Welcome back. It's lesson five. Congratulations, the last four weeks you have been melting. Let's continue to do that today is a big day because here's what we're going to do in lesson five. We've spent the last few weeks talking a lot about that physical body hunger, and how food is the fuel for physical body hunger. But today, we're going to shift gears and talk about that second type of hunger.

And this is the hunger that often gets in our way when we're gaining weight, and that is emotional or mind hunger. Now, while food is the fuel for physical hunger, food is definitely not the fuel for emotional hunger. Emotional hunger takes a completely different type of fuel. And food never satisfies emotional hunger. So We're gonna dig a little bit deeper into that today, and we're going to talk about what the fuel is for emotional hunger. But first, a couple of quick other tools and tips for the toolbox.

We've been talking the last couple of weeks about getting moving again. And this was just a wonderful quick thing we like to share what is a workout, and this was written by a gentleman named George Allen. A workout is 25% perspiration and 75% determination. Stated another way, it is one part physical exertion and three parts self discipline. Doing it is easy. Once you get started.

A workout makes you better today than you were yesterday. To strengthen the body. It releases the mind and toughens the spirit. When you work out regularly, your problems diminish and your confidence grows. A workout is a personal triumph over over laziness and procrastination. It's the badge of a winner, the mark of an organized goal oriented person who is taking charge of his or her destiny.

A workout is a key that helps unlock the door to opportunity and success. hidden within each of us is an extraordinary force. physical and mental fitness are the triggers that can release it. A workout is a form of rebirth. When you finish a good workout, you don't simply feel better, you feel better about yourself. So once again, getting moving, keep moving, keep moving, it does so much more than simply making a sweat and tire you out.

It does a ton for you. So keep on moving in. Another tool I want to present you with is actually the tool of present time Kay Lyons once said yesterday is a canceled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note today is cash. If you think about it, all we actually have is present time. We've talked a lot about control over the last couple of weeks.

And one of the things about control that we need to know is you can't control the past. It's already gone. You can't control the future. You can't get in a time machine, pop out a few years, do something and come back. There's only one time ever where you are actually in control. And that's right now, if you want something to be different in the future, you have to do it now.

So as we talk again, about being in control, there's only one time ever where you are actually completely in control. And that's right now, right now So again example, if you are eating and you go beyond your five, don't get all upset and angry with yourself, don't get disappointed, that sets off that negative spiral that we keep talking about. simply get right back into present time. And the next mouthful, the next thing you do, that's a choice and that is what will propel you forward. The tool of present time was designed to enhance your life by teaching you to enjoy the moment as you experience it without guilt or worry over past behaviors. That being said, it's really, really important that you do understand that is different from an excuse.

Because if you try and use an excuse or rationale to keep a destructive behavior going that's that is not a teaching or learning moment. You're simply perpetuating something that's not getting you anything close to where you want to be. So it's been defined that an excuses a skin of reason stuffed with AI lies, which comes out of course, just like baloney, which is exactly what it is. So present time, use present time as your friend, if something doesn't go the way you want it to stop, take a breath and make a conscious choice, a conscious decision in the moment to get right back on track, right where you want to be. All right, let's jump in to emotional hunger or mind hunger. Now, if you think about it, the difference really has to has to do with appetite versus hunger.

So as we know, body hunger is a physical message from the body that it's looking for fuel got stuff to do to keep you moving keep you going keep you alive those life processes. It needs fuel just like your cell phone needs fuel from being plugged in just like your car needs fuel from going to the gas station and having it having having fuel put in it. But appetite is simply the thought or desire to momentarily please yourself with food. So for example, if you find yourself with the refrigerator, you open the door stop for a moment. Number one, your first question of course is what? Am my body hungry?

Am I actually physically hungry or is this a habit? Is this mind hunger? I'm looking for something to do. If I am body hungry, my next question is, what number Am I that'll help me understand Am I looking for a snack? Am I looking for a meal? What number am I?

However if your answer to the question is no I'm not body hungry haha your mind hungry so when you realize you've got mind hunger let's let's ask some questions that would be helpful in those moments. So of course number 1am I body hungry? And if so what does that feel like? Again checking in with the numbers checking in with your body with that gauge what am I actually feeling that tells me I'm body hungry is avoiding my feelings of priority or is being in my natural shape a priority? So again this goes back to reacting versus responding What is your priority? If I simply grab the bowl of pasta and eat it all because I'm stressed I'm feeding my feelings.

I'm not feeding anything real. I'm feeding my feelings. But if I'm stressed and I take a moment to sit back and take that breath and respond, I can, what can I do? I can visualize that that picture right? That image in my head of my natural shape. I can play that little movie.

I can do something other than grab the bowl of pasta and eat it in that moment. Well, I love myself more if I eat this. A challenge of course, with mind eating or emotional eating is I react, I grab it need at all. And then do I feel good about myself afterwards? No, of course not. I beat myself up, right?

It's a horrible thing. I'm even more angry or upset with myself or disappointed in myself, because I've already done it. So we're like, well, I love myself more. No actually quite the opposite, I'm not going to be happy with myself. What other options do I have when I'm mind hungry, either directly or indirectly. And this is what we're going to we're going to spend most of the time in this lesson with is what do I do instead of reach for the food?

So I'm going to have you hold that question for a moment. And we're going to dig deeper in just a minute. And what feelings or emotions Am I trying to avoid? Being honest with yourself and really getting clarity? Why am I reaching for this food in this moment when I am not hungry? And of course the answer to that could be all kinds of things right?

I'm tired. I'm bored. I'm lonely. I passed the refrigerator. I worked really hard today. I didn't work hard enough.

Everyone else was eating. It's sitting there. Right I can come up with a million reasons why I reach for food. Now that's that mind hunger, that emotional hunger. I'm trying to feed an emotion with the fuel. A food.

And here's the thing, it doesn't work. It never has. It never will. So if I'm reaching for food because I'm stressed food doesn't fix stress, right? Right, doing something that relieves stress, fixes stress. Maybe I should go read a book.

Maybe I should go for a walk. Maybe I should just get up and walk away from a situation. Maybe I should sit back and take a couple of deep breaths. If I'm eating because I'm bored, well, food doesn't fix board. If I'm bored, I need to do something my brains going head Oh, can we do something here? So food doesn't fix board, doing something fixes board.

If I'm eating because I'm tired, food doesn't fix tired. Go get some rest. Go. Take a quick rest. Break. Take a quick now.

Sit down for a little bit. Relax. That fix's tired. So are you sensing the trend here? What's going on, we reach for food. So often when food is never going to be the face, we're not actually fixing the problem or feeding the problem, to get rid of it or to take care of it or to satisfy it.

We're reaching for food which is never going to satisfy or take care of any of those things. It's actually going to make it worse. So the fuel for mind hunger is what we call life enhancers. And life enhancers are simply things that you enjoy. They're accessible to you. They're easy, they're fun, they're exciting.

They do something to occupy your brain and they give you a sense of well being. So life enhancers feed, emotional hunger. They have no calories. They are your appetite suppressants. So, here are some examples. It is certainly not an all inclusive list.

But here are some examples of life enhancers. Time by yourself some sort of activity, go do something rest, physical space actually creating for yourself a little bit of space anticipation. Looking forward to something that's coming up that you're looking forward to a pastime, some kind of skill, a hobby, a game, something you enjoy playing, socializing. The key here is with people of your choice. In other words, pick up the phone and call a friend. Right?

Someone who always makes you laugh or always kind of whatever. It has nothing to do with what you're dealing with in the moment. Reading a book, listening to music, right? volunteering, doing other things. For other people finding closure with something learning something new, there are a ton The idea being when I am mind hungry or emotionally hungry my brain is looking for something and if I sit back and think what can I feed this mind hunger right now you can plug that in instead of reaching for food. A life enhancer a day keeps the fat away.

That's your prescription for a daily emotional balance. So again reaching for food Am I physically hungry? Yes. Okay, What number are you go ahead need accordingly. Food is the fuel for physical body hunger. I reach for that same food.

Am I physically hungry? No, I'm not. Aha, that's emotional mind hunger. So food is not the fuel or the answer. So my immediate question then becomes What life enhancer Am I plugging in right now? Go pick up the book, go take a walk, go pick up the phone, call a friend, go do a crossword puzzle, do something, go do what's appropriate to that particular mind hunger.

Because here's what happens if we do not do that and we treat absolutely everything. with food being the fuel for it, you feel deprived in some way. And so you eat to feel good. But after you eat, you're still deprived. Because of course, food wasn't the right fuel. It didn't fix what it was you were deprived of.

So you feel deprived, you eat some more, but you're still deprived. And what happens is you get into this cycle. That eating doesn't help you get out of so if you go on a diet and let's say you lose a bunch of weight, but you Don't give yourself the things you really need. All you're doing is recreating your overweight self again and again and again. And your body and mind will keep trying to tell you that you are not getting what you really need. But if you are not listening, and if you do not give it what it means, all you're doing is recreating your overweight self again and again and again.

And again, think of diets. For every diet you've been on, you want to lose weight, and that's it good go on a diet, you can lose weight on any diet, but one, they're not sustainable. So you're going to go off of them at some point to they're completely depriving. So of course, you're not going to stick to it. That's how diets fail you constantly. And three, I guarantee not only will you gain all the weight back, but you'll probably gain the weight back, plus an extra few pounds.

So if you really think about it, For most people, this is the truth. For every diet you've been on, you've probably gained about five pounds. When you understand what you really need, you can begin to make changes that lasts a lifetime. As you start to put these life enhancers into action in your life, you begin to feel less and less deprived. That's the key. Taking deprivation out of the mix.

When you do that your body realizes you're taking care of your real needs. You're creating balance in your life. And you're not reaching for food when food is not the answer. Which is why you then become thinner and stay thinner. Because being overweight has nothing to do with food, but everything to do with you and how you use food. how you think about food.

It's your relationship with food. That is the key. Change your relationship with food, and you change your body forever. Because when you eat when you're physically body hungry, you burn it. When you eat when emotionally mind hungry, you wear it. life should be your only binge.

It's worth saying even though we've said it the last couple of weeks it is worth saying again, self love, self awareness, self esteem, self belief. You and your belief in yourself and your ability to become your own best friend is the key to a healthier, thinner and happier you. As always, I will invite and strongly encourage you to fill out something on your goal sheet this week. What is it that you are going to really hone in on focus on? What is the habit you are going to begin changing this month and begin is the key word there. Nothing at all happens unless you begin.

But you've got to begin for something to happen. So tap into that emotional eating. What is it that makes you reach for food when you're not physically hungry? What can you do as a life enhancer instead, since you know that food is not the fuel for emotional mind hunger life enhancers are give yourself what it needs your brain, your body. Give yourself what you need and you will be happy with the results. less than five affirmations are right here and I am going to pick out a couple of them that we want to go ahead and hit home.

I trust my body to tell me when I am body hungry and when my body has had enough, but I feed my mind and soul life enhancers when emotional hunger kicks in. As always, reach out. We're here. We're always here for you and I will be back here for you next week for lesson six.