The happiness diet love your life and body
3 Jan 2013

The happiness diet - love your life, and your body

2 mins to read
Can the way you feel influence the way you look? Andrew Cate asks psychologist Elize Hattin about the connection between happiness and your body shape.


Trying to lose weight or keep it under control can often elicit a rollercoaster ride of emotions. This could involve joy and satisfaction when things are progressing well, feeling guilty and frustrated when results are slow to see. The connection between stress and body shape is reasonably well understood, with the emotional connection to food a common barrier to weight loss success. But what about the other side of the coin? How does happiness influence weight control? I spoke to psychologist and author Elize Hattin (The Naked Truth About You – Your Path to an Extraordinary Life Revealed) about her thoughts on the topic.

Andrew Cate: Do you think it’s easier to lose weight if you are a happy person?
Elize Hattin:
Emotions drive action, especially sadness, hurt, loneliness, depression, anxiety, and insecurity. When you’re a happy person, you’re less likely to experience those unpleasant emotions that often drive people to eat. I also think happy people have a better experience with food, making it an enjoyable part of life, rather than the focus of your life.

AC: Are the bathroom scales often used as a measure of happiness?
EH:
They shouldn’t be a measure of happiness but I think they definitely do influence how we feel. Society, media and advertising have contributed to the development of the idea that how much you weigh = how good you look = your worth as a person = how good you feel about yourself. Unfortunately too many women make this connection.

AC: Do you feel that achieving weight loss will make people happy?
EH:
A greater level of control over yourself, your eating habits, your exercise program and your life increases happiness dramatically. This is because your emotions are also influenced by the healthy state of your body. So when you are healthy that will automatically make you feel happier. 

AC: What comes first, happiness or weight loss?
EH:
I don’t think that there is a first in this case. I think that they feed off each other. It really is all about control. People feel happy and they have a high sense of wellbeing and happiness when they know that they are in control of themselves and their lives. So, when people feel like they control their ability to control their weight that will increase their level of happiness. Increasing their happiness will, in turn, help them to control themselves and their eating habits even more. 

AC: What are five quick tips to boost happiness that may be helpful for someone trying to lose weight?

Elize says:

  1. Foster a happy and confident posture - By consciously adopting the body language of happy, confident and successful people, you will start to feel happier, more confident and more attractive. Adjusting your body language will change your life! 
  2. Check your subconscious programming - A large part of your behavior is regulated by programs running in your subconscious mind. If you have a program that says, “I AM FAT” you may successfully lose weight by following a diet but you will only regain the weight once the diet stops. This will always happen, because you are unable to behave in a manner inconsistent with your programming. Replace your bad subconscious programs with good programs as such as, “I AM HEALTHY” and you will ensure that being healthy is easy and sustainable.
  3. Breathe - Negative emotions often affect your breathing causing it to become shallow and fast adding to the discomfort that you experience. Remember to breathe effectively, especially when you are under pressure or in a stressful situation.
  4. Be grateful - You can choose to feel good immediately by thinking about what is good in your life. Focusing on what you have creates feelings of gratitude and feeling grateful results in you feeling good!
  5. Laugh - Make laughter a priority in your life and laugh heartily every day. Laughter releases endorphins in your body that give you a natural sense of wellbeing.



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