Shed

Remorse can eat away at you after a while if you don’t confront the issues causing it.

When you live with regret, it steals your joy and keeps you from living in the present moment. We all have unpleasant past experiences and memories to contend with, but that doesn’t mean we should allow them to ruin the future. Life sometimes leads us into the valleys to teach us valuable lessons, so we can carry them to the mountaintops and build our character.

No matter how many negative experiences you’ve had, you can probably list many ways that you’ve grown from them. Of course, everyone needs time to heal from trauma or unfortunate circumstances. However, we can either grow bitter or take those lessons and become better than the people who hurt us. You might have regrets about being the cause of someone else’s pain as well, but remember that your past actions don’t define you as a person.

The beautiful thing about life is that we can always choose to experience a better reality based on our thoughts and actions in the present moment. If you want to let go of the past and leave the regret behind you, psychologists reveal a few ways to do precisely that.

Psychology reveals how to shed the burden of remorse:

First off, let’s talk about the dangers of rumination and remorse; specifically, the mental and physical health risks that can come from repeated negative thinking patterns. Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., the science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, says that negative emotions such as hostility or anxiety can become detrimental when a person considers those temporary emotions as a permanent part of their personality. Having a negative outlook or disposition can worsen your health, believe it or not.

Indeed, a 2014 study published by the journal Neurology found that highly cynical people had a higher risk of developing dementia than more open, trusting people. Even when accounting for other risk factors like age, sex, lifestyle habits such as smoking, and heart health, researchers still found this to be true. Living with regret and pessimism may also harm your heart.

A 2009 study published b the journal Circulation analyzed data from nearly 100,000 women. It found that heart disease occurred more often in cynical, negative people than in more optimistic individuals. The more pessimistic women additionally had a higher risk of death during the study period than those who looked at the world with rose-colored glasses. However, just because you live with a heavy burden of remorse or negativity now doesn’t mean you can’t change it. We always hold power to adjust our attitude or way of looking at things.

As you can see, carrying around a lot of baggage can have a dangerous influence on your health. If you want to lead a more carefree, healthy life, psychologists have a few tips for you.

How to let go of remorse

 A big part of moving on from the past and letting go of regret involves forgiveness. Below, we want to outline some of the critical steps outlined by Dr. Robert Enright, Ph.D., a leading researcher in the scientific study of forgiveness. Once you have forgiven yourself or others for wrongdoing, you can start the healing process and finally put down all the weight you’ve been carrying around.

1. Uncovering Phase

During this phase, you will become aware of the regret or pain you’ve been holding onto from past trauma or emotional wounds. You may feel anger or hatred toward yourself or others because of the pain inflicted on you during these traumatic events. This process will involve a lot of inner work, and you may experience many different intense emotions. However, once you acknowledge what you have remorse about, you can start to heal from it.

2. Decision Phase

Now you probably realize that focusing any more of your energy on the past won’t allow you to move on from the pain and trauma. So, it would be best if you forgave yourself and others to heal the wounds and let go of the regret. This does not mean you have to forgive anyone involved in wrongdoing just yet fully, but at least entertain the possibility of forgiveness or letting go of remorse. You will want to give up any thoughts or feelings of retaliation toward anyone who caused you suffering because this will hinder the healing process.

3. Work Phase

Now comes the actual inner work, which will help you transform your perspective and understanding of painful events. Many people have to go through this uncomfortable phase when dealing with childhood trauma to heal their scars. If you have had a lot of negative experiences in life, you might feel regret or remorse about the past because you think you missed out on good memories. Forgiveness can play a massive role in moving on from this trauma because you can put yourself in the shoes of those who inflicted pain on you.

Perhaps your parents tried their best but had their wounds they had to work through as well. When you go through the work phase, it allows you to open your eyes to the possibility that everyone deals with scars of their own, and that they may not have meant you any harm.

Opening your mind and heart to them and seeing things from their perspective marks a huge turning point in the process of letting go of remorse. This doesn’t mean you excuse their behavior, but rather, you can understand where it came from and why they hurt you.

This phase may also include reaching out to them in hopes of reconciling, although you don’t have to do this if you don’t feel comfortable. However, many people find that talking about past trauma with the injurers helps greatly in being able to leave the experiences behind them once and for all. You can also get a better idea of what was happening in their life at the time or how they were feeling, which may expand your compassion for them.

4. Outcome/Deepening Phase

In this phase, you probably feel a great sense of relief that you left all that baggage behind. Once you’ve processed the experiences and emotions involved, you feel lighter and better able to enjoy the present and future. Perhaps you can look back at the trauma you went through and turn the pain into lessons you learned. Sometimes, we face painful and hurtful events in life to become stronger and grow from the situations at hand. By letting go of remorse and forgiving yourself and others, you may also feel a broader love and care for humanity.

After healing from severe trauma, some people even find a new purpose in life. For example, women who left abusive relationships may feel a strong urge to work as a counselor or support worker for women who suffer from domestic violence. If you can look back on those unpleasant memories and see them as a blessing because they helped you gain a new perspective, you can start to heal from whatever you go through in life.

Other steps involved in shedding remorse:

• Employ positive thinking. While everyone needs to allow negative feelings to come to the surface when processing trauma, there comes a time when you have to make a decision. Either you allow those experiences to ruin your life and give you a negative outlook, or you can choose to take whatever you learned and spin it into something positive. A lot of the suffering we go through actually happens in our heads, not in reality. If you think about things in this way, it becomes much easier to shift your perspective and choose something different.
• Think about the possibilities. If you don’t like what’s happened to you, don’t worry. Your story doesn’t end here, and you have so much ahead of you in life. No matter what you’ve been through, you can create a beautiful ending based on the actions you choose today. Think about all the possibilities for your life as long as you follow your heart and try to remain positive.
• Remember that you’re human. You have regrets about something, and so does everyone else. Life can’t always happen the way we want it to, but don’t dwell on your mistakes. Learn from them, instead, and do better the next time around.

Final thoughts on shedding remorse so you can live a joyful life

Everyone deals with regret about something, but it doesn’t have to control your life. No matter what you’ve been holding onto, choose to let it go today. You’ll feel so much lighter and in better control of your emotions and thoughts if you leave the past behind you. Why dwell on negative experiences and ruin the beauty of this moment?

You can create any future you desire as long as you shed the burdens of the past and tap into the unlimited potential of the present.

CBD for Weight Loss: Can it Really Help You Shed Pounds?

CBD. The three-letter acronym for a market that made between $600 million and $2 billion in sales back in 2018.

What’s more, experts say its sales could reach a whopping $20 billion come 2024!

For starters, because cannabidiol comes with scientifically-proven health benefits. PubMed alone has over 20,000 studies with references to cannabis and cannabinoids. CBD is a cannabinoid that, unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), doesn’t make you high.

Then, there’s also CBD for weight loss. Recent studies have found that this cannabinoid may have the power to help users shed pounds.

That’s sure to make CBD consumption skyrocket even more!

The question is, how exactly can this natural substance aid in weight loss? Are there are any studies that prove these claims?

All these, you’ll uncover in this post, so keep reading to learn the truth about CBD and weight loss!

CBD for Weight Loss: How Can It Be Possible?

CBD may promote weight loss due to its effects on the body’s endocannabinoid (CB) receptors.

To understand these effects, let’s first talk about the endocannabinoid system (ECS).

The ECS is an “internal messaging center” present in all mammals. It regulates various biological and physiological processes, such as sleep and pain. It also has roles in the immune system, and yes, the appetite.

So, how does it work?

Endocannabinoids, which you can think of as signals, bind to the CB receptors. This triggers the receptors to send the signal to the ECS, prompting it to take action. This action the ECS needs to take depends on which receptor the cannabinoid attached to.

At the moment, there are two known CB receptors: CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are most dominant in the brain and the central nervous system. Most CB2 receptors are in the peripheral nervous system, particularly the immune cells.

Obesity, however, can result in the CB1 receptors spreading out, such as into the fatty tissues. It’s because of this that the activation of CB1 receptors appears to have a link to obesity.

In fact, one study found a link between overeating and the ECS’ signaling activity in the gut. The study involved placing a rodent model on a chronic high-fat and high-sugar diet.

The diet caused a spike in the levels of endocannabinoids in both the blood and the gut. The scientists also noted how the diet promoted even more consumption of fatty foods.

The researchers then blocked the endocannabinoids from reaching the receptors. Doing this led to a decrease in the animal’s overeating activities.

Where CBD Comes Into Play

Granted, CBD doesn’t have a direct effect on the cannabinoid receptors. It does, however, influence the endocannabinoids to either activate or restrict the receptors. It’s in this way that CBD may help prevent overeating, obesity, and weight loss.

Appetite Reduction

One way that CBD may help aid weight loss is through appetite reduction.

Now, you may have heard of cannabis (which is one of the main sources of CBD) causing increased appetite. Known as the “munchies”, this often occurs due to cannabis’ THC content. THC is the psychoactive compound that pot is so well-known for.

Don’t worry though, as CBD doesn’t ignite hunger. This is especially true in the case of hemp oil vs CBD oil sourced from cannabis. CBD hemp oil contains less than 0.3% of THC.

If THC directly stimulates the appetite, CBD may have an indirect “deterring” effect on it. It can do so by influencing CB1 receptor antagonists to block off CB1 receptors. CBD may “encourage” these antagonists to take action and deactivate the CB1 receptors.

Blocking these receptors may then result in curbing a person’s appetite. This may also help suppress overeating tendencies in some people.

Another rat study also found that exposing the animals to CBD curbed their appetite.

From White Fat Cells to “Healthier” Brown Fat Cells

Body fat can either be of the white or the brown kind. White fat is more abundant though, as it acts as a storage for and source of energy. Moreover, it insulates, cushions, and protects the organs.

This white fat, however, is also linked to various chronic illnesses. These include heart disease and diabetes. Too much white fat build-up in the body can raise a person’s risk for these health problems.

Whereas brown fat is the type that generates heat. It does so by burning the calories you get from your daily meals. That may explain why brown fat is more dominant in people within a healthy weight range.

As such, you’d want more brown fat than white fat in your body. The good news is, regular exercise can convert white fat into brown fat. Developing healthy sleeping habits can also aid in this conversion process.

And according to research, adding the use of CBD to these healthy habits can make it even more effective.

One study found that CBD caused white fat to “brown” up. This effect may then result in the burning of more calories in the body. You may burn even more calories than usual when you exercise.

The study also noted how CBD reduced protein expression in new fat cell creation. Protein expression is the process of synthesizing, modifying, and regulating proteins. Since CBD reduces this in new fat cells, then the cells may take a longer time to form in the first place.

It May Help Control Overeating in People with Psychological Conditions

Did you know that one of the advantages of CBD over antidepressants is that it can take effect on the same day? Whereas commercial antidepressants can take anywhere from two to four weeks.

A 2018 study found that one dose of CBD is all it took to eliminate depression symptoms in rats. The researchers also found that these effects of CBD lasted for seven days.

That alone already shows how promising CBD is. But what does that have to do with weight-related issues?

Keep in mind that anxiety and depression disorders often co-occur with eating disorders. It’s common for someone who has anxiety or depression to overeat. In fact, a study found that four in 10 people with an eating disorder developed an anxiety disorder first.

Since CBD may help ease symptoms of depression, then it may also help prevent overeating. The same goes true for people with anxiety, who’s coping mechanism may be to overeat.

A Friendly Reminder before Using CBD

If you’re going to try CBD for weight loss, be sure to check where it came from. There are differences between cannabis-derived CBD vs hemp oil. CBD that comes from cannabis may contain higher-than-trace levels of THC.

Whereas hemp seed oil comes from pressed hemp seeds. This oil doesn’t contain THC, but it also only contains little CBD. It does boast of high levels of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and antioxidants though.

You can also learn how to make CBD oil at home, so long as you live in one of the 10 states where recreational weed is legal. If your weight is a medical concern, then you may be able to get a medical marijuana card. Or, you can simply buy high-quality, lab-tested CBD oil or hemp oil.

CBD May Just Help You Achieve Your Weight Goals

There you have it, the ultimate guide on how CBD for weight loss works. And while it’s definitely not a miracle cure, it is too beneficial to pass up.

Not only may it help you shed pounds — it may also improve your sleep or even reduce anxiety or depression symptoms! Both of these, in turn, can be a key player to weight loss.

Ready for more life pro tips to get your health in check? Then be sure to keep following our site’s Health section!