Stop Multi-tasking to Lose Weight

So much is said about the many diets and programs to lose weight and is possible that you, as I did, have tried a few of them. Most of these Weight Management Programs focus mainly on dieting and exercising. Of course, we all know that it is a matter of getting fewer calories in and burning more out. What if we explore further and investigate a single fact such as “stop multi-tasking to improve your weight loss”.

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 The biggest obstacle on your weight loss journey is the battle with your own mind.

Understanding how the mind works during the dieting process and how you to deal with it, is a great start. “It is all in your mind” is a true statement and, for most of us, not well dealt with.

It is so exhausting to start a new diet, follow all the portions guidelines just hoping to shed off the unwanted pounds. Some of the diets are well designed but rely mainly on the person’s willpower and self-discipline to make it work. It is a lot to deal with.

Changing your eating habits will take more than (the overrated) willpower. It will take some understanding of how your mind works and then some psych tricks to deal with it. We’ll start with how to stop multi-tasking to improve your weight loss.

How to stop multi-tasking to help you lose weight

Many of us think that multi-tasking is a very desirable skill that should be used all the time. And that by doing so we can become more productive and efficient.

Women in general, including me, use to brag about their abilities to multi-task. I caught myself many times making fun of my husband staring at water boiling in the stove while waiting to make his tea. However, several new studies show that we should stop multitasking to lower our stress levels and to really become more productive. Guess what? It will improve your ability to relax, you will sleep better and also eventually lead to weight loss!

Forget Multitasking, Meet Single Tasking

Researches have shown that doing one task at a time allows you to do “the one task” well and get more done. The explanation is simple: self-control and willpower are actually limited resources. When we single task, it is like we’re sipping from a straw on our self-control resource. When we multi-task, it is like we need several straws to do the sipping but that doesn’t really work. So, we lose the lid and start chugging. Then, our self-control vanishes and stress take over.

When stress takes over, your body metabolism suffers

When stress takes over we do tend to overeat because it makes us feel emotionally comforted. However, we can’t just blame our minds. It all starts inside our bodies.

Stress is a response to pressure. We can call this pressure (that varies in forms and intensity) as stressors. A stressor can be a situation, a person, an environment or all of these together, as we all have experienced before.

When we face a stressful situation our body responds with an automatic “fight or flight” reaction. This reaction is a reminiscent response of handling life-threatening situations, as our ancestors used to do to survive. Their bodies would need strong levels of physical and psychological performance to face the threat and fight to survive.

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As human beings, we evolved from this kind of responses. Thankfully we don’t need to run for our lives in the wilderness anymore, we’re not part of the reality portrayed in the Game of Thrones.

When we are facing this kind of “fight or flight” situations, our bodies produce cortisol. Our heart rate increases, our pupils dilate, we start breathing faster, our muscles get tensed and we sweat, among other things.

Over time our bodies learn to react to situations that are not dangerous with this same “fight or flight” response. For example, in a job interview, a deadline at work or a first date.

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These reactions, that are not life-threatening anymore, put the majority of us in a state of chronic stress, which means, an overload of cortisol that becomes chronic.

When our bodies are under this overload of cortisol frequently, chronic stress takes place causing weight gain, immune system deficiencies, heart disease, and hypertension, just to mention a few.

What is Cortisol

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a wide range of processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response.

Blood levels of cortisol vary dramatically, but generally are high in the morning when we wake up, and then fall throughout the day. This is called a diurnal rhythm. In people that work at night, this pattern is reversed, so the timing of cortisol release is clearly linked to daily activity patterns.

In addition, cortisol plays a role in regulating our metabolism, blood sugar levels, inflammation, and immune responses.

Controlling your Cortisol level will help to lose weight

Simply put, the best way to not let your cortisol levels to go up, causing stress, is to avoid it happening. It is ultimately finding ways to prevent it to minimize the effects of stress in your weight loss program. It is easier said than done, but you will be ahead of the game if you slow down your multitasking.

How to get your stress under control

1- Pick a personal statement

Stress is deeply connected with cortisol levels, as explained, which is a physical reaction. It is also connected to our emotional ability to tolerate frustration. A good tip is to get used to simply acknowledging your level of frustration, creating some personal statements such as: “it is what it is”, “oh well”, or “it is out of my control”. You will be accepting the fact and will feel ready to persevere. Take a deep breath and think that although you can’t control the stressor, you CAN control your response. Many times, “good” is good enough.

2- Create a “get out of the situation” excuse

Being around food in social situations can be stressful. Not always we can be totally honest with people about our efforts of losing weight. For example, your boss brought to the office party her famous chocolate cake and wants everybody tasting it.

Some examples of your “get out of this situation” answer could be:

• “I’ll have some later, it looks so good.”
• “I have a weakness for chocolate cakes, once I start, I can’t stop.”
• “I have to be honest with you: my program is going so well, I just can’t although I would love it to try it.”

You can choose to be honest, funny, sneaky, what is important is to remove the stressor and move on.

3- Use exercise to reduce stress

Exercise boosts serotonin which is a chemical produced by our nerve cells.

Serotonin is found mostly in the digestive system, although it’s also in blood platelets and throughout the central nervous system.

Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. This amino acid must enter your body through your diet and is commonly found in foods such as nuts, cheese, and red meat. It has a number of functions but it is best known for the role it plays regulating your mood.

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Exercise, especially cardio, boosts serotonin release and production. The higher the level of serotonin, lower levels of depression and anxiety and increased happiness.

Exercise also decreases levels of circulating cortisol, although you will not feel it.

How to get your serotonin up, cortisol down and weight under control in 5 min

It is not easy to find the time to exercise every day. I have a friend who is single and had this routine of waking up early and going for her exercise every morning, no compromises. She lost a ton of weight and has kept it off for more than 15 years.

If you have a family, small kids, a demanding job and busy life, like most of us do, devoting this daily time to yourself might not be possible. Instead, try these 3 simple serotonin boosters:

1- Hop jump 50 times on spot. It will take under a minute and your energy will go up immediately. Magic!

2- Turn on your fave song for 3 min and twerk like nobody’s watching

3-  Do your favourite Yoga sequence 3 times in a roll. Breath, ah! You’re ready to go again.

Don’t forget to make a point to be single-tasking during this brief time, being in the moment for 5 min will benefit your body which will thank you in return by being less stressed, healthy and ready to let the extra weight go.

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The magic of Single-tasking

Making a decision to start single-tasking takes some practice. You need to let go of the greediness of doing a hundred things at the same time which gives you the illusion of high productivity. Remember that self-control and will-power are limited resources and we do need to use them wisely or stress will take over.

The magic of single-tasking is that you will devote your attention and all your senses to that one task. You will get to enjoy the one thing you’re doing even if it is a mechanical and repetitive action and you will do it better.

For example, you’re driving for your morning commute and the traffic is heavy. There is nothing you can do about it, it is out of your control how fast the commute will be. What you can do, instead, is to concentrate on the act of driving, paying attention to the landscape around you and watching the streets and people passing by. Just enjoy the fact that you’re alive and healthy and not stressing over what will be not done.

You will be living in the present and being mindful.

Studies show that we spend 47% of the time between being stuck in the past or trying to predict the future. It is a lot of time not being in the present. Emotionally means we get drained worrying about how bad things can happen again or dreaming of better days or events.

By being in the present you will be focusing on one thing at a time, placing your attention and efforts in only one action which will avoid stress. You will be able to use your energy towards your goal of losing weight. From there, your well-being will only go up and your weight will only go down!

Let me know what solutions you can find in your life to control some of the stressors, slow down your multi-tasking and improve your weight loss.