How Stress Is Adding Inches To Your Waist

These days were grown accustomed to warning labels advising us to the health risks of substances like alcohol and cigarettes. Medical researchers speculate that another component of twenty-first century living also warrants a waning: stress. In recent years, an ever-growing number of studies have implied stress as a culprit in a range of medical problems. Mental stress, according to recent investigation, may even kill. In individuals with heart disease, severe mental stress, which increases oxygen demand by causing elevation in blood pressure and heart rate, can trigger a lack of blood flow to the heart and increase the risk of dying.
Stress triggers complex changes in the bodys endocrine, or hormone-secreting, system. Your muscles tense, your breathing quickens, and your brain becomes extra alert. And because theyre nonessential in a crisis, your digestive and immune system practically shuts down.

Cortisol, one of the stress hormones, speeds the conversion of proteins and fats into carbohydrates, the bodys basic furl, so that we have the energy to fight or flee from a threat. However, stress increases the amount of time requires to clear triglycerides, a type of fat linked to heart disease, from the bloodstream.
Cortisol, will send you searching desperately for ice cream or other high-calorie foods to replenish the energy your body believes it spent handling the stressful event. This system worked well for our ancestors, who expended lots of energy evading physical threats and needed extra calories to replace those they spent. But modern stressors don't usually involve charging across a savanna, so we end up taking in more calories than we burn.

This, cortisol can cause excessive central or abdominal fat, which heightens the risk of disease such a diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. Even slender, pre-menopausal women faced with increased stress and lacking good coping skills are more likely to accumulate excess weight around their waists, thereby increasing their rick of heart disease and other heath problems

In addition, chronic stress tells your body to keep churning out cortisol, causing you to continually reach for sugar- and fat-laden foods. And cortisol signals your body to store fat--particularly at your middle--so you have a reserve for the next panic-worthy situation. This cortisol cue can make you pack on the pounds even if you have a stellar diet. These fat cells settle deep inside your abdomen, increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Very prolonged or severe stress can damage the brains ability to remember and can actually cause brain cells, or neurons, to atrophy and die.

Hundreds of studies over the last 20 years have shows that stress contributes to approximately 80 percent of all major illnesses: Cardiovascular disease, cancer, endocrine and metabolic disease, skin rashes, ulcers, ulcerative colitis, emotional disorders, musculoskeletal disease, infectious ailments, premenstrual syndrome, uterine fibroid cysts, and breast cysts.

Stress also had effect on your Immune system. Powerful chemicals triggered by stress dampen or suppress the immune system the network of organs, tissues, and white blood cells that defend against disease. Impaired immunity makes the body more susceptible to many diseases, including infections (from the common cold to tuberculosis) and disorders of the immune system itself.

Research has shown that traumatic stress, such as losing a loved one though death or divorce can impair immunity for as long as a year.

Even minor hassles take a toll. Research by Lazarus has shown that the daily hassles a person experiences can be more harmful to our health than significant life changes. He believes that these daily events are damaging to our health because of how frequently they occur.

Moreover, Stress has negative effects on your digestive system as well. Do you ever get butterflies in your stomach before giving a speech in class or before a big game? To avoid problems, pay attention to how you eat on the run, gulping food, or overeating results in poorly chewed foods, an overworked stomach, and increased abdominal pressure.

Some simple strategies can help you avoid stress-related stomachaches. By drinking plenty of water, you replenish lost fluids ad prevent dehydration. Fiber-rich foods counteract common stress-related problems, such as cramps and constipation. A regular intake of protein and complex carbohydrates is important, especially in times of stress. Try not to skip meals. If you do, you are more likely to feel fatigued and irritable.

Be wary of overeating under stress. Some people consume more because they eat too quickly. Others reach for snacks to calm their nerves or comfort themselves. Watch out for caffeine. Coffee, tea, and cola drinks can make your strained nerves jangle even more. Also avoid sugary snacks. They will send your blood sugar levels on a roller coaster ride up one minute, down the next.

Four Steps To Triple Your Energy

Tired? Tired of being tired? You aren't alone. There are few human qualities more highly sought than energy. It determines our ability to enjoy life, to attract mates, to finish projects, to protect our families, to shape our bodies effectively, and so much more.

While there are endless specific suggestions about herbs, exercises, meditations, supplements, rest patterns and so forth that I could mention, the most important and over-arching components are relatively simple, and available to anyone with the willingness to begin.

Basically, your energy level will be controlled by three physical and one psychological factor.

A) Fitness. There are a variety of different things that contribute to the quality called "fitness," but a few of them are specific to energy level.

1) Cardio-vascular fitness. A dead minimum of twenty minutes three times a week, just to stay in the game. If you want to create a swift, powerful change, try forty minutes four times a week. Walking is sufficiently intense, if you stay in the "aerobic zone" which can be described as a level of exertion where you can't sing, but you can still talk!

2) Body-mass index. Unneeded weight is like a sack of wet cement strapped to your back. It eats up energy like crazy. Regardless of what anyone says or implies, there is only one basic way to lose fat: to change the ratio of calories consumed to calories burned. In general, this requires discipline on BOTH ends. Fat loss is a two-headed snake. If you diet but don't exercise, your metabolism can slow down to a crawl, denying you success. And if you exercise but don't eat sensibly, well, a pound of fat has about 3500 calories. An hour of running only burns about 350 calories. Do the math.

3) Flexibility. Often overlooked in the search for energy, flexibility is a measurement of tension in the body. A stiff body is like a car with its brakes on. Think how much gas your car would waste!! That gas is your energy, when you carry unnecessary tension. Most stretching activities are less a matter of "lengthening" muscles, tendons, or ligaments than learning how to communicate with your body, to learn how to breathe into tension.

4) Strength. Contrary to popular belief, strength is more in the mind than the body. It is a matter of leverage, concentration, and controlled excitation even more than it is the "size" of the muscles involved. On a physiological level, it is a matter of the percentage of your muscle fibers you can recruit at a given moment. Weight training, or body-weight exercises like Hindu Pushups and Hindu Squats, are great ways to increase strength, which makes physical tasks much easier and less fatiguing.

B) Controlling food intake. A critical factor. Note that I didn't say "diet." At this point, we all pretty much understand that diets don't work-that any eating plan intended to have long term benefits must represent a change in lifestyle. A few pointers:

1) 3:2:1 ratio of fresh fruits and vegetables to complex carbohydrates to lean proteins. Note that this ratio works for people who are ACTIVE-they need the carbs. If you are trying to lose fat, or are relatively inactive, try reversing the ratio of protein and carbs.

2) Drink more water. The classic recommendation of eight glasses a day is debated, but the truth is that a lot of hunger and fatigue is actually dehydration in disguise. Note: this means water, not beer, soda, or even milk, all of which contain various nutrients or chemicals which actually require water to process through the body. In other words, they use up as much water as they give you.

3) Eat six small meals a day. This helps keep your bloodsugar levels even, which will keep your energy from crashing in the afternoon.

4) Eat today for how you want to FEEL tomorrow. Not for emotional reasons, or just for taste.

C) Rest. As a culture, we aren't getting enough sleep. The human body seems to need 7-9 hours of sleep a night, and if you're getting less or more than this, you may be having stress reactions, and compromising your health as a result.

1)Find out what your ideal sleep pattern is, and stick to it.

2)Try to get to sleep before midnight. Folk wisdom says that every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.

3)Take naps during the day. A quick power nap for 10-20 minutes can renew your energy like magic.

4)Make your bedroom a place of rest, healing and recreation. Keep your stress in another room of the house. Your sleeping place should be a womb of comfort and pleasure, specifically designed to lull you into the depths of dreamland.

D) Focus. In some ways, the most important tool for increasing energy. You need to know EXACTLY what you will do with the energy when you have it. This means written goals, clearly delineated. It means being task-oriented, believing that if you can do A,B, and C, there will be pleasure and satisfaction on the other end. I know people who are AFRAID to have more energy, because they think their kids, mates, or boss will just exploit them further. You have to have PERMISSION to be energetic, alive, and sensually involved with life.

But if you will give yourself this permission, if on a daily basis you will move your body, eat responsibly, rest intelligently and write out your goals and steps to achieving them, you will begin to take control of your body/mind's energy-generation apparatus, and you'll be shocked at the energy that will flood your life. It is your birthright. Own it!

Existing Burns Calories Believe It Or Not

ust existing burns calories. Every hour of the day we need energy, regardless of how much we use. That's a fact everyone is pretty much aware of. What is lesser known, however, is that your resting metabolic rate is determined by the amount of your body muscle. The smallest increase in your muscle mass will raise your resting metabolic rate, which means you burn more calories throughout the day.

Lifting weights at the gym for two or three hours a day is not necessary to benefit from a higher metabolism. My day doesn't have that kind of extra time in it - yours probably doesn't either.

Would you like to lose a few pounds? If you would also like to increase your amount of muscle, a slow start is always best with simple exercises like squats and push-ups. Do five of each exercise daily. Do these exercises at home and you don't have to spend money on gas or a gym membership. If you want to do more than just simple exercises, does that mean you need to buy a set of weights? Although it may sound silly, a pair of rocks will do the trick, even if they only weight three or four pounds each.

The fastest way to gain more muscle is to keep your body rebuilding and repairing muscle. Does that mean working everything: back, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, forearms, quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, and abdominals? It sure does. Do you need to kill yourself to accomplish this by lifting weights at the gym every day? Of course not. It bears repeating: push-ups and squats. You will exercise every muscle in your body with just those two moves (if you have time to concentrate on exercising individual muscles, then all the better).

So how do you find out what kind of diet works best for you? To start, analyze how many calories you eat every day. Make sure it is the proper amount for your current body weight. Next, take note of how you feel emotionally and physically thirty minutes after you have eaten. Feel drained, like you just want to crash? Or do you feel an increased amount of energy? You probably know the answer already because your body is not shy about telling you how it feels after you consume a meal.

Adequate water consumption, light exercise, and a diet that leaves you feeling alive and energetic are the fundamentals of losing weight. If you successfully incorporate all three of the above, you will be well on your way to living a healthier lifestyle, and effortlessly losing weight!

Today's sedentary lifestyle leads to weight gain. That's inarguable. However, how to lose the weight is the topic of many a discussion.

The transformation of stored fat into energy is one of the liver's vital functions. Your liver should always be functioning at its optimum for that important reason. Assisting dehydrated kidneys with their performance is another job of the liver. Drink more water to keep your liver focused on converting fat to energy! A critical need in maintaining a healthy body is water consumption. Drink less dehydrating beverages because - bottom line - your body needs plenty of water.

Nevertheless, don't ignore the last important factor of weight loss or weight gain: your diet. Consume a double cheeseburger, large fries, and a regular sugar-laden soda three times a day, and it's going to be hard to get rid of the weight no matter what you do.

While there is a vast array of opinions as to what diet works best (all fruit, pure meat, all carbs, low fat, etc.), everyone can have a different reaction to different types of food. Essentially, we're not equal when it comes to how our body metabolizes food. What's good for one person could be bad for the next.