May 21, 2012 | 3:25 pm

What Your Body REALLY Wants!

Posted by Sima Cohen

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Being overweight is not a problem. It is a decision. One good or bad decision can have a dramatic ripple effect on the rest of your life. Anything that has the power to change our mental discipline can, and will, eventually have an effect on the decisions we make. Losing a loved one, a painful break-up, divorce, being laid off, having children, infidelity, big lifestyle changes, or trauma can derail a person’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and can cause him or her to make decisions that have powerful consequences.

A decision leads to action, which leads to the reality you experience, good or bad, fat or skinny. If your reality is flower-print mumus, type 2 diabetes, and a love affair with the pizza delivery guy, chances are, it’s time to make a different decision.

Winston Churchill said, “The Americans will always do the right thing… after they’ve exhausted all the alternatives.” Well… haven’t you? You’ve tried Atkins, gone on the latest celebrity detox, counted calories and carbs and “points”, or gone the gym for four hours a day, every day for six months. That’s dedication! But none of it worked. Why not? The list is long, if you’ve got time. It costs a lot of money, takes a lot of time and energy, it’s boring and unhealthy, you’ll feel incredibly deprived, it feels like a second job, it’s just not sustainable, and all you’ve ever lost is your sanity.

Common sense would support the idea that if you eat less food, you’ll lose more weight, or that if you exercise more you will burn more calories and lose more fat. But our bodies don’t work this way, and neither do our brains. At least not in the long term. Our brains are driven by pain and pleasure. We want to avoid pain, and we want to experience pleasure, and we seek it out automatically and subconsciously.

When we don’t get adequate protein, dopamine levels drop significantly and we experience a mental fog. Many people believe that if they severely reduce their carbohydrate intake or remove them altogether, their body fat will be broken down when they exercise. Instead they are lowering their capacity to burn fat, and ultimately destroying their metabolism. The body will break down muscle to try and form carbohydrates, which raises stress hormone levels and causes carb cravings.

My advice to you is to make a new decision and end the struggle by feeding your body what it wants: a combination of lean protein, healthy fat, and complex high-fiber carbohydrates. For more tips, information, and weight loss products visit www.ExpressHomeTrainer.com.