I know that stress was the prime reason I gained so much weight through menopause. I put weight on around the middle that I’d never had before, and found it challenging to lose no matter what I did. This can certainly be a factor in why so many people, over 90%, fail to lose weight no matter which of the multiple diets they use.

Chronic stress raises your levels of cortisol, a hormone that triggers extra fat storage, especially belly fat. The adrenal glands aren’t picky when it comes to what creates cortisol release. The stress can be physical trauma, environmental, emotional turmoil, or even created by our thoughts.

The human brain is automatically hard wired with fight or flight responses to protect the body from perceived harm. Those responses cause the adrenal glands to get larger and secrete additional adrenal cortical hormones. Unfortunately, our fast-paced lifestyles bring us multiple triggers in a day that can lead to these becoming chronic responses. Over time, these different sources of stress become cumulative, which can lead to adrenal stress and what is called the metabolic syndrome. Typically, because of the cumulative damage, this is even more of an issue for the baby boomer population.

But beyond weight gain, stress can literally kill you, so it’s time to take note and make some changes if you want to lose weight and get healthy.  Here are 10 simple stress reducers that you can fit into your life with ease.

1. Laugh at least once a day. See a funny movie, read the comics, but try to incorporate it into your life every day. I’ve found a great You Tube video of a toddler laughing that is contagious. Any time I need a laugh I watch it.
2. Music therapy is a great way to unwind, and you can incorporate it into walking or other stress reducing activities for added benefit. Certain kinds of music can lower blood pressure and calm your mind. Listening to nature sounds is relaxing, and classical music has been shown to aid weight loss by causing people to eat less and digest more easily.
3. Aromatherapy uses essential oils, the pure essence of a plant, found to provide both psychological and physical stress relief. You can use essential oils in a diffuser for inhaling or added to other natural ingredients like sea salt for a relaxing bath. Be sure to use pure oils and check ingredients to avoid synthetic chemicals or perfume fragrances, which do not provide true benefits.
4. Walking 15 – 30 minutes daily is all you need to see the benefits of this affordable and easy to incorporate activity. Any exercise is good for lowering stress and producing those feel good chemicals, called endorphins, in the brain, but make sure you do it at least 5 times a week for the best benefits in minimizing chronic stress. Consistency is key!
5. Breathing a few deep breaths every hour and for 10 minutes before bed will oxygenate the blood, refresh the mind, and relax the muscles. This is also a great activity when you feel anger, anxiety, and other negative emotions…remember the count to ten before responding advice you got from your mom? Just take a few deep breaths for the same benefit.
6. Sex, if you have a loving partner to enjoy it with. Some good cuddling and affirming conversation beforehand helps. Too often, people avoid sex when stressed out instead of engaging in this healthy activity.
7. Drink less caffeine as it adds further stimulation and stress to the adrenals. Limit yourself to a cup a day and avoid it altogether as a pick me up since that is the worst time to force your overtaxed adrenals to operate in overdrive.
8. Journaling is the perfect activity for getting out the pent up emotions that keep us chronically stressed. Expressing yourself on paper is freeing and great for personal growth, too.
9. Serving others is a great way of taking your mind off your own problems and helping relieve someone else’s stress, as well. Sometimes being aware of other people’s challenges and offering a helping hand gives you a better perspective on your own…even minimizing them.
10. A day of refreshment. The Creator set aside a day for both spiritual and physical rest. Studies have shown that more is accomplished in 6 days when rest is incorporated into our lifestyles, than if we work 7 days without rest. Take a break from worries and work, and spend a day with loved ones having fun. It’s important to get at leas 7-8 hours of sleep daily, too.

Stress is unavoidable in today’s busy world, but we certainly can learn to add purposeful activity and healthy nutrients that will counteract stress and provide health building and weight loss benefits.

Do you have stress reducing tips that have worked for you? Please share by posting them in the comment box.

Enjoying life together,

Leta

If you’d like to blast off some of that tummy fat while losing weight here are some great foods that are incredibly affordable.

1. Blueberries: Eating blueberries may decrease abdominal fat according to recent research. Studies suggests that eating blueberries may benefit the heart due to its ability to decrease belly fat, lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels, and reduce blood sugar levels.  These health benefits are attributed to the high levels of phytochemicals, naturally occurring antioxidants called anthocyanins present in darkly pigmented fruits and vegetables. In studies, the results were even better when the diet was low in fat. So hit that farmer’s market, or a u-pick if blueberries are grown locally, and pick up some of these delicious berries to add to cereal, smoothies, or mixed with other berries for a colorful compote. Summer is the perfect season to add blueberries to your daily eating plan,
2. Black beans: Legumes in general are great sources of protein, fiber, and antioxidants, while being low fat. and extremely healthy. They are also rated low on the glycemic index. The fiber in a can of black beans is 25 grams, more than half of what is recommended daily. So put them on your salad, use them as a side, or make them a main ingredient in a vegetarian entre, but find a way to incorporate them daily into your meal plan. I recommend eating a can a day and at under $2.00 a can, that’s a bargain food.
3. Eggs for breakfast: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. A recent study published last year in the International Journal of Obesity showed that compared to a bagel meal of equal calories, those who ate 2 eggs for breakfast lost 65% more weight, had 61% greater reduction in BMI, and had a higher level of energy. Your body needs protein after fasting through the night. Eggs cost an average of $1.93 per dozen (or $0.16 per egg), making them one of the best bargains among high-quality protein foods. I recommend range free and organic, which may put the cost up a bit, but is well worth it.
4. Apples: Enjoying a fiber-packed apple 30 minutes or so before a meal will reduce your appetite and nourish you with antioxidants, Vitamin C, and pectins, a type of soluble fiber that draws cholesterol out of the blood and binds to carbohydrates to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Apples are low in calories, high in fiber, low in sodium and a perfect addition to your weight loss program. Tip: Be sure to wash your apples thoroughly as the wax used to coat supermarket apples seals in the pesticides on the apple skin. When in season, I recommend buying from local orchards.
5. Green tea: It’s not exactly a food, but adding 4-5 cups of green tea to your daily routine will help enhance your metabolism and burn extra calories…about 80 a day according to researchers . Some of the fat burning benefit of green tea comes from the caffeine that naturally occurs, but thermogenesis in green tea mostly occurs from epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG, a potent antioxidant that has other health benefits, as well. Themogenesis, in simple terms, is the heat generated when the body burns fat for energy. It was found that the combination of caffeine and EGCG together worked synergistically to produce better results than either did alone.

Of course, you’re going to get the best benefits in losing body fat, especially the visceral fat around the belly, if you combine healthy eating with effective daily activity, and lifestyle choices that reduce stress, and promote mental well-being. But making a few wise changes by adding these 5 foods to your diet could put you on the path to losing your abdominal fat.

All fat is not alike. Whatever calories don’t get burned for energy accumulate in one of two places — long-term storage deposits beneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) or short-term bins deep in the abdomen (visceral fat). Visceral fat is what we call omental fat — or fat in your omentum, a piece of webbing that hangs off your stomach just beneath your abdominal muscles, sort of like a mesh apron. It can infiltrate the liver and streak through your muscles, including your heart.

The fat down deep is the most dangerous. The soft, surface fat that shows in ripples and cellulite on your thighs, buttocks, and hips (the pear shape) may make you look bad in your swimsuit or shorts, but is a lot less dangerous. However, if you carry most of your weight in your abdomen (apple shape) you’re likely headed for trouble. That’s because much of the fat around the belly is the deep fat that produces extra hormones and proteins, which can trigger major health issues down the road. Among them: unhealthy LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels; high blood sugar and blood pressure; insulin resistance; and widespread inflammation. All are precursors to many diseases — including dementia, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

So, are you are an apple or pear? If it isn’t obvious through the appearance of a “beer belly”, then measure around your waist and the largest part of your hips and divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. If it is.8 or beyond you are an apple shape. In addition, even though you may not be overweight, if you’re a woman, your waist should be no more than 32.5 inches and if you’re a man, no more than 35 inches. Anything higher than 35 inches for women or 40 inches for men may mean you’re storing visceral fat and the health dangers increase considerably.

Do you want to stop accumulating that “bad” fat? Crash dieting won’t do it! In fact yo-yo dieting actually causes your body to store more of it over time. What you eat, however, does make a difference as does stress. Simply taking a 30 minute walk a day will prevent future accumulation of visceral fat.

But what if you want to lose it?

In a study by Duke University Medical Center researchers, it was found that people who were physically inactive had significant increases in visceral fat, while those who exercised frequently had significant decreases in visceral fat, over an eight-month period. The study found:

• Those who did not exercise had an 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat.
• Those who exercised the most (17 miles of jogging/brisk walking per week) had an 8.1 percent decrease in visceral fat.
• Those who exercised a low amount (11 miles of jogging/brisk walking each week) did not significantly increase or decrease visceral fat.

1. Get physical! Add 15 minutes extra to your walking schedule, wear light weights, pump up the speed, and/or jog for a minute of every 5 minutes of walking to increase the fat burn. Add some resistant weight training to the mix if you want to lose fat and restore and preserve lean muscle. Cross training with 20-30 minutes of intense exercise for 6 days weekly is optimal for fat burn, but if you’re just starting out, make sure you don’t over do it. Dancing, hiking, and sports activites are also a great way to burn fat while having fun.
2. Eat to Flush Fat: Be sensible and begin an eating plan that you can live with long term. Fad dieting, crash dieting, and eliminating complete food groups, is neither healthy nor sustainable. Follow the 16 Keys to Fat Loss by applying a few keys a week over a period of time and you’ll see good results in 90 days.
3. Eliminate Stress: Find ways to relax daily, restore your body and mind through 7-8 hours or restful sleep a night, and de-clutter your life by removing the things that create extra stress and chaos in your environment. Stress, through the release of cortisol, is a big contributor of visceral fat around the middle.

So, apple types, whether overweight or slimmer, visceral fat is something you want to stop and take action to eliminate.  Big butts can be grateful, for now, but stay tuned for ways you can get rid of those ripples and cellulite, because fat is never attractive or healthy no matter where it’s stored on your body.