Mind & Body

Happiness, Dieting, And Life

August 26, 2009
By J White

Someone once said that every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day. The same can be said of your diet. You may not like certain things about it, but there are some positives, no matter how small. And this brings me to the main point of this post.

Your attitude is with you no matter where you go or with what you do. Far too many of you let the situation determine how you feel at the moment. If you just got promoted and receive a big raise, you’re elated. If you just got downsized, you feel depressed. Those reactions are typical and are probably how the majority of you would feel in those situations. But let’s take a closer look at what could be part of these scenarios.

Because of the promotion and raise, you have to travel more, thus you will have to be away from your family. Elation turns to woe. Even though you got downsized, you were given a nice severance package, so now you have an opportunity to start that business that you’ve always been talking about. A devastating situation turned into a golden opportunity.

The point to take away from these situations is that everything has it pluses and minuses. How you feel about it, that is your attitude about the situation, is all up to you. You can focus on the worse and see gloom and doom around every corner. Or you can actually look for the silver lining and make the most out of every situation.

Happiness is a Habit

Strange as it may sound, happiness is a habit. This is because whatever you habitually focus on drives how you feel. For most of us that means that life will come down to whether or not you view the glass half empty or half full.

As for becoming a happy person, this habit is easy to start. Simply think about something that happen to you today, anything, and find something happy in it. It could be not getting run over when you crossed the street or getting the correct change back when you went to the store. Granted, these are not the things you jump on the phone to tell your best friend about, but practicing looking at life in this manner helps to get you started looking at each situation more positively.

Once you get started and continue to look for “happy moments,” the behavior becomes like a snowball rolling down a hill- it just grows and grows. Pretty soon this behavior will become second nature to you and without realizing it, you’ll become a more happy person.

Happiness and Weight Loss

Everything is easier when you are happy, including losing weight. And it doesn’t just have to do with the attitude shift. The change is physiological as well.

Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, plays a key role in doling out the pleasure feelings. When you are happy, dopamine levels naturally increase. Research has shown that those who have lower dopamine levels eat more. Thus, naturally increasing this happy hormone helps you eat less, as well as keep you in a good mood.

So do your diet a favor and learn the habit of happiness. Adopting this attitude will not just benefit your waistline, but your entire life as well.

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