Humans are wired to stick with familiarity and comfort and to move away from anything that is uncomfortable and new. Back in our caveman days we HAD to be this way in order to survive. To stick with our tribe and do what everyone else did ensured our basic survival like food, shelter and importantly, belonging. Not belonging meant we were kicked out in to the wilderness and that usually meant being eaten by something much bigger than us!

Self-sabotage / fear / procrastination all stem from fear and that’s not your fault – its how we are all biologically wired. The two parts of our brain that contribute to our protection are the Left pre-frontal cortex (or the ‘smart’) brain and the Limbic system (the ’emotional’) brain. Your smart brain is responsible for performing smart tasks like logical thinking, problem solving, decision making and planning. It filters our actions to ensure they are socially appropriate. Your emotional brain is the ‘fear’ part of our brain, the brain that serves to protect us by letting the flight/fight/freeze response kick in. Our emotional brain is much larger than our smart brain, which is fully wired up by the time we are a year old but our emotional brain takes much longer to reach maturity. Usually in females at around 24 years of age and males about 28 years. The larger brain is the dominant factor which is why when we are reactive, we are responding emotionally, rather than logically. When it comes to decision making, emotion will win over logic every time. How many times have you had a really rough day and you’re tired, a bit grumpy? You’ve been going regularly to the gym and ‘eating clean’ and then before you know it, a bar of chocolate has manifested itself in your shopping trolley alongside the spinach and broccoli you’re buying for that night’s healthy dinner? It’s your emotional brain ruling the roost and you’ve done that because you’re seeking comfort and look, there is no harm in that – we’ve all done it and that one time isn’t exactly a major disaster.

BUT what if you are putting your health at risk if you do this frequently? What if you have been told you are in real danger of being diabetic if you don’t lost weight and take this seriously….the self-sabotage of these actions will bring you down leaving you feeling angry with yourself and wondering why you would bother in the first place.

Humans are wired to stick with familiarity and comfort and to move away from anything that is uncomfortable and new. Back in our caveman days we HAD to be this way in order to survive. To stick with our tribe and do what everyone else did ensured our basic survival like food, shelter and importantly, belonging. Not belonging meant we were kicked out in to the wilderness and that usually meant being eaten by something much bigger than us!

Self-sabotage / fear / procrastination all stem from fear and that’s not your fault – its how we are all biologically wired. The two parts of our brain that contribute to our protection are the Left pre-frontal cortex (or the ‘smart’) brain and the Limbic system (the ’emotional’) brain. Your smart brain is responsible for performing smart tasks like logical thinking, problem solving, decision making and planning. It filters our actions to ensure they are socially appropriate. Your emotional brain is the ‘fear’ part of our brain, the brain that serves to protect us by letting the flight/fight/freeze response kick in. Our emotional brain is much larger than our smart brain, which is fully wired up by the time we are a year old but our emotional brain takes much longer to reach maturity. Usually in females at around 24 years of age and males about 28 years. The larger brain is the dominant factor which is why when we are reactive, we are responding emotionally, rather than logically. When it comes to decision making, emotion will win over logic every time. How many times have you had a really rough day and you’re tired, a bit grumpy? You’ve been going regularly to the gym and ‘eating clean’ and then before you know it, a bar of chocolate has manifested itself in your shopping trolley alongside the spinach and broccoli you’re buying for that night’s healthy dinner? It’s your emotional brain ruling the roost and you’ve done that because you’re seeking comfort and look, there is no harm in that – we’ve all done it and that one time isn’t exactly a major disaster.

BUT what if you are putting your health at risk if you do this frequently? What if you have been told you are in real danger of being diabetic if you don’t lost weight and take this seriously….the self-sabotage of these actions will bring you down leaving you feeling angry with yourself and wondering why you would bother in the first place.