What Percentage of My Problems Are Solved By Eating When I'm Hungry?

"What Percentage of My Problems Are Solved By Eating When I'm Hungry?"
That sounds like a dangerous question for those who have had trouble with maintaining their bodies sweet spot. I'm not someone who's been plagued by the opposite side of the spectrum of weight management. I've erred on the thin side, due to my nature of being sacrificial and my tendency towards starvation, but never fat. There were times I've felt fat, but by most people's standards, have always been quite ripped. My physique I attribute to my insistence on physicality - always moving - always daring - always climbing - but more so to my mindset.
There was a study done on housekeepers. Scientists measured several factors of these women's bodies to gain an accurate picture of their muscle index, their BMI, their weight, and formed two groups, a control and a test. The control was told that their housework of which they did would build muscle, that the very basic and simple actions they were doing on a regular basis were actually keeping them fit, exercising and building muscles, making them stronger. The test was given no mental framing. When the women were studied some measurable time later, they discovered that the control group reported a greater sense of overall well being and also, a greater muscle index. The women who were told that what they were doing on a day to day basis would benefit them actually improved their body's physique. Whereas the test group of whom had no framing whatsoever did not.
How powerful. So you mean to tell me that the me today can do exactly what the me did yesterday in the exact same way and yet with a simple positive re-framing can reap benefits of someone who was doing something intentionally, or rather, with a beneficial outcome in mind?
Many who grew up in the church I'm sure are familiar with the phrase, "Ask and you shall receive." So, by that logic, were these ladies just simply asking by feeling positive about what they were doing and expecting greater vitality by allowing thoughts of themselves as stronger, healthier and with more vitality to saturate their minds, to receive their results?
Great, so the answer to life's problems is simply to keep the focus on what is wanted vs what is unwanted. Well that sounds very pollyanna. Just focus on the positive. What about all these crap thoughts that come into my mind when I'm pissed off or sinking to the bottom of the hole of my anxiety?
Well, one thing I've learned is that when you're angry, if you scream really loudly, it really doesn't make it better. In fact, catharsis is a myth. While it's true that an aspect of myself may need to be addressed with my careful thought or attention in order to make a change, hopping onto the train of an emotion and reacting to whatever i feel prompted to express though and with this emotion just intensifies and produces more attachment to that response. The brain is an automatic processor - it is always watching, listening, recording my thoughts, actions and reactions. If I believe I am too angry, impatient and hostile of a person and I want to cultivate the graceful dispositions of patience, understanding and calm, then every time my dog jumps on me and I slap her out of re-activity, I'm reinforcing the neural networks in my brain that follow that path.
And then.... the pathways afterwards.
Already feeling overwhelmed > dog does not listen > dog enthusiastically engages with me > slap dog > guilt > depression
okay, so, that's what my brain has become trained to produce chemically in my body. We can fly across the US in mere minutes, operate heavy machinery at speeds greater than any animal can run, dive to the depths of the ocean and challenge mother nature herself, but we are practically clueless as a species about how our emotions work. Maybe instead of trying to colonize Mars we may be better benefited to take a look at the inner workings of our minds and bodies.
Here's how the brain works: When we are small, up to around age 7, we absorb all information around us. This includes behavioral patterns, i.e., we learn how to respond to situations. Rather, we are conditioning our bodies to produce chemical responses which then in turn produce emotions which then in turn cause us to act and feel a specific way. We are taught how to feel by exposure. We are socialized to hate, fear and distance aspects of ourselves and other aspects of ourselves are celebrated. After around 7 or 8, our capacity to process information is developed - we can then think on what we know.
So our brain develops neural networking which connects activities to feelings. And this happens instantaneously. Dog jumps > threat is perceived > Hit > Hitting is Wrong > Guilt > I am guilt ridden from my own actions and I should have known better/acted better > Depression/I am not good enough.
Your dog jumping on you is just one of hundreds of examples of how your brain is hijacking your experience. When we are small and first come into the world, we are naturally tuned into that which makes us happy, that which is fun! That which produces chemicals in our brains to excite us, make us happy, make us laugh. The human experience is one of perceiving, sensing, allowing. Because there is just so much to experience in any given moment, the brain places certain functioning on automatic.
I don't have to think about how to ride a bicycle any more, no do I need to think about where and how the letters of the alphabet are positioned on my keyboard, and I don't really need to think about how to spell or how to write as I am typing. These actions are Learned actions. My brain has moved them into my subconscious so when I show up at my computer, I open it up and start typing and can produce coherency to share with someone.
This is great! Thanks brain! But this is also not great! Because my loving and well intended social circle of which as a young, impressionable mind I observed from, I also have "learned" how to get really angry at people who I feel are not listening (instead of practice the art of giving someone space to express something regardless of my opinion of what they're saying) how to insist that I am always right and how to rigorously defend my position by demeaning the other person (instead of truly making an impact by faith in where I stand,) how to say yes to someone when the answer is authentically a screaming no, and so on, and so on, and to make matters more intense, yes, this is also including all the followup emotions that come with those neural pathways.
So.... WTH to do?
Well, eating a good breakfast when I wake up is never a bad idea, unless I am intentionally fasting for a specific reason like moving though an inflammation somewhere in the body or returning to a weight I've agreed is optimal. An hour after I wake up to eat is too long. Some sort of high protein food should be eating within the first 15-20 minutes of waking, or else the effects of hunger make me increasingly hostile and anxious.
It's not always easy to focus on myself and the proper care. But this too is a learned attitude. So today, it was one hard boiled egg, because that's what I could agree upon for my desires. Will fix a proper breakfast when I'm done. I've learned to skip out on putting the focus on my body and my needs and to care take those around me and so I am learning to return the focus to where it was when I first started my journey here on earth - within. Let's start with breakfast!