How much better do you feel after a good belly laugh?

One that catches your breath and you have a hard time breathing.  Which just makes everyone else laugh harder, to the point that it becomes contagious.  Tables across the room in the restaurant can’t help but turn around and wonder what’s up.  And in the “When Harry Met Sally” fashion, they pronounce… “I’ll have what she’s having.”

It’s sad that we, as adults, sometimes forget to play, and subsequently, forget to laugh.  Yet, it’s so important that Martha Beck dedicated menu item #8 in The Joy Diet to a good guffaw.  Not a single giggle, though.  Thirty or more a day.

That good fun energy does more than just make you smile.  There’s all kinds of scientific evidence that it will simply make you healthier.  Laughter will stimulate the brain to release feel good hormones that will help your mind and body function more efficiently.

An abundance of laughter can also help you lose weight.

When you ask for the Super Size or eat anything made by Little Debbie, it’s usually not due to physical hunger, but because you’re on a quest to feel better.  Next time you’re looking for something to emotionally feed you, try consuming laughter instead.

Two of those feel good hormones are dopamine and endorphins.  Endorphins are capable of a pain relieving narcotic effect and dopamine raises your happiness levels.  The more you replace emotional food inhalation with laughter, the more these hormones will help reinforce in your brain that laughter is an excellent substitute for Cinnamon Buns ice cream.

Better yet… laughter doesn’t come with that nasty sugar crash and mental backlash that a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints will induce.

So…

How do you come up with thirty things to laugh at a day?
Especially when Thanksgiving is right around the corner and many of us get to endure family drama that puts the fun back into dysfunctional.

First – Change your mind. Look at the pieces of the dysfunction or the things that cause you stress.  Which pieces are actually funny when you detach the facts from the embellished stories?  Can you laugh at how predictably each member in the drama assumes his or her role?

Second – Stop taking yourself so seriously. This doesn’t mean that you love yourself less.  Laughing at yourself actually allows you release the perfection hook and love yourself more.

Third – Surround yourself with laugh outlets. You know what makes you chuckle.  Seek it out.  Ellen DeGeneres makes a living making people laugh every afternoon.  Here’s one clip that I love because it pokes fun at the crazy things we buy in an attempt to beat ourselves thin.

If this is your type of funny, meet me back here often.  Join the “Lite Thoughts for a Lite Life” group on Facebook for other links.  When I find something that makes me laugh, I’ll pass it along.  If you find something, e-mail it to me and I’ll share.  (jennifer (at) litethoughts (dot) com)

Laughing sounds so much more fun than dieting, doesn’t it?

ps – Non-family friendly stuff will still help my daily laugh ration, but it might not get published.

pps – This is the 9th installment in the “Diet for Your Soul” blog series.  I was ready for some title variety.