Managing Your Weight

• An International Epidemic
• Overweight, Stress and Your Intelligent Heart
• A HeartMath TIP
• Benefits of Losing Excess Weight
• Tools for Managing Emotional Eating

An International Epidemic

Everybody needs a certain amount of body fat to function and perform optimally, and the consensus is that the greater the disparity between the two, the more at risk a person’s health is. Being overweight or obese greatly increases the chances for one or more of a long list of serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis and some cancers – breast and colon cancer among them. (See our Recommendations)

The number of overweight adults and children in the United States is so great that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the International Association for the Study of Obesity and many other organizations are calling it an epidemic of major proportions. Recent studies indicate 64 percent of American adults are overweight. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2003-04 found nearly 33 percent of adults aged 20-74 were obese and by 2010 that figure could grow to 40 percent. The survey showed high overweight rates among children and teens: 13.9% of children aged 2-5 years; 18.8% of 6- to 11-year-olds; and 17.4% of 12- to 19-year-olds.

The crisis has no borders: The International Obesity Task Force estimates 1.7 billion people internationally – that’s about one-quarter of the world’s population – aged 15 and above were overweight in 2005, with 400 million of them listed as obese. If current trends continue there will be 2.4 billion overweight and 700 million obese people by 2015.

Overweight, Stress and Your Intelligent Heart

The simple explanation for what causes overweight is more calories coming into the body than going out. Two major contributors have been the global shift to foods that are fast and high in fat and sugars, and a decline in physical activity, not only in affluent nations, but also in the developing world as well because of changing modes of transportation, urbanization and more sedentary types of work.

There many other factors contributing to the increase in overweight and obesity, but experts say emotional eating is the primary cause in a high percentage of cases. Today’s fast-paced and demanding world has given rise to alarming stress levels and people are seeking any way they can find to cope. For many that means turning to food, especially comfort food, and that largely means precisely the kinds of food that are high in fat and low in nutrition. A Harris Interactive survey reported 46% of Americans are less careful about the food they eat when stressed. And the more stressed you are, the more your body produces the hormone cortisol, which turns fat into energy, unless you regularly overeat: Then cortisol can take all that excess fat and redistribute it around your waist and hips.

The Institute of HeartMath has been researching stress for 21 years and has established through numerous scientifically controlled studies that reducing stress is beneficial in countless ways, among them giving us greater ability to manage our weight. Reducing stress begins by learning to control emotions and this is where HeartMath can help. The HeartMath System has taught thousands of people, from young children to seniors, how to replace negative emotions such as anxiety, a key contributor to overeating, with positive ones such as appreciation and caring.

At the core of emotional management is your intelligent heart. Scientists have found that communication between the heart and brain is a dynamic, ongoing, two-way dialogue, with each organ continuously influencing the other’s function. These two powerful systems act in concert with each other to keep all of your body’s systems operating smoothly. During the best of times, in what is known as a state of heart coherence – when your heart rhythms are smooth and balanced – you function at optimal levels and your emotions are under control. When you’re out of coherence – heart rhythms are irregular or disordered – your emotions can spiral out of control and you’re liable to experience decreased energy or fatigue, anxiety, anger and other negative emotions and conditions. When you’re in command of your emotions, your stress level drops and your heart produces the anti-aging hormone DHEA, which actually makes you feel younger and more energetic and lowers your cortisol to more beneficial levels.

There are dozens of food diets today. Perhaps the latest one to be embraced by the popular culture may be right for you, but are you emotionally prepared? At HeartMath we believe the very best diet begins with emotional regulation. The world’s greatest diet is also the world’s worst diet for you, if you can’t stick to it, and that often occurs when you can’t control your anxiety, anger and other emotions. Researchers at HeartMath have studied what we call the "wholeness diet," which entails regulating your emotions through heart intelligence and coherence before and after you eat. Then, your intuitive heart eventually will steer you away from overeating and toward foods that are good for you.

Recommended Transforming Stress: The HeartMath Solution for Relieving Worry, Fatigue and Tension Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman Learn to recognize your stressors so you can stop harmful emotional responses like binge-eating and eating too quickly. This informative book will tell you the warning signs of chronic stress and the latest research on your intelligent heart and its ability to help you immediately begin reducing your stress and start managing your emotions. HeartMath’s widely acclaimed Attitude Breathing® tool and Freeze-Frame® technique are included to help you transform your health and your life.

Calculate your BMI, body mass index, now. Your BMI is a general assessment of how much body fat you have. All you need to know to find out BMI is your height and weight. Although the BMI is merely a guideline for measuring body fat, it is an internationally accepted standard for most people. Calculate your BMI and find out what it means at the following sites. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi Centers for Disease Control: Has adult and child/teen BMI calculators. http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Recommended A HeartMath Tip: The Quick Coherence® Technique, a rapid three-step tool, is a great first step for shifting into coherence and experiencing a sense of well-being. It only takes a minute and once you’ve learned it you’ll be adding heart power to will power, giving you greater ability to change old behaviors and habits. When you feel stressed or have the urge to eat outside of regular mealtimes, try the following, adapted from HeartMath’s Quick Coherence Technique: Heart focus: Shift your attention to the area of the heart and breathe slowly and deeply. Heart breathing: Keep your focus in the heart by gently breathing – five seconds in and five seconds out – through your heart. Do this two or three times. Heart feeling: Activate and sustain a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or something in your life. Focus on the good heart feeling as you continue to breathe through the area of your heart.

Benefits of Losing Excess Weight

• Lower risk of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, some cancers and many other health problems
• Feel better, look better, live longer
• Increased energy to do more
• Emotional strength
• Feeling of empowerment, self-regulation, control over eating patterns

Recommended Tools For Managing Emotional Eating emWave®2 Program for Stopping Emotional Eating From the Inside Out – A Balanced Approach to Successful Weight Loss You won’t see any food lists or exercise regimens in this program. While these are important aspects in reducing weight and improving health, the success of this program is attributed to what researchers at the Institute of HeartMath have found to be the first and most important aspect of weight management: emotional self-regulation. Learning how to recognize and shift stressful emotions is a key to success in weight loss and will help other areas of your life as well, including relationships, work, health and quality of life. You’ll learn how to create a new baseline to facilitate weight loss and a better relationship with food and eating. The system includes emWave2 and the Stopping Emotional Eating book – comes with our 60-day, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. emWave® Desktop for Mac and PC†: The emWave Desktop turns your computer into an advanced heart-rate monitor. When combined with HeartMath’s widely acclaimed resilience and coherence building techniques, you’ll soon learn how easily you can create an optimal state in which your heart, mind and emotions are more in-sync and balanced. In this balanced state, individuals tend to experience more energy, focus and mental clarity. With practice of the HeartMath System can help you begin feeling healthier and happier and start living life more fully. † Formerly known as Freeze-Framer® Transforming Anxiety: The HeartMath Solution for Overcoming Fear and Worry and Creating Serenity: by Doc Childre and Deborah Rozman. When you consider that most people have some anxiety about themselves, family, future and for other reasons, it helps explain why overweight and obesity are so prevalent. That’s because anxiety is a leading contributor to these conditions: Millions of people try to escape their anxieties through overeating, binge-eating and consumption of comfort foods. Transforming Anxiety provides proven solutions to help you overcome your fears and worries and create more serenity and a sense of well-being in your life. Based on IHM’s 21 years of research into the physiology of emotions, the book includes the scientifically proven Attitude Breathing® tool and Cut-thru® and Heart Lock-In® techniques to help you release your anxieties and replace them with new, positive feelings. (Note: Use the emWave2 or emWave Desktop for Mac and PC to help regulate your emotions in preparation for events you know may trigger your stress response and to help you recover from stressful episodes and get back on an even keel fast.) Learn more… What’s Making You Overeat? Learn more about the epidemic of overweight and obesity in this summer 2006 HeartMath Newsletter article. Experts will tell you about the relationship between stress and weight gain, emotional overeating and the health consequences of being overweight and obese. Find out about the detrimental effects of excessive levels of the hormone cortisol and how you can control it intelligently, using the power of your heart and easily learned tools and technology developed by the Institute of HeartMath, a leading researcher of stress. Stress and What You Eat: Our stressful, hurry-up and demanding world has given rise to alarming numbers of overweight and obese people. Millions of Americans overeat and eat on the run, and what they’re eating is high in sugar, starch and fats. The comfort foods we eat may calm us temporarily, but they also produce fat, and too much fat increases the risk of heart attack and many other diseases and debilitating conditions. Read this HeartMath spring 2004 Newsletter to begin transforming your life today.

Take me to the HeartMath Store now to learn more about IHM’s life-changing tools, training programs and other resources, or call us: (800) 711-6221.