In today’s world, it has come to be that we are all a little stressed out. We all have bills to pay, work to go to (in which the dynamics there might be a little stressful), a house to take care of, then add on a family, pets, and the list can go on and on. After a while we all just start to break down. We all handle stress in different ways and how our body responds to that stress can very but it can come in the form of sickness, eating too much or not enough, gain weight or lose weight, get acne, and the list continues. First things first, what we should all know is that stress in of itself is a neutral. But it is how we use this stress that can make it a good stress (eustress) or a bad stress (distress). Now, the stress we are going to be talking about with negative impacts on your body is related to the distress. So, why does stress have such an impact on our bodies? Well, it is because when the body is under stress, a hormone, Cortisol, is released in the body and it produces what is known as "our fight or flight response". This is a good thing (especailly if we are being chased by something like a T-Rex), however, only for a short period of time. It is the very thing that saves people or gets us through a really rough patch. But the longer that we are under a great amount of stress, the more that it will break down our bodies because of how hard it is on it over time.
With the way that we are all living these days we are always on the go and should have had things done yesterday. Therefore, we all don’t take the time to eat as well or exercise as often as we need to. To top it off, there is so much stress that we have to deal with there seems like there is no healthy way of getting rid of it.
Stress is something that everyone will experience but we need to find ways to combat it so that we are not victims of weight gain (due to cortisol, which is known to increase abdominal fat), weight loss by not eating, or getting sick (by being run down). Here’s how….
1. First, you need to exercise. And not find the time but make the time! This is very important because by putting your body under that kind of work and stress it will help alleviate the distress that we are put under.
2. Next, Eating will also become crucial to you and by eating healthy you are providing your body with the proper nutrients to support optimal health.
3. Another thing you should do is make time to have fun. Whether this is time that you sit at home and read a book or you go out to watch a movie or participate in a hobby, you need to make time to decompress and have fun.
4. Make sure you have a safe or scared space. You need to have a place where you feel like you can have calming time and a place where you can relax completely.
By doing these relatively simple things you will change your life. And we know that it seems like a grand statement but it is true. We all may not even realize how much stress we even are carrying around with us until we make that change or all four and then you see how much of a difference there is. We hope that this will help you through your holidays and through your daily life. There are sites below that are related to stress and its impact on the body and techniques to help you through it.
Committed to your health and fitness goals,
Justin and Angie LaPointe
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