Forget About Your Body, Focus on Your Mind

Obesity has become a problem all over the world and the UK has been swept in the tide. According to the NHS, “obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little.” It’s not always that simple. Obesity doesn’t develop overnight, it is a by-product of poor lifestyle choices that have carried on for a while, such as drinking too much alcohol, eating too many calories, and not exercising enough. Obesity may also be influenced by non-food related factors, such as genetics and medical factors.

Throughout this article, we’ll be focusing on problems with food. The reality is that “you eat too much, you get fat.” The next logical question to ask is “why eat so much?”

Sometimes, people find it extremely difficult to just stop eating. They may have struggled with over-eating for a long time and may be unhappy with themselves, but they can’t stop eating. Sometimes, this is a case of bad habits that got out of hand and may be controlled by a more disciplined approach. Other cases are more serious, with sufferers eating compulsively. At this point, they have lost complete control over their eating habits, leaving them unhappy or depressed. They may consider themselves food addicts. Experts say it’s actually an eating addiction and not a food addiction.

What if you were given the option of eating as much as you liked but never gaining weight as a result? You’d take it, wouldn’t you? You may be considering getting professional help for your addiction, and you should. Using a professional addiction treatment helpline, such as Addiction Helper, will help you get the help you need to get rid of your addiction, but you should consider why you want to overcome your addiction in the first place. It’s all about the why!

Maybe it’s because you’d like to lose weight and feel confident about your looks and that’s okay. Maybe it is because you are worried about your health. The important thing to know is that addiction is about the mind.

When you take an addictive substance or engage in an enjoyable activity, your brain releases a feel-good hormone called dopamine. The feeling of enjoyment you get creates an irresistible urge to do it again, and you constantly want to recreate this feeling of enjoyment again and again. You become so attuned to it that you get withdrawal symptoms when you’re not engaging in the addictive activity. After a while, your brain becomes overloaded and then begins to produce less dopamine, resulting in less enjoyment of the addictive activity.

The real problem comes when you realize you’ve got rid of one addiction only to take on another. The problem is not the addictive substance or activity but that need to want to ‘feel good’ all the time. The bad kind of good. A healthy mind will naturally translate to a healthier body.