Why we over eat, and how to stop!

As a teacher at Shinka Martial Arts, I'm often asked for dieting advice.

One thing I feel I should mention, is that it is not just the obese that seek to change their emotional state via food.  Many healthy-looking individuals do this as well.

To understand the reason why, is to learn a little bit about human physiology.

First of all, not to get too technical, but, the human lymph system; that is, the sewage system of your body, has the basic job is to remove all the gross stuff from your blood; and its pretty good at it, as long as you breathe in a way that you probably don't.  (For details, check out my other article on breathing)

Due to our "modern lifestyle" that we are enjoying, breathing properly becomes less and less common, unless people are taking martial arts, or yoga.  As a result, the sludge in our blood compounds, which leads to all kinds of health issues.  Obesity being one of them.


So, what does this all have to do with over eating?

Well, if you fill your stomach to a certain capacity, your body is forced to breathe properly.

Your body's need to breathe properly will become more and more urgent over time.  In fact, if you went 2-3 days without breathing properly AT ALL, there's a fairly good chance you'd simply die.

So, once your oxygen deprived and lymphatically clogged body discovers a pleasurable way to get you to breathe properly, you better believe it goes out of its way to create that effect again.


Brain!  Emergency!  Activate craving for mashed potatoes!

And so, the urgent dilemma of needing to circulate the lymph in your body to live, is replaced with the longer term dilemma of the consequences of over eating; of which I don't plan on going into detail about.

So:  Good news:
There's a step by step way that you can both stop over eating, have more energy, and be healthier.  In my opinion, taking martial arts fulfills 3/4 steps.  Diet, of course, must be done at all times.  Find a great school that fits your mindset, body type, goals, etc.

Step 1: Breathing
Step 2: Mindset
Step 3: Diet
Step 4: Exercise

Now, those steps are interchangeable.  For example, if you up the exercise first, the breathing will happen more naturally, and, as I mentioned, martial arts will help with mindset, breathing, and exercise... and its really fun!

Sensei Ono, Shinka Martial Arts

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