Lose Weight By Reducing Stress

One of the most common New Year's Resolutions is to lose weight. Many people spend loads of energy and money this time of year trying to lose pounds only to end up frustrated.

The secret to losing weight and maintaining your healthy weight is keeping stress in check.

How Does Stress Effect Weight?
Recently Whole Living Magazine reported that hormones govern everything in our bodies including "what we eat, why we eat it and what happens to it once the food is down our throats".

Robert Greene, M.D., goes on to say, "There are at least 40 chemicals in our bodies that influence our appetite and what we eat." He states the most important hormones in regulating weight are the thyroid and cortisol (responsible for the fight or flight stress reaction). People who regularly feel stressed have excess cortisol leading to heightened appetite and cravings for sugar.

The article recommends the following things to get the best hormonal mix:

. Eat whole foods
. Move
. Check your stress
. Get plenty of sleep
. Raise endorphins through exercise, fun hobby, music, basically anything you enjoy doing

In the article Marci Gluck, Ph.D., a research clinical psychologist at the National Institutes of Health, goes on to say that basic stress relief measures lead to better hormonal balance. Having your hormones in balance will make keeping your weight in check much easier.

How to Reduce Stress
Here are the stress relief practices I use myself and regularly teach clients:

. Take 10 deep belly breaths each morning
. Take 10 deep belly breaths each night
. When you notice that you are either stressed or breathing shallowly, take 3 deep belly breaths. Notice how you are breathing at meal times. Food is metabolized more effectively when the body is less stressed, you can breathe deeply to immediately lower stress.
. Some other great stress reduction techniques are meditation and yoga. One study published last year in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that middle aged people who practiced yoga 3 days a week gained less weight over a 10-year period than those who didn't practice yoga.

Result
Using these stress reduction techniques each day will help reduce your cortisol levels which will help reduce cravings. Ultimately you'll feel less stressed, your hormones will be more balanced, and your belly will be smaller.


Jacqueline Ryan Brodnitzki, RYT helps companies reduce stress and increase productivity and their bottom line. As an executive coach she helps clients experience greater calm, reduce stress, and increase effectiveness and success at work and at home. Learn more about Jacqueline's current programs and receive '10 Stress Reduction Techniques' at http://www.conscioussuccess.net/index.html

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