Weight Reduction

Unfortunately, if you are experiencing an inordinate amount of stress in your life, it could be affecting more than just your disposition.  It is probably having a negative impact on your waistline.  It is problematic for a dieter that our hormones are influenced by our emotions.  Even more so that our hormones influence our emotions and as our emotions then affect our eating habits, it becomes a vicious cycle. Stress that is long term can increase our fat storage in the abdominal area through the hormone cortisol.

Cortisol is actually a very useful hormone when it is secreted properly.  It helps us to metabolize glucose properly, regulates our blood pressure, releases insulin for the maintenance of our blood sugar, and helps with the function of our immune system and our inflammatory response.

The problem is when we secret levels of cortisol into our bloodstream that are more prolonged and higher than normal.  This has been shown to have a negative effect on our health and chronic stress is a factor.  Some of those effects are a decrease in the density of our bones, a decrease in our muscle tissue, our thyroid function becomes suppressed, our cognitive performance is impaired, our blood pressure rises, our blood sugar becomes imbalanced, and our inflammatory and immunity responses are lowered within our bodies.  And of course, we experience an increase in abdominal fat, which is associated with more health problems than any other type of body fat.  Some of these health problems include an increased risk for things such as a heart attack and stroke.  We also develop higher levels of LDL or bad cholesterol and lower levels of HDL or good cholesterol.

In order to keep our cortisol levels under control and healthy, we need to learn how to relax our body and practice stress management.  Tomorrow we will discuss ways to relax and put ourselves first.  After all, learning to take care of yourself will help you to feel better and live longer.  Aren’t you worth it?  I think you are.

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