3 ways high functioning anxiety is keeping you from your weightloss goals
High functioning anxiety is a sneaky little bugger that affects every area of our lives, including how our bodies respond to the food we eat. Many people don’t associate their mind and bodies together. “Diet” culture has drilled it into our brains that the only thing you have to do to lose weight is to eat a specific way and exercise. But while that’s TRUE it is also very misleading and can create A LOT of stress, frustration and self-doubt internally.
If you have been struggling to break through some weightloss plateaus and you are doing everything “right”, (as in healthy nutritious foods and exercising regularly) it may be time to take a look at your emotions and thoughts around your food and nutrition plan. Also, the HOW you plan and approach your weightloss journey. Beginning to simply LEARN and OBSERVE your own mind and actions can be immensely revealing.
As you read along, take note of parts here that resonate with you, parts that don’t and parts that kinda sorta do. Keep in mind there is nothing WRONG with you if you nod along to these 3 signs and in fact, you being here is a sign you are ready to reframe your life.
The first sign I’m going to discuss is, you overanalyze your meals and become overwhelmed and confused when it comes to your food. Your indecision rears its head leaving you feeling almost frozen. This isn’t a fun feeling but it is very real and you aren’t alone if you experience this. Our high functioning anxiety loves to analyze but with information overload it can become TOO MUCH and we almost “short-circuit” ourselves over trying to plan out what to eat. THIS creates a negative feeling around food. THIS now makes the act of eating stressful and leads me to point 2.
You internally punish yourself if you don’t stick to a plan, leading to overeating or undereating. Our food is meant to be enjoyed as well as fuel our bodies but if we PUNISH ourselves over a plan then we create such tension and fear and more anxiety around food. So now if you “mess up” you feel like you failed and you take to the extremes of over/under eating, neither of which is serving you. Punishing ourselves is again creating a negative energy around food and increasing stress hormones which LOVE to hang onto fat. We put ourselves in a constant state of stress and anxiety that EVEN WHEN we are eating healthy, balanced diet and moving our bodies, we see no change. If our mind is stressed out, our body will be too. If you believe the food you are eating is bad, or you are bad for eating food, your body will believe you.
“What your mind believes, your body achieves.”
The final sign that your high functioning anxiety is sabotaging your efforts is you plan everything you do around your meals and get a sense of unease when plans change suddenly. Food shouldn’t control your life. And what I mean is that it shouldn’t alter the way you enjoy living and should NOT have the power to create any unease or anxiety. Also, the food has nothing to do with it. It’s your perception of the food and your beliefs and that mean old anxious voice in your head telling you things have to go a very specific way.
Now if you are feeling like you have these behaviors don’t let it create MORE anxiety around it!
The first step to reframing high functioning anxiety is to simply become aware of it and then continue to practice being aware of it. Once you are able to particularly recognize emotions and thought patterns around your food and health journey then you will be able to pick up on your mind and body’s reactions TO said thoughts. If you nodded along to the 3 ways listed here, then understand, you are doing everything right, you just need to work on shifting your MINDSET around this area. How can you adjust what you are eating so you don’t create overwhelm or fall into the analyzing spiral? Can you begin to TRUST that your body knows what it needs to thrive and that perhaps a deep breath and an internal listen may reveal what it is? Don’t be so quick to punish yourself with actions, words and thoughts, (out loud or to yourself), try taking a step back and give yourself some loving words, or journal out what it is you are feeling and see what else comes up.
When we have health goals it’s vital to remember that as frustrating and difficult as anxiety may be, it does NOT control us. Our health BEGINS in our mind and the more we learn about how our individual minds work, the stronger the healing connection between your mind and body becomes.
Are you feeling this and now not sure what to do? I help women reframe their high functioning anxiety in order to break through plateaus like Weightloss and get their lives back. Click the links below to check out the services I offer and feel free to email me at Mindful Maggie with any questions!
Stay Mindful.
