Friday 14 January 2011

Unhappiness Can Make You FAT

This article was originally posted at http://aichakubeautification.blogspot.com. If you see it anywhere else without credit, the content is stolen without permission.

Right, lately I'm working more on my inner-self, hence my absence from the beauty blog. You can find my sporadic "creative"-related posts at my newly re-started craft blog Aichaku Creates.

Today I just wanted to pop in to tell you something about weightloss.


Cue music from Oprah Winfrey Show
Oprah: Cathy here went for a Gastric Bypass Surgery, what we call "Stomach Stapling", and she lost more than 1000 pounds! Cathy tell us about what happened after your surgery.
Cathy: I was so beautiful, but I didn't feel beautiful inside. I still felt unhappy and empty, so I started drinking.
OprahNodding So you used to eat to fill the void that you felt inside your heart and now you're drinking instead.
Cathystarts tears Yes. I was soooooo unhappy. Until I dealt with the unhappiness, I was still a fat girl, even though I'm thin on the outside.


Well, I may not be so accurate with the dialogue phrasing. I mean, Oprah does have her very unique way of talking, but that was essentially one episode of Oprah Winfrey that I saw one afternoon.

I thought it was pure crap until just 2 weeks ago, I returned to work and found myself gaining weight! I noticed a trend.

When I was on my Sabbatical Leave in December, I was actually losing weight. I was happy and not fat. Now that I returned to work, I was stressed and unhappy that I didn't have enough time to work on my personal projects anymore. I started to think alot about food and ate alot of junk even when I wasn't hungry.

However, if on one particular night, I worked hard on a successful project, I wouldn't feel the need to eat so much on the day after.

So, I begin to think that there really IS a connection between food and emotions for me. Maybe weight-loss is just a simple matter of me making enough time for myself to ensure I am happy enough!

Maybe I'm over-simplifying things here, but I suspect there's some food for thought in here.

This article was originally posted at http://aichakubeautification.blogspot.com. If you see it anywhere else without credit, the content is stolen without permission.

© Copyright aichakubeautification. All rights reserved.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Aichaku! I don't think you remember me but I'm Thao and I used to blog under my innerchild account on Blogger (http://innerchild9x.blogspot.com). I missed blogging and reading my favorite beauty bogs, and from Google search today I came across your blog again and I just had to leave a comment. I missed you! I hope you're doing well. I haven't blogged in a year because I've been busy with school/work. I might get back to it, but alot of my free time is spent playing (as in: new hobbies, exercising, sleeping (lol), and just relaxing). Anyway, about your post on unhappiness making someone gain weight. YES, IT IS TRUE. It is very true physiologically since your body's metabolism slows down when you're under emotional distress. And chronic stress can create cravings for many people (salty, sweet, and fatty foods) which increases weight gain.

I remember years ago I was under severe emotional stress due to family/social/school demands, I gained weight prematurely and during that time I felt bloated, swollen, sluggish, and just uncomfortable in general. I was eating the same foods (no cravings) and eating the same way (chewing thoroughly, I eat slow since I was little). The difference was, I was really unhappy. All of the time.

And photos of me taken during that time showed my face was rounder and puffier . In actuality, it was swollen. My face is angular and and back to normal now, even though I'm heavier now than I was during the time I was depressed. Case in point: depression makes people gain weight and bloated!

Whenever my friends say they're unhappy and they ask what they should do, I always tell them to go exercise. It's the best cure for unhappiness in the world! It really, really works. And I highly encourage everyone to do it on a regular basis. Who knows, it might help for you. For me, it's addicting and makes me feel great. I hope this advice was helpful. Take care! :)