If you suffer from stress you will find it hard to drop body fat due to elevated levels of cortisol which is a stress hormone that eats away at muscle tissue and increases body fat storage.
If you have too much of it due to excessive stress levels and not enough sleep, cortisol can also affect your cognitive abilities, leaving you with brain fog. When we’re tired, we are more likely to snack on processed junk food, refined sugar, and ironically feel more susceptible to stress.
So when we are living in a world of so-called ‘stressful situations’ (after all your stress levels are relative to you), you must do something consciously to reduce it. if you don’t you will never lose that spare tyre and get lean, thank you adrenal gland!
High stress can also lead to numerous other health issues.
Here are some quick tips to fix high cortisol levels.
✅ Avoid stress where possible. Look at ways you can reduce or avoid toxic situations or relationships!
✅Cut out high-intensity workouts like spinning, circuits, CrossFit, and HIIT. Walking, Yoga, and Resistance training are proven mood and metabolism boosters and reduce our stress levels.
✅ Limit workouts to 45 minutes.
✅ Get 8 hours sleep a night. Take power naps too where possible if you struggle with sleep or energy levels in the day.
✅ Cut out gluten.
✅ Surround yourself with positive upbeat people, get rid of the negative who bring you down.
✅Meditate daily for at least 5 minutes. It can be as simple as. inhale for 4-seconds, exhale for 4 seconds. Take a break!
For more tips, follow @GreenHealthPT on social media… or book a free call at https://getleanonline.co.uk
DID YOU KNOW?
- ‘Stress is our body’s reaction to pressures from a situation or life event. ’ https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stress
- 70% of doctors visits are to do with stress-related issues
Stress is the mind and body’s reaction to uncertain events and challenges. A rise in cortisol aka ‘the stress hormone’ and adrenaline triggers our ‘fight or flight’ response which originally would be used to stave off perceived threats such as ‘tigers.’ But now it is metaphorical tigers such as work, conflict, poverty or wealth and unemployment to name but a few triggers. How someone deals with stress is individual to them.
“Stress can be defined as the degree to which you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope as a result of pressures that are unmanageable,” explains Mental Health Foundation (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/stress).
When you have so much to do on a daily basis stress can affect us all.. but here are three tips to help business owners manage stress better, saving time and boosting results:
Regular challenges are great for mind, body and business, it helps make us stronger but how you deal with it will help shape your health and happiness in the future. As we can’t control certain events but what we can do is get the building blocks in place to best sustain and keep our mind and body as well as possible.
1.) Meditate daily, it’s so important to switch your mind off even if it’s for just 5 minutes a day. Take five deep breaths when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
2.) Exercise daily, this doesn’t mean just lift weights, get outside in the fresh air for a long walk, or anything to stay active. When you give so much energy to others and your business your body requires movement to heal itself.
3.) Try to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Developing good waking, resting & sleeping habits is so important for managing stress.
All three of the above habits can be achieved by anyone. But if you are struggling still, reach out for help from professionals, loved ones and there are a range of services to help you… go to https://getleanonline.co.uk