The Happiness Factor

Do you remember the movie Sex, Lies, & Videotape (okay, maybe I'm dating myself a bit here, lol)? The movie opens with the main character played by Andie MacDowell saying, "Anyway...being happy isn't all that great. I mean, the last time I was really happy...I got so fat."

My personal experience has been exactly the opposite—every time I get really happy, I find I tend to *effortlessly* drop any excess pounds. Really. What’s up? Could happiness be a factor in weight loss? I say…absolutely!

When we are happy we tend to be more energetic, creative, passionate, and alive--all things that rev up our metabolism. We are more likely to be so engaged in a project or person that we--gasp!--don't give much thought to food.

And when we are happy we tend to manage stress in a much healthier way. Stress can make it very difficult to lose weight as it slows our metabolism and may cause us to store excess fat particularly around our middle.

It makes sense then to focus our attention on finding and doing the things that bring us joy. What does that look like for you? Do you need to pull that easel out of the back of your closet (where it has been buried for years)? Paint! Are you into snowboarding but haven't done it lately because there's no time? Make time!

Instead of thinking thoughts like “I will be so happy when I lose this weight”, turn it around—do the things that make you happy now, take care of yourself now, and losing the excess weight will be that much easier.