10 Tips for Stress Reduction and Weight Loss Management
Is the stress in your life beginning to run out of control? Has prolonged stress affected your body weight and physical/mental health? If so, you can start making positive changes today.
We live in a culture surrounded by stressful situations, many of them brought on by us. Technology, which is supposed to make life easier, many times makes life more stressful.
Need examples? Don't check your cell phone for 1 hour. Can you do it? Or, are you checking that device every 5 minutes? What about your email? Do you check it every 2 minutes? These are just 2 examples of how life is on full tilt, seemingly non-stop. Unless you manage it.
According to Life Extension Magazine, 80% of Americans report experiencing intense, chronic stress over personal finances and the economy. What about the rest of the world? The magazine reports: The World Health Organization estimates that stress-related disorders affect nearly 450 million people worldwide.
Limit prolonged stress in your life. A certain amount of stress is good for us to live efficiently. Too much stress…well, you know the answer.
In a Mayo Clinic article, “Stress Basics,” it states:
“When your brain perceives a threat, it signals your body to release a burst of hormones to fuel your capacity for a response. This has been labeled the "fight-or-flight" response.
Once the threat is gone, your body is meant to return to a normal relaxed state. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life means that your alarm system rarely shuts off. Without stress management, all too often your body is always on high alert. Over time, high levels of stress lead to serious health problems.”
Here are my 10 Tips for Stress Reduction and Weight Loss Management:
Note: The hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, are secreted in response to a stressful situation. Stressful situations that go on for months or years signals to your body that the normal state includes excessive amounts of adrenaline and cortisol.
As it relates to metabolism, adrenaline makes your fat cells more efficient at turning fat into energy and speeds up metabolism. On the other hand, cortisol increases the amount of glucose in your blood and creates more energy. If you are consistently inactive, this excess adrenaline and cortisol builds up. Unused excess energy will be stored as body fat.
1. Regular exercise helps your body work better, stay healthier and relieves the stress of the busy day. And, exercise is definitely part of any weight loss management plan.
Life continally has stressful situations and life sometimes brings unavoidable prolonged stress. Regular exercise helps me to deal with stress and brings my body back to the true normal state (or as close as possible).
2. Laugh often and don’t take yourself too seriously. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter:
Laughing consistently, day after day, greatly improves your overall health and well being.
3. Get deep sleep each night and learn to relax by using tools such as music, deep breathing, walking, massage therapy, meditation, etc.
Get 7-8 hours of deep sleep each night so your body's metabolism will work properly and maximize growth hormone release (youth hormone). Researchers have found that the less sleep the test subjects got, the higher their body mass index. The shorter sleep time altered the subjects hormone levels, energy decreased and appetite increased.
4. Have a grateful attitude. Find things and situations to be thankful for every day. This will help keep your thoughts away from bitterness, anger and resentment.
5. Focus on positives and not negatives. You can always choose to be optimistic in any situation.
6. Disassociate yourself from negative energy vampires in your life. You become like the people the hang with.
Here are some eating tips to improve your health, manage body weight and lessen daily stress:
7. You should eat mainly whole, natural foods. These foods have one ingredient, the food itself. Fruits, veggies, nuts, lean meats and salad greens are examples. These foods will keep you healthier and cause your body and metabolism to work properly.
Get a healthy, managed meal plan and comply with it at least 90% of the time.
If you are trying to burn fat and lose weight, nutrition is critical.
I don’t ever encourage any diet that significantly omits one of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins). Your body’s metabolism needs all 3 macronutrients to operate properly. So, diets that are very low in carbohydrates or fats will not help your body in the long-term.
Also, what you eat plays an important role in brain function.
8. Drink only water and unsweetened drinks like tea for beverages. Not drinking sugary drinks will help you reduce dangerous belly fat. And one example: green tea has many health-related properties. The L-theanine (a non-protein amino acid) in green tea helps you to relax.
9. Stress-relieving foods include:
a. Foods high in Vitamin C help reduce cortisol, a stress hormone in your body. Eat chili peppers, oranges, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, strawberries, papaya, tomatoes and cantaloupe.
b. Eat plenty of foods high in Omega-3 fats. These healthy-fat foods combat stress and have many health related benefits. A study published in Diabetes and Metabolism found that Omega-3 fats reduce cortisol and adrenaline. An Ohio State University study showed Omega-3 fats decreased anxiety by 20 percent.
Flaxseed, krill oil, wild salmon, chia seeds, sardines, grass-fed beef, halibut, virgin olive oil, walnuts and almonds are high in Omega-3 fats.
c. Eat more foods high in potassium to help relieve stress-related hypertension. Spinach, lima beans, kidney beans, white beans, kale, collards, Greek yogurt, wild salmon, bananas and mushrooms fit the bill.
d. Foods which trigger serotonin release helps reduce your stress levels because it promotes feelings of well-being. Turkey, eggs, fish, beans, nuts, cottage cheese, hummus and oats are great sources to trigger serotonin release ( from the amino acid tryptophan).
e. Eat more broccoli. It has the vitamin, folic acid which reduces stress and anxiety.
10. Drink alcohol in moderation. When you take a drink of alcohol, your body converts a small amount of it into fat and the rest is converted (by the liver) into a substance called acetate.
This acetate is then quickly released into the bloodstream and used as the body's main source of energy. So, your body is using the acetate as energy instead of the stored fat in your body. The more you drink, the more fat your body will store!
Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that fat metabolism can be reduced by as much as 73% after only two drinks of vodka and lemonade in a one hour time period. You can see how excess alcohol consumption can contribute to the dreaded "beer belly." So, this is just one more reason to drink alcohol in moderation.
Alcohol consumption can increase your appetite. Researchers from Denmark found that a group of men ate more when they were served beer or wine and they ate less when served a soft drink. Just think of all the high-calorie meals served with alcohol at a place like a sports bar.
One more thing: too much alcohol consumption can decrease your testosterone production. Decreased testosterone levels has a negative effect on muscle building.
Reduce your stress levels and body weight with a healthy lifestyle!
Start Your 5-Star Body Transformation Plan Today for Free!
We live in a culture surrounded by stressful situations, many of them brought on by us. Technology, which is supposed to make life easier, many times makes life more stressful.
Need examples? Don't check your cell phone for 1 hour. Can you do it? Or, are you checking that device every 5 minutes? What about your email? Do you check it every 2 minutes? These are just 2 examples of how life is on full tilt, seemingly non-stop. Unless you manage it.
According to Life Extension Magazine, 80% of Americans report experiencing intense, chronic stress over personal finances and the economy. What about the rest of the world? The magazine reports: The World Health Organization estimates that stress-related disorders affect nearly 450 million people worldwide.
Limit prolonged stress in your life. A certain amount of stress is good for us to live efficiently. Too much stress…well, you know the answer.
In a Mayo Clinic article, “Stress Basics,” it states:
“When your brain perceives a threat, it signals your body to release a burst of hormones to fuel your capacity for a response. This has been labeled the "fight-or-flight" response.
Once the threat is gone, your body is meant to return to a normal relaxed state. Unfortunately, the nonstop stress of modern life means that your alarm system rarely shuts off. Without stress management, all too often your body is always on high alert. Over time, high levels of stress lead to serious health problems.”
Here are my 10 Tips for Stress Reduction and Weight Loss Management:
Note: The hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, are secreted in response to a stressful situation. Stressful situations that go on for months or years signals to your body that the normal state includes excessive amounts of adrenaline and cortisol.
As it relates to metabolism, adrenaline makes your fat cells more efficient at turning fat into energy and speeds up metabolism. On the other hand, cortisol increases the amount of glucose in your blood and creates more energy. If you are consistently inactive, this excess adrenaline and cortisol builds up. Unused excess energy will be stored as body fat.
Life continally has stressful situations and life sometimes brings unavoidable prolonged stress. Regular exercise helps me to deal with stress and brings my body back to the true normal state (or as close as possible).
2. Laugh often and don’t take yourself too seriously. According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter:
- soothes tension
- relieves your stress response
- stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles
- increases endorphins in your brain and
- improves your intake of oxygen-rich air
Laughing consistently, day after day, greatly improves your overall health and well being.
3. Get deep sleep each night and learn to relax by using tools such as music, deep breathing, walking, massage therapy, meditation, etc.
Get 7-8 hours of deep sleep each night so your body's metabolism will work properly and maximize growth hormone release (youth hormone). Researchers have found that the less sleep the test subjects got, the higher their body mass index. The shorter sleep time altered the subjects hormone levels, energy decreased and appetite increased.
4. Have a grateful attitude. Find things and situations to be thankful for every day. This will help keep your thoughts away from bitterness, anger and resentment.
5. Focus on positives and not negatives. You can always choose to be optimistic in any situation.
6. Disassociate yourself from negative energy vampires in your life. You become like the people the hang with.
Here are some eating tips to improve your health, manage body weight and lessen daily stress:
7. You should eat mainly whole, natural foods. These foods have one ingredient, the food itself. Fruits, veggies, nuts, lean meats and salad greens are examples. These foods will keep you healthier and cause your body and metabolism to work properly.
Get a healthy, managed meal plan and comply with it at least 90% of the time.
If you are trying to burn fat and lose weight, nutrition is critical.
I don’t ever encourage any diet that significantly omits one of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins). Your body’s metabolism needs all 3 macronutrients to operate properly. So, diets that are very low in carbohydrates or fats will not help your body in the long-term.
Also, what you eat plays an important role in brain function.
8. Drink only water and unsweetened drinks like tea for beverages. Not drinking sugary drinks will help you reduce dangerous belly fat. And one example: green tea has many health-related properties. The L-theanine (a non-protein amino acid) in green tea helps you to relax.
9. Stress-relieving foods include:
a. Foods high in Vitamin C help reduce cortisol, a stress hormone in your body. Eat chili peppers, oranges, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, strawberries, papaya, tomatoes and cantaloupe.
b. Eat plenty of foods high in Omega-3 fats. These healthy-fat foods combat stress and have many health related benefits. A study published in Diabetes and Metabolism found that Omega-3 fats reduce cortisol and adrenaline. An Ohio State University study showed Omega-3 fats decreased anxiety by 20 percent.
Flaxseed, krill oil, wild salmon, chia seeds, sardines, grass-fed beef, halibut, virgin olive oil, walnuts and almonds are high in Omega-3 fats.
c. Eat more foods high in potassium to help relieve stress-related hypertension. Spinach, lima beans, kidney beans, white beans, kale, collards, Greek yogurt, wild salmon, bananas and mushrooms fit the bill.
d. Foods which trigger serotonin release helps reduce your stress levels because it promotes feelings of well-being. Turkey, eggs, fish, beans, nuts, cottage cheese, hummus and oats are great sources to trigger serotonin release ( from the amino acid tryptophan).
e. Eat more broccoli. It has the vitamin, folic acid which reduces stress and anxiety.
10. Drink alcohol in moderation. When you take a drink of alcohol, your body converts a small amount of it into fat and the rest is converted (by the liver) into a substance called acetate.
This acetate is then quickly released into the bloodstream and used as the body's main source of energy. So, your body is using the acetate as energy instead of the stored fat in your body. The more you drink, the more fat your body will store!
Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that fat metabolism can be reduced by as much as 73% after only two drinks of vodka and lemonade in a one hour time period. You can see how excess alcohol consumption can contribute to the dreaded "beer belly." So, this is just one more reason to drink alcohol in moderation.
Alcohol consumption can increase your appetite. Researchers from Denmark found that a group of men ate more when they were served beer or wine and they ate less when served a soft drink. Just think of all the high-calorie meals served with alcohol at a place like a sports bar.
One more thing: too much alcohol consumption can decrease your testosterone production. Decreased testosterone levels has a negative effect on muscle building.
Reduce your stress levels and body weight with a healthy lifestyle!
Start Your 5-Star Body Transformation Plan Today for Free!
