What’s making me fat?

What’s making me fat!

What is making us fat? The answer to this question is the same answer to the question, “What is making us sick and tired?”, and to the question, “Why do I feel like I am aging faster then I should be?” It’s stress!

When we perceive stress, our bodies go into high alert, releasing the hormone cortisol. And, because we face stressful moments throughout the entire day, we have a constant release of cortisol throughout the whole day. This constant release messes with our circadian rhythm , making it hard for us to sleep, which then prevents our bodies from relaxing and healing. And although I am a true believer in the powers of a good yoga class and daily meditation, these practices alone are not enough to help us reduce the onslaught of cortisol being pushed through our system throughout the day.

Because we are experiencing stressful moments throughout the day, we need to also maintain a practice that reduces stress throughout the day. Here is a list of supports to help you to reduce stress and find more balance in your daily routine.

Know the things that stress you out: Researchers have found that just by recognizing you are stressed, it can help to reduce the effects of stress. Meaning, the acknowledgement that a situation is stressful will help you.  To help reduce stress in your life, tell yourself before that uncomfortable conversation with a partner or with your boss, this is going to be a stressful conversation. This simple act will help you better cope with the situation.

Find more joy in your life: Being joyful is a wonderful way to reduce stress. We can add more joy throughout our day when we slow down a bit and recognize and are grateful for the people in our lives, for the beauty nature offers, and for the experiences we have. To help reduce stress plan to do more things that make you smile. Have lunch with a friend. Watch that funny cat video. Wear that party dress to work.

Create more realistic expectations: Feelings of stress can come from our perception of the situation. How we perceive a situation is related to our  level of stress. I could perceive a situation to be very stressful, while another person may experience the same event and not have any stressful feelings. Because of this, our perception of how life should be, how our partners should treat us, or how our kids should behave, can all cause us stress. When others do not behave as we expect them to (or wanted them to behave) or if events don’t go as we planned, we can become stressed. These stressful events can be daily occurrences such as that car cutting you off on the drive to work. We tell ourselves “They should not have done that to me!”  To help reduce stress take a weekly inventory of what your week may look like. look at any events you may perceive as stressful. Consider what you would like the outcomes to be and how realistic your expectations are. Understanding our inability to control other’s behaviors will go a long way in reducing stress and also help us begin to appreciate people as individuals.

Find time to relax and breathe throughout the day: Because we experience stress throughout the day, we need to practice reducing stress throughout the day. We can’t expect that one day a week yoga class to take care of all the stressful events that have happened during the week. A daily practice is more appropriate and a better path to success. To help reduce stress throughout the day, practice that yoga pose, take deep breathes, meditate. But do these practices in small spurts throughout the day. After that stressful phone call, close your eyes and take four deep breaths. After sitting in that hour and a half staff meeting, get up and do three yoga poses. Before beginning that big project, meditate on what your expectations are and how you want the project to look.

Clean up your diet: Unhealthy foods, fast and convenient foods are hard for our bodies to digest and can be stressful. Our bodies do not know the difference from stress caused from a poor diet and stress caused from our experiences. To help reduce stress add more real foods to your meals. Add a piece of fruit to your morning routine, add a side salad to your lunch, try out a new vegetable at dinner. While at the same time letting go of some bad food choices. Try water or tea for lunch instead of a soda. Reducing your sugar intake will have a profound effect on your health and your feelings of stress.

Clean up your personal care routine: Chemicals, artificial fragrances, and toxins can all cause your body to be stressed. And just as I mentioned prior, our bodies can not tell the difference, stress is stress. When you use a shampoo that is full of chemicals and has fragrance that was produced in a laboratory, these toxins go into your system and your body does not know what to do with them. This is stressful! To help reduce stress find products that are natural, fragrance free, or even better learn how to make your own. This has become an easy choice. There are many easy to follow recipes on line and the basic ingredients are easy to get. Check out my website for some great recipes and ideas.

We will never eliminate stress from our lives, but with practice, we can learn how to reduce the effects of stress and help our bodies find a healthy balance.