By Dr. Michael Roth
As a generation and as a nation we are gaining weight, growing tired, and sleeping less. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease and cancer are all on the rise. Trends in medicine show that the “baby boomers” – those born between 1946 and 1964—are being haunted by the ominous shadows of increased weight and chronic illness as they reach age 50 and beyond.
There has been an alarming rise in obesity and heart disease in the United States in the last 20 years:
- Two-thirds of America’s adults are overweight or obese.
- As many as 30% of U.S. children are overweight.
- Childhood obesity has more than doubled within the past 25 years.
- Within the past 20 years, childhood diabetes has increased ten-fold.
We’ve been told over and over that to lose weight, we must eat healthy food and exercise. Which foods, how much food, when and how to exercise—these parameters vary from person to person and are influenced by the popular diet plan of the moment. Yet, many of us find ourselves in the repetitive pattern of losing weight and gaining it back.
We may be aware of when and why we overeat or choose to indulge in sweet or salty snacks. We may know that we eat when we are angry, when our feelings are hurt, when we are bored, when we are happy, to reward ourselves for an achievement, or to console ourselves when we are feeling low.
These are examples of emotional eating. Yet despite all this diet information and self-knowledge, we find ourselves still overweight and struggling to change our eating habits.
Unresolved emotional stresses will shut down the brain, causing weight gain!
The body responds to emotional stress the same way it does to a physical or structural stressor. The brain stimulates the adrenal glands to release a hormone called cortisol, which acts on the liver to break down glycogen into sugar for “fight-or-flight” which in turn triggers the release of insulin.
The insulin brings the sugar into play for action, and if none is needed by the muscles, the sugar goes back to the liver. If not needed there because the liver has reached its maximum capacity for it, it goes to fat storage. High levels of cortisol cause the body to store fat.
The result of sustained high cortisol causes the three primary neurotransmitters to lower in the brain, contributing to weight gain, depression, and fatigue. These are the three most common complaints of all healthcare office visits in North America!
Three primary neurotransmitters typically depleted in weight gain:
- Serotonin: Depleted levels cause craving of carbohydrates, especially sugars. Low serotonin levels are also associated with depression. Normal levels feel grounded and satisfied.
- Epinephrine: Depleted levels do not allow the body to burn fat properly. Normal levels allow the body to burn fat effectively, and provide plenty of energy.
- Nor-epinephrine: Lowered levels are associated with lack of motivation and normal metabolism. Normal levels have plenty of motivation and drive.
The target area in the brain for successful weight loss is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus controls the feeling of full and it also controls the stimulation to eat.
Flickr photo credit Laura Dahl
Emotional hurts that occurred in our early childhood, that we may not even consciously remember, are responsible for our eating habits today. We have been wired to react as a child and even now as adults, we impulsively eat not as a person of choice, but because emotionally, we are stuck at our earliest emotional wound.
The Emotional Weight Loss™ system calls these wounds “negative core drivers.”
Examples of negative core drivers are:
- Rejection
- Powerlessness
- Vulnerability
- Feelings of Being Unlovable
- Feelings of Being Defective
- Emotional Deprivation
Negative core drivers and beliefs about ourselves are not accurate or reliable – they are just plain false! The problem is that our nervous system doesn’t believe it and acts accordingly, making the choices that support those false beliefs!
A Recipe for Weight Gain:
- Anger/struggle growing up will raise blood sugar and insulin causing fat storage.
- Emotional stresses, fear, anxiety, and anger will raise cortisol levels for fat storage.
- Poor diet habits rise insulin causing fat storage.
The key is to reset the brain to lose weight and keep the weight off!
A quantum shift can occur in our behaviors by resetting the brain from those pre-programmed emotional stresses. We do not have to remain a victim to our own nervous system. We can forgive, resolve, and let go of the emotional stresses contributing to dysfunction in our bodies.
True Health is not about what you are eating. It is about what is eating you!
The Emotional Weight Loss™ system uses QNRT, Quantum Neurological Reset Therapy, to make these shifts. QNRT is a system of healing that happens from within and recognizes and restores the connection of the brain, the body, and nervous system to remove the blockages so that the body can heal itself.
QNRT combines a unique biofeedback technology with a nervous system relay therapy to neurologically reprogram the brain/relay access points – the places where our body’s neurological and emotional programs reside. Simply put, the QNRT process actually “re-wires” the nervous system.
QNRT is non-invasive, requires no prescription, no manipulation, no physiotherapy and no extensive talk therapy.
Dr. Michael Roth is a certified practitioner of QNRT and The Emotional Weight Loss™ system. For more information, go to www.qnrt.com and www.rothwellnesscenter.com. To schedule an appointment, contact drmroth@sbcglobal.net or call 805-644-0461.
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