Part 2 - Is your stressful lifestyle making you fat?

If you resonated with my story from last week and found yourself nodding your head in agreement then there’s a very good chance you are stressed out.

Everyone has to deal with stress. Our nervous system is specifically designed to cope with it to some degree. It’s when we are constantly stressed that problems arise.

When we’re in a stressed state, the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is activated which forces most of the blood flow in the body to rush from the digestive and reproductive organs and give it to the muscles, brains and eyes in preparation for fight or flight.

This slows down or stops the body from digesting and eliminating food causing constipation.  

It also suppresses the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS), which controls the tissue building hormones such as DHEA, growth hormone, testosterone, and estrogen leading to a reduced sex drive and low libido.

If that wasn’t bad enough, our body has stress hormone receptor sites on our belly. The cortisol receptor site is located at the front of the belly and the insulin receptor site is found on the sides of the belly. Cortisol is the fat storing hormone and insulin allows the cells to store excess sugar and fat all in a bid to help provide fuel in a stressful situation. This forces body fat to accumulate around your middle and hips.

But worst of all is the fact that chronic stressors elevate stress hormones and suppress the immune system leading to an inability to heal and manifestation of disease in the body. This is where the saying ‘Stress Kills’ comes from and it does.\

Outlined below are several suggestions that will help you overcome the stress in your life:

• Try mind-body exercises like Yoga, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and meditation to stimulate the PNS.

• Eat the right food for you body. If it wasn’t around 10,000 years ago, can’t pronounce the ingredients and didn’t buy it from the perimeter of the grocery store then don’t eat it.

• Only drink water. If you do drink tea, coffee and Diet Coke then drink even more water. Aim for three litres a day.

• Don’t run away from the stress in your life. Try to identify the area causing you the most stress and read self-help books, watch videos and find material that will give you the tools to reduce the stress. A CHEK holistic lifestyle coach can help.

• Get to bed by 10:30pm and stay in bed until at least 6am.

• Take responsibility for yourself. If you don’t, then who will?.

E-mail: [email protected]

Colin Ayliffe is a certified Personal Trainer and Holistic Lifestyle Coach with over 10 years experience in training clients. Colin is Head Trainer at Court House Squash and Wellness in Hamilton. He graduated from the University of Surrey with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sport Science and is also a CHEK Practitioner, Golf Biomechanic and accredited by the National Academy of Sports Medicine.