With the onset of a new year, we’re all wondering what it will take for us to “change” our lives for the better. For many, weight loss and getting back into shape is our first focus. The weight loss and fitness industries are keenly aware of what we’re already thinking about, and that is why they spend a ton of money (praying we do, too) on the weight loss, diet and nutrition industry, hoping we’ll buy into their brand of thinking. But what if I told you that you would not have to spend a dime on another gimmick and “change” was easier than you realized? What if I told you that all you had to do to change your life was to change the way you feed your brain, would you do it? What if all it required were learning to follow a few simple steps, adapting a few repetitive habits each day, would you do them or would you choose to stay stuck? “It cannot be that simple,” you are thinking, “or everyone would be doing it.” Think again.
Breaking and forming healthy and helpful habits is not found in a pill or a faddish way of thinking. However, it is found inside of your brain just waiting to be released. The neurological process of changing the way we think starts with a few basic steps over (what I believe is an effective amount of time) a period of at least 21 days. These steps include three key processes:
*Repetition
*Consistency
*Discipline
It stands to reason if we repeatedly make consistent decisions and discipline our bodies doing what is in our best interest that change will be the outcome, doesn’t it? But hurdling past our nature is what usually stops our progress. However, just as we would take a prescribed medicine to get better, what if you knew that practicing and forming a new habit was the key to change would you do it? There is a neurological process which occurs in our brain each time we repeatedly do anything for a given, period of time. The key to change is doing something we want to do to change our lives for the better. If we can’t see the “WIFM’s” (what’s in it for me) in what we’re doing the chances are we most likely won’t do it. Neurologically, change occurs naturally in our brain through our neurotransmitters as they create new synapses through the repetition of a task, function or consumption. How this process works, is simple:
1) Neurotransmitters (aka chemical impulses derived from hormones) are a collection of chemicals found in the brain meant to connect neurons together
2) The neurotransmitters make their connection to receptors in our brain through a “synapse” (the space between the neuron and the receptor, likened to a lock and key effect)
3) There are a wide variety (40+ other chemicals inside our brain) of neurotransmitter systems found in the brain (i.e. Serotonin, Dopamine and Norepinephrine systems)
Abusive cycle
Once this life cycle begins, we start experiencing the results of what we’ve consumed through what our body produces inside of us. Living a balanced life connects our body/brain to our overall wellness (God has made the body able to heal itself….remember that!). When we subject our body to unhealthy choices (emotionally, physically, nutritionally), we continue to starve our neurons of the healthy chemicals they need. If we are abusing food, drugs, and alcohol then we will be feeding destructive chemicals to our brain, slowly declining the body’s ability to construct/feed healthy neurons to our brain. If this behavior continues over time, it is very likely that our brain may stop producing the amount of healthy neurons it needs to live a balanced life, therefore requiring medical intervention. However, natural medicine found through nutrition should never be ignored or put to the side. Even if, someone is taking medication, to help their emotional and mental wellbeing nutrition and discipline is still the key that unlocks the door to change.
Abusing anything (i.e. food, alcohol) and using it as a “drug”, results in suffering the consequences of how it affects thinking, performance and behavior. From our sleep cycle being disrupted, to our emotional balance following suit, we will respond to what our body does with what we feed it as it naturally reproduces its effect inside our brain. Once we “release” or “starve” our brain of these chemically charged neurons, we begin experiencing the outcome through our emotional responses creating impulses (such as food/drug/alcohol cravings) to fill our need. Thus, enters in addiction; when we create a need through abuse we continually have to do one of two things – feed it or starve it. The latter of the two is always more difficult one to overcome.
Nutritional effects
Food contains chemicals that release the neurological process inside our brain, producing neurons that connect with like neurons inside our brain. When you think about it, the more I feed my brain nutritional choices the more I resupply my brain with the ability to build those healthy neurons. This is the reason why you simply cannot consume poor choices through food, drugs, and alcohol or continue negative behavior (violence, self-destruction, etc.), then expect the brain to perform for your overall wellbeing. The more you do anything (good or bad) to your body the more you do to your brain. Every time you put anything into your mouth, you put it into your brain. Each time you think a thought, respond to a craving, indulge in poor choices, you invest that decision back into your brain. Putting it “in” is easy; taking it “out” is the challenge. Why? Through repetition, we’ve built a neurological system of responses waiting to be used inside our brain. If that “response” isn’t fed, then we crave it wanting to feed it. So here’s the good news: You can train your brain to crave nutrition just as much as you can train your brain to crave poor choices.
Stay tuned to my next blog on how this process will work through some simple steps you can follow on a daily basis. But for now, take in what you’ve learned.
Quick Tips for Wellness: Change occurs in the brain first. Change your brain = change in your life.
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