When I first started writing this article I thought I would add in a funny little intro, essentially making fun of how many calories I have read you can burn while having intercourse. It was always such a high number that I was forced to ask myself if my bedroom play with my partner in life of over 10 years was a little less acrobatic than what these experts were claiming to be normal. I just couldn't imagine what these people were doing to be able to burn 400+ calories. I would have to jog, quickly, on a treadmill for at least 45 minutes to get that kind of burn! That said I did a little Googling on 'calories burned during sex' and found an incredibly precise website that actually measured the calories you burn not only during sex but it varied depending on the position used, the particular motivation you had to have sex and even the bed you were using. Are you surprised that you burn the most calories while doing 'it' in a hammock? No either was I. All that said, I wasn't really planning on writing about sex. The topic is not actually about calorie burn at all, and has nothing to do with sex. The whole point of this is that in order to be slim you have to make love to someone unexpected – yourself. And whether you are in a hammock or not while you do it makes absolutely no difference to your results!
The reason the actual bed doesn't matter is that we are talking about the kind of love that doesn't actually burn calories but instead motivates you to not buy garbage food when you’re in the grocery, to exercise in a healthy way and to listen to your body’s intelligence; stopping eating before you are full and going to bed when you first feel tired.
Just drinking enough water and leaving work on time helps you manifest this love in your life too. It is really very simple to make love to yourself. You just do the things that will make you deeply happy. The side benefit is that usually these are the same things that make you slim and healthy. Each time you eat processed food, stay up late, work too long, don’t exercise or forget to drink enough water you are telling your body, “I do not value or respect you. I do not want to listen to the intelligence that magically heals my cuts and bruises and keeps me alive each day.”
That continual lack of respect causes your body to feel rejected and unloved, which then triggers specific emotional and chemical responses. When we experience an emotion, hormones and neurotransmitters are released. In less than a second, the bloodstream carries these chemicals to every one of your 100 trillion cells, flooding your body with an emotional cocktail. When you experience a negative thought about yourself or decide not to act in a healthy way, the chemicals produced send a newsflash to every cell – and the headline is that you do not love them. This lowers immunity, rapidly increases physical aging and breaks down muscle tissue, slowing your metabolism. Ultimately this causes you to gain fat, look older than you need to and get sick – quickly. Quite the opposite of what you want!
In a nutshell, every positive thought has the power to make you slimmer. Most of us experience between 57,000 – 100,000 thoughts a day. How many of yours are positive?
Happy Valentines Day to All of You! Remember to love yourself this February 14th and enjoy all the side benefits that this type of love can bring!
xoxoChristine
Christine is a nutritionist, yoga instructor and personal trainer who specializes in weight loss and womens health at Four Forty Fitness for Women in Burlington, Ontario. Check out the website at www.fourfortyfitness.ca