My husband and I attended a wonderful “Marriage Enrichment Conference” in Georgia this past weekend led by Dr. Richard Marks who has a ministry called Marriage for Life.
]]>My husband and I attended a wonderful “Marriage Enrichment Conference” in Georgia this past weekend led by Dr. Richard Marks who has a ministry called Marriage for Life.
But even though the focus of the conference was intended to be primarily on marriage relationships, I marveled at how many “life lessons” in general I came away with.
One thing that Dr. Marks continually said throughout the weekend was, “Pain always pursues pleasure.” Now he was talking in large part about emotional pain that seeks a diversion from its circumstances in order to get emotional relief. But he said one statement in particular that I found myself hurriedly scribbling on my notepad because I didn't want to forget it. He said, “Your brain will do whatever it has to to get from pain to pleasure...even if it's eating too much to find your escape.”
It was fascinating to listen to how he blended the clinical with the emotional with the spiritual. He explained how high concentrations of endorphins in the brain produce a sense of euphoria, enhance pleasure, and suppress pain, both emotionally and physically.
Although he just touched on it, it certainly made an impression on me as I am continually interested in what causes us to “tick” when it comes to our eating habits, good nutrition, and exercise.
So after the conference, I began to read as much as I could about this whole “pain pursuing pleasure” concept as it relates to health, wellness and personal change.
What I now understand, is that when endorphins are low, people feel anxious; they are also more aware of pain. This can actually cause an appetite for fat and fatty foods, such as fries, cheese, creamy sauces, margarine, butter, fried chicken, potato chips, and chocolate, to name a few. (Is your mouth watering as you read those?) When people eat some fat, they will notice a change in mood, actually feeling more pleasure. This feeling is related to a higher concentration of endorphins. So overeating makes sense if there is a legitimate, physical reaction that comes from it.
But you know what else I learned through my "research"?
I learned that exercise, by releasing fat from within the body, raises endorphins and causes the same mood changes. Yes, I said the same mood changes. Isn't that ironic? Fatty foods and exercise can actually create the same feeling of wellness and pleasure within someone. But the result of each couldn't be more contradictory.
In actuality, when we have cravings for potato chips and chocolate, it may mean that we need more endorphins rather than all the empty calories from chips. We don't have a magic endorphins pill we can pop, but we have something even better: knowledge of how to deal with these specific types of cravings.
Here's some of the “knowledge” I recently came across that I want to share with you:
In addition to endorphins, there are other hormones that affect our moods and our physical reaction to pain and stress. Two of these hormones are serotonin and dopamine.
Low serotonin levels actually make us crave sugar. A high level of serotonin gives us a feeling of calm, poise, confidence and relaxation whereas low levels make us nervous, irritable and stressed. To combat this—if you suspect this may be affecting you—try some low-cal, practical options like crackers, frozen yogurt or popcorn.
Low dopamine levels make us feel “foggy.” So in other words, when we don't get enough protein our dopamine levels drop and we feel mentally sluggish. The best way to raise these levels is to eat plenty of lean protein and keep your fat intake and your carbohydrates moderate.
You actually need a good amount of carbs in your body before you exercise. Many people mistakenly believe that if they limit their carbohydrate intake, and then exercise, their body fat will be broken down. What happens, in fact, is that they are lowering their capacity to burn fat, and will lower their metabolism. The reason for this is that the body will break down muscle to form carbohydrate. In addition, the muscle breakdown raises stress hormone levels and causes carbohydrate cravings.
Interesting stuff, isn't it?
I guess what I took away most from my experience this past weekend (other than the wonderful marital enrichment advice which has little to do with this blog) was the practical information on how our bodies react to hormonal influences and how it really is possible to regulate these things with some intentional decisions. It can be as simple as when we experience strong cravings for sugar and high fat foods, to acknowledge that it's probably due to a low hormone level that can be resolved with a sensible food choice.
I think we all know that when it comes to diet, the research is clear, the best diet is a balanced diet—in moderation.
And then we all need to remember to get some high-quality carbs before workouts. This will help fuel the intensity of the workout, and increase, not lower your metabolism.
I know we all deal with pain on different levels. The world we live in is stressful sometimes. But hopefully some of this practical information will make an impression on you just as it did on me. And then you too can learn how to let your pain pursue pleasure in a way that is healthy, beneficial and even low-cal.
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