So, back in the beginning of time, we were equipped with this fabulous little mechanism that saved us when a big saber tooth tiger jumped out of the woods and started chasing us: it’s called our fight-or-flight response. It protects and serves us in many dangerous situations, but due to the accelerated pace at which society has changed, our body’s innate survival mechanisms haven’t adapted quite quickly enough. Even the smallest things can send this system into overdrive.

Unfortunately, your body doesn’t know the difference between a saber tooth tiger, your boss yelling in your ear at work, sprinting to a meeting and slamming a meal down on the go, binge eating in a panic, or watching a dramatic TV show while mindlessly eating. In these situations, or any like it, your body activates its stress response and goes into sympathetic nervous system dominance.

When your sympathetic nervous system is dominant, insulin and cortisol are elevated. The blood rushes from your digestive system to your extremities. While this may make sense if you’re out-running a tiger or escaping any dangerous situation, it wreaks havoc on your digestion and metabolism.

Stress and elevated stress hormones shut down your digestive system, decrease the amount of nutrients that you absorb, cause you to gain fat, makes it difficult to gain muscle, and causes appetite deregulation, which may causes overeating.

Your goal to combat this would be to activate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system, AKA your body’s “relax and digest” response. Activating this is like hitting a switch that kicks on your body’s metabolic power. When this wonderful little mechanism is active, your body naturally releases excess weight easily, blood stays around the center of your body aiding in digestion, cortisol drops, and your body returns to a peaceful and happy state.

If you don’t believe me take a look at this study: A large group of people were split into two parts. One part of the group went into a quiet and peaceful room that was painted in relaxing colors with a big comfy chair and soft music playing. The other group was put in a stale hospital like room with a metal chair and table. The TV was on with information on finance. Both groups were asked to drink a solution with identical minerals in it. To see how effective their digestive process was working after drinking the solution the amount of minerals their body absorbed was tested. The group that drank the solution in the quiet and relaxing room absorbed SIXTY PERCENT more nutrients from the exact same solution. This is proof that stress and distraction hurt the digestive process.

–

Action Step to Boost Your Metabolism: Get slow.

In today’s society, we’re so used to being on the go that few of us stop to think that instead of popping digestive aids and anti-acids after you eat, you could simply slow down a bit and breathe to increase your digestive and metabolic power (fat burning – yay!). Also, by slowing down and being present for a meal, you give your mind a chance to register the experience, which will lead to less cravings later and make it less likely that you will binge.

The following exercise allows you to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which is great for your digestion and metabolism. Remember, we aren’t what we eat; we are what we digest! The more nutrients we assimilate, and the more we enjoy our food, the fewer cravings we have.

Feel free to try this exercise anytime you are feeling stressed. I recommend you always do this once before, once during and once after every meal to activate your parasympathetic nervous system(relaxation response) and keep your body out of a stressed out state while eating.

Instructions:

4 deep breaths: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 1 count, exhale for 4 counts. Repeat 4 times. It’s that easy to activate relaxation at any time of the day!

Bonus Step: As you are breathing say thank you in your mind for the food you are about to consume. Appreciating food as nourishment instead of something that hurts us or is used to punish us will contribute drastically to healing.

Bonus Bonus Step: Tie a physical trigger to this. Every time you do your breathing exercise, touch your index finger to your thumb and hold it there. Be mindful. After you have conditioned this response, you’ll be able to use your physical trigger, in this case the fingers touching, at any time to return to relaxation. This takes time, consistency and conditioning, but it is possible!

If you need any support in this area, we are here for you!

Click the image below where I’ve got a special gift for you! We call them, “Craving Cards”, and they’re one of our most popular tools!

If you ever feel night time cravings, sugar cravings, the urge to just say “screw it I’m going to start my diet over tomorrow”, or like you need a little body confidence pick me up… 

Just grab a card, go through the prompts, and shift it instantly!

–

Click the image above and let me know where to send them!

You’ll also get mini demo video training sessions for each card where I share how to use the cards and some of my best tips for food freedom forever!

With our Craving Cards and Demo Series… 

You’ll learn how to stop cravings in their tracks, feel confident, and get back your power, fast! 

Love,
Brittany

PS: Want the exact freedom and ease with our foods that myself and thousands of our clients get to experience?

In our Beating Binge Eating Blueprint (BBEB), I show you how to make this happen in just 8 weeks!

Many of our students have seen a DRASTIC difference in as little as a few days!

It’s our signature program, and up until recently, it was $3000 or more to join.

For now, you can get it as a part of our Food Freedom Collection for practically free by clicking the image below!

There is no catch…every resource I’ve created for food freedom and body confidence will land straight in your if you just click that image below and let me know where to send it!

Health & Love,