Let’s be real. Being bloated SUCKS and especially when you are a busy woman jetting from one thing to the next…the last thing you want to be on your mind is your digestive symptoms. But in those moments, it may feel like its the only thing on your mind.
There are many tools and tips for beating bloat and finding relief from your digestive symptoms, but one secret weapon that is often missed is your mindset.
Now before you scroll on hear me out. There is actually science to support this. How many times have you sat down for a meal and thought “this is going to make me so bloated” and after the meal you feel “so bloated” and your thoughts become your new reality.
Our life is always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts and although you cannot think your way out of being bloated completely, you can control your thoughts about your symptoms, food and your situation. Your mindset matters which is why we focus so heavily on this in the program. Stressful thoughts create stress in your gut which actually physically impacts digestion. Stress lowers your stomach acid, reduces your saliva, slows your gut motility and decrease your digestive enzyme secretions.
So next time you are in a situation where you are stressed about your bloating here are 3 mindset tips to help you manage your bloat and improve your symptoms.
Think about what you CAN control versus what you CAN’T:
You are at a dinner party or a restaurant and all of a sudden you are faced with food you don’t normally eat and immediately your thought is “this is going to make me bloated”. Instead try “I cannot control what I am eating, but I can control HOW I am eating”. You can focus on taking deep breaths before eating, chewing your food to applesauce consistency, and eating slowly. Suddenly you realize that although there are things out of your control there actually is A LOT in your control
Instead of viewing food as a symptom shift your perspective:
If you are bloating regardless of what you eat, likely it’s not a food issue anymore. Once you fix the processing issue in your gut, the food sensitivities disappear and the world of food becomes more free. In the meantime think about how the food is actually fueleing your body (ex: This meal contains protein, fat, fiber and color which is going to keep my blood sugar stable, provide me with sustained energy, fuel my gut bacteria and help me to remain satisfied)
Instead of thinking about what didn’t work, use it as a lesson
Its easy to get into the mindset of “I’ve tried everything” or “Nothing will work for me”. But what if in fact everything you have tried was just more information about what is actually going to work. Or what if it was your belief about what you were trying that actually impacted the outcome. Remember the part about your life moving in the direction of your strongest thoughts? If you enter work with a provider convinced that it “won’t work” how does that impact the actions you take to actually show up for yourself? You’ve never reached the point where you have exhausted all of your options or are out of things to try. Sometimes it just requires you to shift your mindset, your environment and your consistency.
Your mind is powerful, and working on your mindset as a part of your gut health journey will only create more wisdom, freedom and opportunity along the way.
