Self Care: Y'know It Don't Come Easy

Dr. Laurie Santos shared a fascinating insight on Dax Sheppard's podcast: Expert Armchair.

What you are motivated to get is completely separate from what you're actually going to appreciate once you get it. There is a part of your brain designed for wanting and craving, and another part of your brain that governs liking and satisfaction.

I'll give you some real world examples. Some people spend all of their time and energy working toward getting into that prestigious school. Other people strive to get a promotion at some competitive business firm. And then there are those who get their fix from junk food, sex, or psychoactive substances. The list goes on. People are designed to crave money, status, and instant gratification. But does the feeling of accomplishing these things last?

Most of us know that we will benefit from various acts of self care. For whatever reason, activities like exercise, journaling, and eating healthy take up a lot of mental energy.

Take meditation for instance, we know we'll feel better after we do it... but for whatever reason, most of us aren't naturally inclined to meditate. Instead, we might binge watch the latest series just to return to our rooms before bedtime feeling regret as we look at the overflowing stack of laundry in the corner.

The craving system and the liking system are disconnected. How awesome would it be if our brain was able to reset after noticing, "Hey! Meditating actually reduced my stress today. Let's crave it tomorrow!" But no. What's good doesn't come easy.

How inconvenient.

So, for those of you who think, "One day I'll want to go on that run!" Yeah, maybe. But probably not.

Just Do It turns out to be more than just a slogan.

Meanwhile, I'll be over here waiting for that day when we find out how to kick in that motivation some other way.

Why Does Weight Loss Have to Be So Hard?

We all know it is hard to pass on our favorite high-calorie foods. A struggle to limit portion size. Downright  daunting to get off the couch and stick to exercise goals. But these aren't always the hardest part of a weight loss plan. Keeping the weight off is usually the biggest challenge. Why is this? Learning more about the biology behind those re-appearing pounds is an important cognitive tool in the weight loss struggle. Many people find it helpful to know it isn't just me who finds themselves craving food, feeling less full, and losing less weight over time, despite reducing calories.

So do yourself a favor. Instead of that handful of cookies, grab a cognitive tool. Read My Fitness Pal's blog, Hello Healthy, for a breakdown of the physiological factors that interfere with long term weight loss. By understanding your body's hormonal changes, you can help yourself succeed over the long haul.

--Sandy Andrews, PhD 

Clinical Psychologist

Austin, TX

Happy Is As Happy Does

We're all in search of happiness and nothing makes this more certain than a search of recent research in the field of psychology.  Lots of studies looking for ways to increase our feelings of happy.

A Washington Post journalist spoke to Shawn Achor, a Harvard trained expert on positive psychology.  Achor recommends several exercises to increase feelings of wellbeing, including.

(1) Gratitude.  Spend two minutes every day thinking of three new things you appreciate, enjoy, or are thankful for.
(2) Positivity. Spend two minutes every day recalling a positive experience from your day.  Recollect every detail you can think of and let yourself feel the pleasant feelings associated with each detail.  This can be as simple as observing a beautiful flower or seeing a dog chase a frisbee.
(3) Exercise.  Fifteen minutes a day of high energy physical movement.  Get your heart rate up AND your feelings of happiness.
(4) Breathe.  Here's the magic time again, two minutes.  Push away from your keyboard, silence your phone, turn off the tv, sit under a tree, lay beneath a ceiling fan.  For two minutes, just listen to your breathing.  That's it.  Just listen and stay focused on the sound of the air moving in and our.
(5) Kindness.  Each day send an email or text someone a message telling them how much you appreciate something about them or something they have done.  According to Achor, this is one of the most powerful happy-getters.

You can read the Washington Post article and interview in full, here.

--Sandy Andrews, PhD 

Clinical Psychologist

Austin, TX 

A Happy To Do List for the New Year

A list of twenty-one simple to-dos and to-don'ts for the New Year that I found mostly simple and a lot inspiring.  Some are big steps but more are little.  Because sometimes it's the little things that makes the difference between a life of regrets and a life fully lived.

The very first to-do:  Click here.

-Sandy Andrews, Ph.D.

CBT Cognitive Behavioral Psychologist 

Austin, Texas

  

Exercise for Relief from Anxiety - How Does it Work?

Gretchen Reynolds writes for the New York Times blog about the positive effect of exercise on anxiety.  She summarizes the work of Schoenfeld et. al whose studies* with mice suggest that regular exercise leads to an increase in healthy, calming neurons (GABA) in a part of the brain that helps us process emotions (hippocampus).  More evidence that behavior therapy ( CBT ) tools, such as jogging, taking brisk walks, or working the treadmill, are an effective way to increase feelings of calm in both the long and short term.

You can read Reynolds NY Times article, here.


*Schoenfeld TJ, Rada P, Pieruzzini PR, Hsueh B, Gould E. (2013) J Neurosci. 2013 May 1;33(18):7770-7. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5352-12.2013.Physical exercise prevents stress-induced activation of granule neurons and enhances local inhibitory mechanisms in the dentate gyrus.

-Sandy Andrews, Ph.D.

CBT Cognitive Behavioral Psychologist 

Austin, Texas

Working Out. Must Have Music.

When I work out, which is to say, when I climb on top of a stair master type contraption in order to get my aerobic exercise, I must have music. Or, better put, I greatly prefer to have music.

These days it's a small mp3 player. No, not an iPod. I can't afford one of those. Only my kids can. Go figure.

Working out with my favorite tunes, selected for their fast paced beat, I get a better workout. I don't think about how tired I feel, or how hard I'm breathing, or how my heart feels like it might explode out of my chest. The music entertains and distracts me. I work out longer and harder.

Today I got to the gym only to discover that I had left my mp3 player in my gym bag, on my kitchen table. Damn. It's always something that gets forgotten. If it isn't my towel, it's my bottle of water. Today it was my music.

I also like to read when I work out. Music plus reading material. I'm in that bad of shape, ya'll.

So I did remember my reading glasses. I grabbed an Oprah Magazine, picked a stairmaster that had one of those plexiglass book holders, found an empty eliptical machine between two gym rats, climbed on, hit QuickStart, and away I rode.

It was then I discovered another reason why I prefer earphones. The guy next to me.

My earphones block the sound of nearby exercisers. Heavy breathing, throat clearage, coughs, sputters, growls, grunts, and groans. And then there was the piped in muzack. Loud enough to be a nuisance, not loud enough to be of any incentive.

Reader, what helps you get a better workout?