Sometimes it goes deeper than food and exercise

vox23

I have been on mfp for a few months now and have come across several wonderful people who have had problems with their weight loss journey, despite eating better and exercising more. I am not a doctor, or a psychiatrist, but I wanted to share something that has had a tremendous impact on journey.

There is a fantastic book out there called The Gabriel Method (http://www.gabrielmethod.com/) that I found just a little more than a year ago and what really intrigued me was his approach about how we need to listen to our body and figure out why we are holding onto our weight. There's no weird diets involved, just a lot of self discovery followed by some great exercises (mental I mean), and I think that this book was the jumping off point for my weight loss.

From the website: "By dealing with the root causes of obesity which include: stress, physical trauma, emotional trauma, chronic yo-yo dieting, nutritional famine, chronic dehydration, sleep apnea, poor digestion, food allergies, arthritis, inflammation, dysfunctional sabotaging beliefs, toxins and hormonal imbalances; the chemical signals that cause your body to hold onto weight, diminish.
As a result, you naturally become less hungry, your metobolism speeds up and your body becomes very efficient at burning fat. It then becomes very easy for your body to let go of unwanted excess weight."

I know it all sounds like some new age, spiritual guru talk, but I have lost 81 lbs to date, and once I realized that I was suffering from emotional obesity and faced my mental blockers (and, boy, were they doozies!), my mind and body were finally ready to shed all those lbs that were keeping me prisoner my whole life. Now I want to eat better (and I eat roughly 1500 cals a day - more when I workout), I want to exercise. I actually crave it and the weight just keeps coming off. It's like it's melting off my body. AND I know this isn't just a short term loss. I know that it has helped me change my life completely ... and forever!

So, I just wanted to say, if you are trying everything, the diets, the workouts and you are feeling frustrated that you aren't getting where you want to be, maybe there are other factors out there contributing that you aren't even aware about. Change comes from within first.

I also wanted to say that I am not a distributor or paid promoter of this book. It just really helped me and I wanted to share it with you all.

Onesnap

Amazing post. Thank you! (and congrats on your progress--amazing!)

ShellyMacchi

*major like*
full agreement here *S*
weight loss is far more a mental process than many would think.

ShellyMacchi

oooh heya Red Deer! *waving from Edmonton* did you get hit with snow today too? blech!

lindsschou

Thank you for this post, and congrats on your success so far. I think I'd better read that book lol

b00b0084

I have disruppted sleep apnea, and before I got my CPAP machine I was way too tired during the day to care about walking or trying to lose weight. I ate all the time and would fall asleep watching tv. Ive had my macine for a month now and I feel better. I stil lhave my lazy days, but I can tell a huge difference in my energy on the days I got for a 30 minute walk, compared to the days where I dont walk at all. It does make a huge difference. I also had the " i hate myself issue" I worked on that while living in a DV shelter, and now that I know for a fact that I am pretty, I no longer hate myself. Ohthe differences that discovery made as well!

vox23

oooh heya Red Deer! *waving from Edmonton* did you get hit with snow today too? blech!

Hiya Shelly! *waves back from Red Deer*
Yes, and YUCK!!! Snow snow go away!!!! And it's the really wet heavy stuff too. When is spring going to get and stay here!

FaithandFitness

That sounds like a fabulous resource. I have seen so many connections between stress/trauma/hurt and disease . . . and obesity can be included in that. Another resource I have been reading is Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst . . .this is from a purely a Christian viewpoint. It helps those who overeat out of anxiety/stress/reward/hurt/pain/boredom . . .whatever. Just wanted to throw out another resource for those who may be looking for help.

CandiesAndSweets

Thanks so much for posting that! I definitely need to take a look at that book. I have massive self sabotage issues :P

Congrats on your success!!

CandiesAndSweets

Thanks so much for posting that! I definitely need to take a look at that book. I have massive self sabotage issues :P

Congrats on your success!!

Becca_007

Thanks for sharing this info!

lindsschou

I've just started reading it...making sense so far!

vox23

I've just started reading it...making sense so far!

That's wonderful! I really hope you find it helps you.

kookla33

This is really cool, and I totally think this stuff makes sense. Not only will you get thinner when you deal with the deeper issues, but you will be happier and more fulfilled. I have heard Jillian Michaels talk about that on her radio show, about dealing with the hard stuff and being courageous and facing it head on, instead of reaching for the cookie jar at 9pm at night.