#67: Laughing Your Weight Off

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In today’s episode, I am going to introduce you to the last ingredient of the Horstmann Weight Loss Pill which starts with the letter “L”. L for LAUGHTER!

The science on the health benefits of laughter is numerous now. I thought I would share highlights from a few articles and studies about laughter and wellness, I will share a couple of stories and what I do to laugh. If you are interested in reading the articles and sharing them with some folks in your life, including those who seem to have forgotten to have fun and laugh, note that I linked several portions of the text below to the articles/studies.

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT IN ACCORDION

Laughter, in response to funny events, actually takes a lot of work, because it activates many areas of the brain: areas that control motor, emotional, cognitive and social processing. By activating the neural pathways of emotions like joy, laughter can improve your mood and make your physical and emotional response to stress less intense.

In one experiment, the couples were asked to discuss a problem or conflict in their relationship while they were videotaped, and a polygraph measured different physiological and emotional signs.

“You see people starting to get stressed, and what you find is that couples who deal with increased feeling of stress, the ones who react to that with laughter not only get less stressed immediately but they are couples that tend to be happier in their relationships and tend to stay together longer.”

Researchers in another study concluded that “Although humor has been found to help relieve stress and facilitate social relationships, the traditional view of task performance implies that individuals must concentrate all their effort on their endeavors and should avoid things such as humor that may distract them from the accomplishment of task goals. We suggest that humor is not only enjoyable but more importantly, energizing.”

A professor of psychology said that “When you have endorphins circulating through the brain, you feel good. When you laugh, you’re inhaling more oxygen. So, all the cells of your brain are getting more oxygen, as well as the cells of your body.”

And of course, I couldn’t end without correlating laughter with insulin resistance. It’s important to put laughter in perspective of relaxation, how cortisol raises blood sugar, increases insulin sensitivity, and with more insulin circulating in your body, your energy is lower, more fat gets stored, making it harder to lose weight and increasing risks for chronic diseases.

And all that brings me to functional wellness…

Our cells don’t need to be told what to do. What we ought to do is FUEL them properly. And there’re different phases of healing…Relief, corrective, and maintenance.  As a functional wellness coach, I thrive in the corrective phase.

A couple of great quotes come to mind…I don’t remember who are the authors though…

If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.”

“If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.”

If we’re not having fun, if we’re not creating a space to have fun and laugh, life is miserable. Let me ask you this…when you are feeling upset, grumpy, and with little energy in the tank, what do you think it will take to for you to go after your curiosities and dreams, whether personal or professional? Or are you going to take any steps at all?

How about adding more laughter and fun to this thing called ‘life’?  How about being intentional adding laughter to your life daily? Considering how stressful our lives have become, laughter is a necessity and we shall be intentional about it daily.

Let me tell you a short story about a former client of mine.

To protect his privacy, let’s call him John. He was a successful executive in his mid-50s. One of the reasons we ended up working together was because of an accident one of his motorcycle buddies had…It almost took his life. The experience woke John up to fact that life is short and there was so much more he wanted to accomplish. However, one of his health complaints was fatigue. And that sucking his enthusiasm and motivation to live life to the fullest. He signed up for a combo of wellness coaching and personal training sessions.

During one session, I asked him to share something fun that had happened the day before. He looked at me intrigued. There was a long pause. Then, he said…I had a nice conversation during dinner with my wife but he couldn’t think of anything that had made him laugh. How about at work? I asked, he said, nothing, really.

We talked briefly about bringing more laughter into his light and why was important. To my surprise, next session John admitted that his answer to my question had really bothered him and he wanted this to change. So, we asked him to do an exercise to get helped him reflect on things had been fun and were fun today. Eventually, I made recommendations of ways to implement a couple of them.

And then one day he told me his teenage daughter asked his wife if he was still working with this ‘wellness’ coach. She said dad seemed happier and more fun. His eyes shined when he told me the story. It goes to say the impact of laughter and joy is contagious and benefits everyone around us, especially our family.

Things I do to laugh…

When mom was alive, I used to make ugly and funny faces during our video calls. She didn’t like them and because of that, I cracked up and then she did as well. And then, she would make faces back to me. I miss talking to my mom. I miss making her laugh. I miss her laugh. I miss seeing her face on the other side of the phone.

So I’ve picked a few people I make faces to. It’s not the same but it’s still fun.

  • Make fun of myself – I say some crazy stuff sometime
  • Watch short videos on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube – especially related to animals and babies
  • In my side hustle on Fri, Sat, and Sunday nights, I interact with many people. There I do whatever I can to crack up, I tell people stories and poke holes into people’s stories to make me laugh which will in turn make others laugh. It’s great.

I love what Mel Robbins, a motivational speaker, and author, said the other day. Not only because she is also a Libra (the best kind of people, just saying) but also because she is very straightforward and speaks from the heart.

“There are 3 choices that determine what your life will feel like in the future…

Choice #1: Stay where you are and b*tch about it. This choice will make you feel stuck and unhappy. Never in history has b*itching about something actually fixed it.

Choice #2: Stay where you are. Be grateful and accept it. This choice will help you through very hard times when changing the direction of your life isn’t possible YET.

Choice #3: Identify what you want and do the work to make it happen. This is the only way to create profound personal change.”

No doubt Mel and I speak the same language. How can I not love her, right?

OK, as I wrap up the all-natural prescription for the Horstmann weight loss P-I-L-L that revolves around Personal Responsibility, Inspiration, Lifestyle, and Laughter. Let me answer a few questions about this amazing …

Who is this Weight Loss Pill For?  Is for the person wants to no longer live their lives on lifestyle on autopilot and feeling like crap every day. They know they deserve better, want to unstuck, and feel good in their own skin again. They are curious to learn what’s driving the less than optimal function.

How does the Horstmann Weight Loss PILL work? Assuming that we are a fit to work together, before we have our first session, you will complete a set of wellness questionnaires. If you joined a coaching program that doesn’t involve functional blood chemistry analysis and/or functional screenings/labs, we can start fairly quickly upon completion of questionnaires. The information you provide serve as a guide to establish plan to help you make progress and achieve goals.

Is the Horstmann Weight Loss PILL safe?  It’s very safe. I am not in the business of diagnosing or treating diseases. Instead, I am in the business of helping you get to the root cause of the problems and establish a protocol based on natural therapies to help your body regain function from a cellular level.

Where can you find the Horstmann Weight Loss PILL? At www.BeFabBeYou.com – Schedule a complimentary session with me and we will see if my PILL is the right fit for you.

That being said, I encourage you to assess each one of these ingredients and identify which one deserves more love and compassion. Next, identify what your next steps are and take that first step toward action.  And take the next few minutes to identify ways to bring more laughter into your life. Let laughter and fun be a strong vehicle for weight loss for you.

If you like my help, I am here for you. My job is to help you uncover what’s preventing your cells to thrive at their best and then establish protocol based on natural therapies to help you restore great function. Go to www.BeFabBeYou.com to schedule a conversation with me. During the call, I’ll learn where you’re at, where you want to go and if I can help you, I will tell you how.

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