Why are so many people overweight?

Why Do We Overeat?

I’m sitting in the airport in Miami, and noticing that every other person is overweight or over fat.  Obesity has become epidemic, and it’s infiltrating our society at an alarming rate. If you look around at all the food options available in airports or average restaurants, they are loaded with sodium, fat and sugar. In order to stay healthy while you are out and about, you really need to plan ahead and come prepared. You can’t leave it to chance because chances are you will end up choosing something containing your full daily allotment of calories, sodium, fat and so on, all in just one meal.

So the question is, what causes us to do this?

Is it lack of knowledge, laziness, or comfort at all costs – the enjoy now, pay later mentality?

I personally think most people are unaware that our food is our medicine. When you think about it, comfort food is really discomfort food. It wreaks havoc in your body. For example dairy causes an immune system response and causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. It slows your metabolism down because your body has to work so hard trying to break it down. The result is weight gain and low energy.  Raw milk goat cheese would be a better option, as it comes with its own enzymes which help break it down.

Simplifying your diet and eating foods closer to their original source is much healthier. Choosing to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, eating one nut at a time instead of a fist full of trail mix, including healthy grains and legumes which are chock full of nutrients. Once again it comes down to planning. It is interesting that we will plan for our kids and family members, but when it comes to ourselves we are lazy. Or maybe we just don’t think we are worth it.

A lot of people, when in a situation such as a wedding or social gathering, on the spur of the moment just decide to over indulge. There is nothing wrong with a little indulgence, if we just stopped there. The reality is that once you eat theses addictive foods, you crave them, and it then becomes challenging to say no and not give in to that craving. I call it reactive eating, the food is the effect, but what is the cause? The cause is a lack of self worth, the desire for instant gratification, not standing up for your body, or the all or nothing perfectionist mentality, as opposed to giving your body what it truly needs – solid nourishment.

So how do we rectify this lack of resistance, giving in to every temptation and the inability to say no? I can sum it up into one line,
“Fail to plan, plan to fail”. It is of utmost importance to plan ahead. When you are mentally and physically prepared you can be anywhere, and still eat right for you body. Food is our medicine, and it is your medicine, whether you accept it or not. A cheeseburger or fried food clogs up your system forcing it to work for many hours afterward cleaning up the mess. Why not think proactively about your food choices? Read labels, and consciously think about what you are putting into your body, and what the effect will be.

Here is an excerpt from my book Feed Your Body Feed Your Soul:

“Most of us have lost the connection between what we are eating, why we are eating, who we are feeding and how we feel inside. Eating can be a distraction—junk food laden with fat, sugar and chemicals can suppress emotions providing false emotional comfort. We forget what it feels like to feel nourished. When we are nourished we are in touch with who we really are.” © Ara Wiseman, 2010

Make the choice to eat healthfully and be healthy. It is all up to you. Once you make this choice there is no room for consistently overindulging. Do your body a favour and take the stress off your digestive and eliminative organs. It’s as simple as daily planning – and another choice: choose to not leave the house without food.

Rewarding your self with food would be ok if you made healthy food choices, and so rewarded yourself with good health!

Food affects your mood, so if you are not happy – think about what you are putting into your body that is affecting how you think and feel about things.

To learn more about food and how it affects our mood, and to understand limiting belief systems and how they prevent us from moving forward, read my book Feed Your Body Feed Your Soul.  You can order it from Amazon.com.

And – on another note – if you have noticed dimples, lumps and bumps on your body and want to learn the secret to diminishing that unwanted cellulite, read my latest book, Skin Deep. You can order the book from me – I’m happy to send it to you.

Take back your power – choose to eat healthfully, choose to stay healthy.  It’s your body, and you ARE worth it.