounds, and make our bodies tense-up, reducing the amount of deep breathes we can take, reducing how much CO2 we lose, and, therefore, fat. On the flip side, positivity, happiness, connection, and love can change everything.
It’s time to throw off the weight you’ve been carrying and release what holds you back from stepping into true health.
Here are five things to focus on.
5 ways to lose weight {without changing what you eat}
1. deep breathing
Practice deep breathing daily. Try the 4-8-7 method: inhale slowly for a count of 4, hold for a count of 8, and exhale for a count of 7 – repeating 4-5 times in a row. Even if you did this just once a day, how much more you could expand your lungs, push out toxicity, improve your posture, and signal to your brain to release.
But I’d encourage you to practice deep breathing a handful of times throughout the day. If you’re like me, then set your alarm on the top of the hour every hour during the workday and stop and do this 2-minute practice.
2. better posture
Did you know your posture changes how deep or shallow your breath is? Of course, when you’re slouched or hunched over with bad posture it is impossible to take a deep enough breath to release what needs to come out. And it’s not just fat that’s lost as CO2 – many other toxins are broken down that way.
Stand up straight, work on those back muscles, and allow space in your lungs to be filled with oxygen and release the bad.
3. Connection
Humans were designed for connection. To feel love, to live love, and to embrace other humans in relationships. Unfortunately, many relationships grow toxic and can leave you more stressed than you started.
I like to believe that we’re only as healthy as our most unhealthy relationship – which also leads me to encourage you to work on those relationships. If it’s your marriage, seek a therapist {no matter how good or bad it is}, and take time to evaluate your friendships.
Connection is making a difference, whether good or bad – what does that look like in your life?
4. Sleep + Rest
We can’t deny the power of sleep. I recently heard a statistic that blew me away; the average amount of sleep pre-lightbulb was 10 hours a night. Today that average is 6.3 hours per night. But we know that sleep matters, in fact, the nervous system state that allows us to rest and relax, parasympathetic mode, is one of the best ways to start releasing what your body is holding onto.
Your sleep and rest patterns are the time when your body can heal, let go, and rejuvenate. Don’t take sleep lighting and aim to get 7-9 hours a night.
5. Laughter
Every emotion we experience turns on and off a system of different hormones, neurotransmitters, and electrical impulses that speak to the body. Laughter is the language of healing, turning on the hormones needed to satisfy your body while eliminating the excess. Bottom line, find more ways to laugh and connect and love, and you will experience massive benefits in your health.
work with me
Are you ready to change your health for life? To do a complete mind, body, and soul overview that will heal your relationship with food. I want to help walk you through learning a system that will work for you.
To create your personal health-style.
Will you make this year the year of your health?
Consider working one-on-one with me creating simple rhythms that will change the entire course of your life. Click here to learn more.
subscribe to the show
Don’t forget to subscribe to Simple Roots Radio to make sure you are notified as soon as another podcast comes out. Sometimes I can be a little slow to notify you, and this ensures that you get the show right on your phone to listen anytime you want!
If you have some feedback to share or an exciting shout out on your journey, leave a note in the comments below. I would love to know your reactions to the show and how you’re taking steps in owning your own story.
Finally, if you enjoyed the show, I’d love it if you’d take a minute to leave a rating and review. Through these reviews, we can work to make the show better and align more closely with the information you need to live your best life. It only takes a minute and makes a world of difference in the life of this show.
I WOULD BE SO THANKFUL IF YOU WOULD
rate and review the show
click here for instructions on how to rate and review the show
Missed an episode? Click here to listen to all of the episodes of Simple Roots Wellness.