We’ve heard it all before…. Stress, anxiety, depression, and frustration are all emotions that lead us towards the chocolate ice cream or the packet of Twisties, or whatever you’re into.

Unfortunately for some - happiness, celebration, enjoyment and festivities are also things that make us turn to food. The reality is that the pleasure we get from these moments of indulgence can be very short lived, especially if you’ve eaten them really quickly!

The physical consequence of eating this way stays with us for much longer. The most obvious of course is weight gain. It’s amazing how quickly our body fat levels can go up when we don’t exercise and if we eat far too many ‘bad’ calories. If you actually worked out how many extra calories you consumed at these times you’d be amazed! Simply cutting out these dead foods can dramatically lower your calorie intake and can have a tremendously positive effect on your health, energy and waistline. Once you start feeding your body food which is full of nutrients it often responds quite quickly.

It really can take a lot of discipline and hard work to work it off again, it just doesn’t seem worth it! The not so instant but long term health problems that bad dietary habits and obesity may lead to are diabetes, heart disease, varicose veins, polycystic ovarian syndrome, menstrual disorders, infertility, gallstones, hernia, incontinence, stretch marks, immobility, osteoarthritis, lower back pain, stroke, carpal tunnel syndrome, dementia, obstructive sleep apnea, asthma and depression. Reference: www.wikipedia.org

My best advice to you is to try and focus on the healthy body you live in, or want to live in, for the rest of your life. The 5 minutes of pleasure you can get from eating junk food simply can’t be compared to the feeling of living in a body which is healthy, strong, full of energy and pain free. Not to mention a mind which is clear, happy and sharp.                              

© Kylie Pogson 2007

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