30 Day Kindness Challenge - Day Fourteen

Kindness Can Help With Weight Loss

Welcome to Day 14 of our 30-Day Kindness Challenge. Today, we're talking about how Kindness Can Help With Weight Loss. If you're just joining us or listening for the first time, let me tell you what we've been doing. Every day in November, I'm doing a short podcast about kindness. I will talk about some kindness facts and give you a kindness challenge.

Exploring the Connection Between Kindness and Weight Loss.

There is evidence to suggest that cultivating kindness can positively influence our well-being, including our ability to manage weight. Today we're discussing how being kind can help with weight loss.

Self-Kindness in Weight Regulation

A study published in The National Library of Medicine examined a model of self-compassion, body shame, and mindful eating. The study looked at the Role of Self-compassion and Self-kindness in Weight Regulation. Self-compassion means being aware of your own existence and being kind and empathetic toward yourself, like you would with a friend or loved one. It consists of three components: 

• Self Kindness
• Common Humanity
• Mindfulness

The study found the following:

• Self-compassion can help with weight loss and mindful eating.
• Differentiating self-compassion from self-kindness is important; they are not the same.
• Self-kindness varies among individuals, leading to different behaviors, some of which may have negative health consequences.
• Self-compassion may affect food choices, emotional eating, and prioritizing psychological over physiological health.
• Self-compassion may impact food choices and emotional eating.

The Link Between Kindness and Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is a common struggle when trying to lose weight. Kindness can play a crucial role in addressing emotional eating by:

• Promoting Self-Compassion
• Reducing Stress
• Fostering a Positive Mindset

Recent studies have shown that self-compassion, which is the act of being kind to oneself, is linked to healthy eating behaviors such as intuitive eating and a decrease in unhealthy eating habits such as emotional eating.

Self-Compassion and Body Esteem in Mothers

Another study in the National Library of Medicine looked at how being kind to oneself can help mothers develop healthy eating habits and influence their children's attitudes toward food and body image.

The study found

• Mothers who are compassionate towards themselves are more likely to eat a healthy diet and listen to their body's signals, and less likely to eat when they are feeling emotional.
• Self-compassion, defined as kindness to oneself during difficult times, is linked to healthy eating behaviors and reduced emotional eating.
• Body esteem was found to be a factor that influences the relationship between self-compassion and diet quality, intuitive eating, and emotional eating.
• Higher self-compassion was associated with better diet quality and healthier eating behaviors.

Being kind to yourself can improve your body image and eating habits, and it can also influence your child's attitudes. 

Self-kindness can help reduce the negative effects of focusing too much on body shape and eating disorders. It is also associated with feeling good about your body, eating well, and reducing stress. Parents' eating habits can also influence their children's choices.

How Acts of Kindness Can Reduce Stress and Emotional Eating

Another article from Great Lakes Psychology Group looks at the role of kindness as it relates to weight and emotional eating. The article explains that emotional eating is a way of coping with life's challenges and feelings. 

It can vary from occasional emotional eating to a more serious condition called Binge Eating Disorder (BED), which may lead to weight gain or other behaviors like purging or over-exercising.

Understanding Emotional Eating

Emotional eating works by using food to feel better when dealing with emotional pain. This creates a habit in our brains that links eating with feeling better, reinforcing the behavior.

Self-Reflection

To address emotional eating, it's important to be curious and self-aware. Pay attention to your thoughts before, during, and after emotional eating and recognize the triggers and patterns.

Moving Forward

Replace emotional eating with other ways to comfort yourself, such as positive self-talk, relaxation techniques, or seeking support from others. Connect your actions with your values to lessen reliance on emotional eating.

Self-Kindness

Approach emotional eating with self-compassion. Avoid self-criticism and imagine being supportive of yourself, encouraging gradual changes and new perspectives.

Healing

With self-awareness, values, and self-compassion, you can work on changing your relationship with food. Seek help from self-help resources, support groups, or professional therapy for lasting change.

The Importance of Being Kind to Yourself While Losing Weight

A positive mindset is crucial for long-term weight management. Being kind to yourself and having self compassion is crucial for success. Self compassion involves:

• Recognizing pain and suffering as part of the human experience
• Responding with mindfulness, warmth, and kindness
• Linked to improved health, life satisfaction, and well-being

Challenges to Weight Loss Include:

• Emotional triggers that can hinder efforts. Emotional triggers can hinder your efforts. For example, you may overeat when you're feeling stressed, sad, or bored. 
• Unhealthy food choices and triggers in daily life. Unhealthy food choices and triggers are everywhere in daily life. For example, you may be tempted to eat unhealthy food when you're at a party or when you're stressed.
• Cultural use of food for rewards, comfort, and socializing. In our culture food is often used as a reward, comfort, or way to socialize. This can make it difficult to resist unhealthy food choices. 
• Feeling like you've "fallen off the wagon". You may feel like you've "fallen off the wagon" if you make a mistake on your weight loss journey. This is normal and happens to everyone. 

The important thing is to get back on track and keep going. Remember, weight loss is a journey, not a destination. 

• Be mindful of your thoughts and actions.
• Forgive yourself for your mistakes.
• Speak kindly to yourself.
• Engage in activities that you enjoy.
• Surround yourself with supportive people.
• Recognize that setbacks are a part of the journey.
• Understand the difficulty of weight management.
• Respond to setbacks gently and kindly.
• Be patient.
• Motivation and self-compassion take time.
• Seek support if you are struggling with your weight loss journey.

There will be ups and downs along the way. Being kind and compassionate toward yourself in this regard is crucial. Don’t judge yourself, speak to yourself as you would to a dear friend, keep moving forward and don't give up!

Cortisol Kindness and Weight

Researchers found that people who are consistently kind tend to have lower stress levels and age more slowly. The study showed that participating in a program focused on emotional self-management led to improved positive emotions, reduced negative emotions, lower cortisol levels, and higher DHEA/DHEAS levels. The study also found that practicing self-kindness can have positive effects on stress, emotions, and physiological systems.

High Cortisol Levels Can Lead To Weight Gain

High cortisol levels can lead to weight gain by affecting metabolism and increasing cravings for unhealthy foods. Stress can raise cortisol levels, leading to overeating and reduced calorie burning, causing weight gain and other health issues. 

Cortisol can lead to feelings of isolation, hopelessness. So, by decreasing cortisol, which is what kindness does, we can actually really experience relief from that. So, cortisol is partially responsible for holding onto belly fat and making us age. So, by decreasing cortisol through acts of kindness, you can actually literally slow down the aging process, and you can, in fact, lose weight more easily, if that's your goal.

Reducing cortisol levels through mindfulness, a balanced diet, and regular exercise is important for managing stress. Be cautious of unproven supplements promising to lower cortisol levels and promote weight loss. Effective management involves exercise, a healthy diet, and relaxation techniques.

Cortisol and Depression - The Link Between Stress and Mood Disorders

Cortisol, a stress hormone, can affect mood and is linked to conditions like depression. Long-term stress can elevate cortisol levels, harming mental and physical health. High cortisol levels are associated with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, although they are not the sole cause. 

Abnormal cortisol levels can contribute to chronic illnesses like Cushing's syndrome and Addison's disease, which can also lead to depression. Stress can worsen depression symptoms. 

The Link Between Depression and Weight

Depression can cause changes in eating habits, leading to weight fluctuations. Various factors such as social, environmental, and biological elements contribute to the connection between depression and weight. Depression can lead to overeating due to reduced pleasure in activities, while stress can increase cravings for unhealthy foods. 

Other Factors relating to weight, Kindness Cortisol and Depression:

• Cortisol and Stress - Cortisol, the stress hormone, is associated with insulin resistance and obesity. Prolonged stress can elevate insulin levels, leading to cravings for sugary and fatty foods.

• The Influence of Food on Mood - Clinical depression can bring about lasting changes in eating patterns, resulting in significant weight fluctuations. 

• The Dilemma of Cause and Effect - Depression increases the likelihood of obesity, while obesity heightens the risk of depression, leading to an intricate relationship. 

• Anhedonia (An He Donia) and Eating Habits - Depression often leads to anhedonia, a diminished interest in enjoyable activities, including eating. Dysfunctional brain reward systems may prompt individuals to consume more food to compensate for reduced pleasure, potentially resulting in food addiction.

• Impulse Control and Eating Disorders - Depression can compromise impulse control, raising the likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors such as binge eating and bulimia.

• Cognitive Distortions and Severe Depression - In rare instances, severe depression can lead to cognitive distortions, altering an individual's perception and causing fluctuations in weight. These distortions may involve beliefs such as feeling undeserving of food.

Cortisol and Belly Fat

Cortisol can lead to feelings of isolation, hopelessness. So, by decreasing cortisol, which is what kindness does, we can actually really experience relief from that. So, cortisol is partially responsible for holding onto belly fat and making us age. So, by decreasing cortisol through acts of kindness, you can actually literally slow down the aging process, and you can, in fact, lose weight more easily, if that's your goal.

Being Kind Can Reduce Cortisol

Being kind reduces the stress hormone cortisol in our bodies, which can help us feel less stressed and isolated. Lower cortisol levels can also slow down aging and possibly make it easier to lose weight.

Conclusion

In conclusion, kindness is a powerful tool that can help you lose weight and improve your overall well-being. By being kind to yourself and others, you can create a positive environment, manage stress more effectively, and inspire others to be kind too.

Todays Kindness Challenge 

1. Print out, and hand out “You Matter” Cards
2. While making dinner, double your recipe (if you can) and send a meal to someone in need.
3. Tell your spouse you love them unexpectedly.
4. Put 10 positive comments on people's blogs.
5. Tell someone how great they look that day. (Or something they are wearing and how it makes them look awesome)
6. Truly listen to someone without interjecting.
7. Turn your phone off when talking to people or simply put it away.
8. Clean out the microwave at work. That thing gets nasty and everyone will appreciate it!
9. Call the person that made the biggest influence in your life and let them know how much they mean to you.
10. Bring coloring books to the pediatric wing of a hospital.
11. Teach Someone to Ride a Bike: Share the joy of cycling.
12. Be kind to yourself.
13.  

Showing kindness to yourself is a vital aspect of maintaining mental and emotional well-being. Here are some ways you can practice self-kindness:

1. Dress up for no reason.
2. Have a game night with friends or family.
3. Experiment with a new makeup look.
4. Spend a day in your pajamas.
5. Get a new hairstyle or makeover.
6. Learn to say no without explaining yourself.
7. Take a long, scenic drive.
8. Buy yourself a small gift.
9. Take a nap without feeling guilty.
10. Have a long, meaningful conversation with a loved one.
11. Get a new plant for your home.
12. Do something you've been afraid to try.

Let's all be a little kinder today to make the world better.

Well, that's all for today, come back tomorrow for another Kindness Challenge!