Change Your Ecology, Change Your Body

Most of us have likely tried to release weight by restricting our eating in one way or another. Perhaps you've reduced calories, cut carbs, or exercised like a fiend.

The challenge with this approach is that it can often make you feel as though you're walking a tightrope, always teetering on the edge of failure. What if you changed your ecology? And by ecology, I mean the environment both within your body and in which you live.

Here are some ecological shifts you can make today:

Reduce the chemicals in your body

 The average person applies more than 500 toxic chemicals to their body each day. Outrageous? I know! From laundry detergents, to lotions, to pesticides in our food -- our bodies are overloaded with chemicals. Just as you've likely known someone who's gained weight by taking prescription medication, our bodies are similarly impacted by our daily ingestion of toxic chemicals. This chemical overload in our body disrupts our endocrine system and can keep us from releasing weight, despite diet and exercise. Even today, you can begin to reduce your chemical overload by choosing a natural, paraben free lotion (as it's used on the largest organ of the body) and getting a list of the "Dirty Dozen," a list of the most contaminated fruits and veggies (so that you can, at least, purchase these items organic).

Change your thoughts

Worrying or feeling guilty -- about your job, your finances, your children, your love life, your weight, what you look like when you walk past a store window or mirror -- is all it takes. Cortisol doesn't discriminate. You feel the stress and the stress hormone, cortisol, kicks in. Over time, when you have enough cortisol in your system it slows your metabolism, drains your energy and optimism, and cranks up your hunger. So what can you do starting today? Stop in front of your mirror, look deeply into your eyes and feel love and self-acceptance, feel how fabulous you are, how extraordinary... simply because you're breathing; breathing is all you need to do to be worthy. Let go of the rest.

Acknowledge your needs and wants and align your life accordingly

How YOU doin'? Are you actually living your life the way you always imagined? Do you want to be more adventurous? Do you long for more romance? Do you want to ask for a promotion? Do you want to speak more kindly with others? Do you want to drive less? What do you want? What do you need? Do you even know? Have you been moving to the beat of everyone else's drum for so long, you forgot the rhythm that truly resonates with you? As you may already know, you tend to overeat (or abuse anything, really), when your needs, wants and emotions go unacknowledged and unfulfilled. While not everything you want needs to be realized, simply standing in your truth can be powerful in its ability to mitigate emotional eating. Ooh, and if you go further? If you actually take the time to start reaching for what you want, to start creating a life that aligns with what you want and need, with who you really are, food simply becomes... food.