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Stay on Your Weight Loss Diet Target Even During Stressful Times

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:19:14 +0000

In recent weeks I have been away from the computer with personal challenges and family problems. But I still manged to stay with a sane way of eating. How? I had a plan for just such times. Even the most self controlled person doesn’t foresee life altering days, weeks and months that can throw a wrench into your lifestyle. But it doesn’t have to ruin your diet and exercise plan.

I suggest to you that you have Plan B and C and D as a contingency for when things go wrong. Being flexible is the key to being less stressed, whatever the case may be. Allowing yourself to let parts of your day go, but remembering to bring things back on course as soon as possible. Here are some ideas to have in mind in the event that the inevitable happens:

If you are stuck at the hospital with a loved one, take the stairs instead of the elevator to substitute for your workout.
Most workouts can be done in parts, so do some stretches and basic weight training in the morning and the more active aerobic workouts when you are about town

Don’t forget to stash healthy snacks in you bag or case like almonds, dried fruit, nuts and a bottle of water.

If you have to eat cafeteria style food or fast food, stick to the items that you know are close to your eating plan.

Your diet or fitness program doesn’t need to get shipwrecked due to family emergencies. The idea is to plan for when things like that happen and you won’t get caught for too long without getting back to the normal daily schedule.

How Stress Affects Weight Loss

admin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:24:01 +0000

I think we really have become obsessed with calories and portions to the point that we are stressed. Stressing leads to eating, among other things and, well, there we go again. I am all for controlling portions but not at the expense of anxiety. Calories matter but if we are freaking out over the fact that we over did our fat (or whatever) grams, well, our bodies respond by slowing down our metabolism.

Our body has no idea why the stress is caused it only knows that certain hormones are signalling “trouble” which tells hypothalamus to slow down metabolism. Yikes! You can’t win for losing, can you!

And where does this emergency fat get stored? In your waistline!!

It seems, too, that we can directly relate belly fat with stress hormones. Again, any kind of stress will signal “danger” to the body. Whether running from a bear, watching an accident happen, severely changing your eating habits, getting tense over a deadline, getting a late start in the morning … your body just knows that you have danger and will respond accordingly.

So, relax. Take your new eating plan one step at a time. Learn to forgive your transgressions. Begin each day anew. So what if you had an extra cookie or two. Just purpose to walk a little further. Work out a little longer. Eat less next meal.

But do yourself a favor and learn to let it go. Stress can kill a diet faster than anything. Hey, don’t look at it as though it is the end of the world. Just a bump in the road.