How to live a happier, more meaningful life by finding more joy and reducing stress. 

In this session, we will explore different ways we can live a happier, more meaningful life by finding joy and reducing stress. We will spend time discussing the four main pathways connecting the mind and body and their relation to stress. We will also explain the role of oxytocin in the anti-stress and satiety system, as well as the impact of social connection in stress reduction. Other topics discussed include: lifestyle changes that reduce mortality rate; the effects of loneliness on our physiology; how to increase empathy and kindness; and, how to find gratitude, optimism and joy. In addition, we will go over techniques to improve marriages and other relationships, as well as discuss strategies for releasing old habits and forming new lifestyle practices. We will also review the latest nutritional insights from Professor Tim Spector's new book, Food For Life. 

People often oversimplify appetite, leading to unhelpful, naïve statements like telling others to “Just Eat Less”. In this interactive talk, we will gain an understanding of the complexity of what makes us eat the way we do. We will learn to differentiate between mental hunger and body hunger and identify which appetite-promoting factors we can manage. Once we understand both the internal and external factors that influence our current eating behaviours, we will build an understanding of our own appetite map and discuss actionable ways to improve our relationship with food, our appetite, and ourselves.
 

About the speaker:

Diana Bedoya is obsessed with appetite. She struggled most of her life to understand why, unlike others, she had such a difficult time managing her food intake. A lightbulb went off while teaching appetite regulation to her senior obesity and weight management course at Simon Fraser University. It finally made sense: from the genetic level to the environmental one, there are multiple influences on appetite that can vary greatly between people – and building a better relationship with food requires both an individualized approach and a lot of self-compassion. She has taken this paradigm beyond her classes and to her YouTube channel where she uses science-based, heart-centered approaches to help people build a better relationship with food and their bodies - so they can enjoy their loves more!

It may sound cliché, but time is one of the most precious currencies we have at our disposal. In this session, we will reflect on this important resource and how we're investing it, discuss the importance of value-driven time management, and explore effective strategies to better streamline our time, so we can get a better return on our investment. 

Self-monitoring is an important aspect of long-term weight management and can help you stay on top of your health goals. More specifically, keeping a food journal can help you more effectively meal plan, increase your calorie awareness, ensure you are getting adequate nutrition, and better navigate weight loss plateaus as well as weight maintenance. In this session we will look at different strategies to self-monitor your food intake through food journaling, explore some apps that you can use to accomplish this, and discuss how to better utilize this tool as valuable feedback that can help you optimize your progress with your nutrition and weight management.