Deep Belly Breathing Burns Fat For Fuel.

Deep belly breathing burns fat for fuel.

As we recently discussed, deep belly breaths are the love language of our body

Deep breaths let our body know that we are safe and sound.

Conversely, shallow, fast breaths, signal stress and our body goes into fight or flight mode.

And the things that stress us out these days are traffic, work emails or politics on the news and social media, etc.

And when our body is in this state of stress, it is looking for fuel to get it away from the perceived threat as quickly as possible.

So, we have 2 choices of fuel it can choose from, fat and glucose (aka sugar).

Well, guess which one is most readily available?

SUGAR!

So, biologically our body is freaking out and drawing on all available sugar in our blood, including the glucose stored in our muscles, in order to fight or flight.

And as it gets low on sugar our body creates a craving so we eat more, so that it can continue to be ready to defend itself.

We respond to that overwhelming craving for a sugar with a sugary snack, and caffeine!

For a moment our body experiences a rush that brings us back to baseline.

But soon we experience another stress or threat, our breathing becomes shallow and we repeat this cycle, all day every day, for our lifetime.

This is why intentional deep breaths are so powerful.

Not only does it invite Spirit in, but it signals to our body to burn fat for fuel.

When our body is at ease, it is not seeking an easy quick fuel source, like sugar.

Instead, it is looking for the long burning, slow, steady fuel source that is found in stored fat.

The difference is thinking about a big wood log burning steadily in your fireplace, providing consistent warmth.

Compared to a trash can fire that you have to keep throwing stuff into to get short bursts of warmth.

This is the difference intentional deep belly breathing gives to our bodies.

Deep belly breathing burns fat for fuel.

Yes, part of fat loss is calories in and calories out, but that is not all it is.

The overall health of our body predicates how readily we are able to shed fat.

And our body cannot be healthy if it is constantly short of breath.

Not only do we react with fight or flight mode, cortisol and adrenaline, but our body will hoard the fat on our body as a survival mechanism.

Does this blow your mind as much as it did mine?

I became very sensitive to my breath and started to notice how much I hold my breath without thinking about it.

And I was even more shocked to realize that even when I tried to do belly breaths it took a lot of practice.

It did not come naturally to me.

For years, I have been conditioned to keep my belly sucked in.

It felt unnatural, and honestly a little scary, to completely let my belly go!

It made me wonder how many women are walking around with their tummy’s sucked in just to look skinny, unknowingly preventing their ability to burn fat?

It is important that we understand our body's love language is breath.

Because whether we understand it or not, we are speaking back.

It is just a matter of if we are sending the right message or not.

So, breathe, Sis.

Just breathe….

We are in the month of July and our 4th Pillar of Wellness - Breath

Breath is the first of 3 Pillars in the realm of the Spirit.

Join us for a new Pillar of Wellness every month.