Do you have stress in your life? Stupid question, right? Well, do you know that stress plays a MAJOR role on weight? Now you like stress even more, I'm sure. It's true, the more worldy woes you have the more it can weigh on you. When we are stressed, our bodies release hormones, one of these hormones includes adrenalin, which gives us instant energy, along with CORTISOL.
Cortisol is a stress hormone. It is released when we are under any form of stress, physical, emotional, or mental. In today's world our stress levels are higher than even. Most households need to have both parents working, and that is IF there are two parents in the same household. Stress from kids, work, and most common, finances, it's enough to keep the release of cortisol constant in us. But we are not supposed to LIVE LIKE THIS! For our ancestors, cortisol would set in when they felt an immediate threat or danger, like an animal chasing them, or if their lives were in immediate danger, this is also sometimes referred to as "fight or flight". When this happens cortisol is released, which speeds up our heart rate, and slows our digestion down in order to give our body the burst of energy and strength it needs to survive. But this is only supposed to happen when we are under serious threat or danger. But now cortisol is released in our bodies when we are in traffic, or during typical stressful work days.
For so many of us we are in a constant state of fight or flight, but it isn't supposed to be like this!
Chronic stress and cortisol is a major contributor to your weight gain. It affects your metabolism, your blood sugar levels, cravings, and emotional eating. It also plays a major role in where you store fat, and fat caused from stress likes to grow your waistline.
Too much stress causes your metabolism to slow down. So, even if you're eating the same amount of food or healthy food you always do, but you are super stressed, too much cortisol will slow your metabolism way down.
Too much stress can affect your blood sugar levels, causing you to feel low on energy and fell moody.
Stress affect your cravings and emotional eating, but you know this already. You know, you have an exhausting, or emotional day, and you turn to the pantry for cookies, or chips, or both, or the ice cream in the freezer. What you don't turn to in times of stress is broccoli. You crave unhealthy, processed foods, which are not good for you.
And the most frustrating one is how stress affects WHERE your body stores fat ~ in your abdominal area, your gut and love handles!
So next time you are feeling stressed, which may be any minute now, take 3 deep breaths, in and out, in and out, in and out, and ask yourself, "Is this worth carrying weight around my belly?"
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kate_Cameron
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