If you’ve ever battled those thoughts about what you should or shouldn’t be doing at any particular time, then you’ll know just how weird, wonderful and wacky some of them can be.
From deciding where to go for your next holiday or which outfit to wear to your work’s annual party, we’re making decisions all day long. And when things don’t work out as we hope, it can put us at increased risk of reaching for comfort foods.
Lucky for us, we have ready-access to a number of feel good hormones that can elevate our mood, lift our sense of wellbeing and reduce the risk of an emotionally-driven overindulgence.
Reward Yourself
When it’s not busy keeping you safe from marauding predators like sabre tooth tigers, stress and difficult people, your brain wants you to find rewards. These might take the form of doing something for someone else, achieving your big hairy audacious goal or meeting someone you’d like to get to know better.
Rewarding events like these trigger the release of dopamine: an important part of our brain’s reward circuitry that motivates us to repeat that behaviour. Let’s play it again, Sam!
That’s why scheduling in activities to look forward to is SO important, and it’s the anticipation of that reward which feels so good. Whether it’s a family event or a planned treat such as a facial or massage, feeling rewarded increases the desire to reach your goals!
Establish Trust
Trust is the foundation of all our relationships. It’s something that has to be earned, and it accumulates as small increments paid into our trust account. Oxytocin, otherwise known as the ‘trust molecule’, is the hormone released when we fall in love; establish friendships and when mothers give birth.
You can boost your oxytocin levels using the power of touch: a reassuring pat on the back, a hug, handshake or an epic high-five. Although keep in mind that it is important to ensure we use touch in a culturally and socially appropriate way! If you suddenly start hugging all your colleagues at work, they might think you’ve become a little weird… and not everyone likes to be hugged.
C’mon Get Happy
Happiness is something many of us choose to pursue, forgetting it is already available in the form of serotonin. Serotonin is the neurochemical associated with a sense of contentment and that ‘all’s right with the world’. While we manufacture ninety-five per cent of serotonin in our gut, you can boost that level by simply getting out into the sunshine.
Now you have the perfect reason to spend more time in the great outdoors every day, #yay!
Feel No Pain
Yes, it’s time to go for that Forrest Gump moment. In the film, Forest takes off running… and keeps on going. When you exercise over a period of time, your body releases more endorphins, our natural pain killers that are associated with the ‘runner’s high’. Exercise makes us feel good, boosts our mood and energy. It also heightens confidence and resilience to stress.
Of course, there plenty of other ways we can make ourselves feel good too, such as choosing to see the funny side of things, sharing a laugh or watching a funny video.
Emotional eating is a commonly used short-term fix to combat stress and loneliness. While not all comfort food is bad for us – think: Mum’s chicken soup – it’s those foods that are high in fat and sugar that have been shown to further lower your mood. Translation: if you’re already feeling bad, a salty fat-laden or sugar-fuelled gorge-fest will only end up making you feel worse.
Instead of reaching for the potato chips or chocolate, all that’s required to make you feel better on a down-day is to put these feel-good activities into practice. Not only that, but they’ll also smooth your path to achieving your goals! Win-win!
Head on over to the SuperSquad Facebook group for more motivation and inspiration.