Stress And Weight Loss

Can Stress cause weight gain?

Stress and weight loss are linked. Emotions influence our hormones which in turn influence our emotions which influence our eating habits.

The hormone adrenaline is released when we are frightened, excited or anxious.Adrenaline tends to speed up our metabolic rate, the release of this hormone is likely to promote weight loss.
Although,long term stress can have the opposite effect for weight loss. The hormone cortisol, released when we are stressed, can increase fat storage, especially in the abdominal area.
As a conclusion, short bursts of stress may help you to lose weight, but long term stress can make you overweight.

Since our neuro-endocrine system doesn't know what to do in stress situations, it responds to stress with the hormonal signal to replenish nutritional stores, which may make you feel hungry and overeat.

Stress and Weight Loss – The Mind Over Matter

When you are stressed, you have an impulse to do something, to move, and often, eating becomes the activity that relieves the stress. It's very easy to do and it's also comforting.

Here’s what the experts recommend:

1. Exercise when you are stressed.
Yoga, meditation, stretching, weight training and cardiovascular exercise are all good stress relieving activities that you can perform for stress relieving.These types of exercises are also very good for weight loss because you burn calories by exercising.The answer is to choose the activity that you really enjoy doing.

2. Eat a balanced diet and don't skip meals.
Eat breakfast and try to consume six small rather than three larger meals every day, with foods from all the food groups,especially healthy ones.This helps in keeping blood sugar levels steady, which in turn put a damper on insulin production and eventually reduce cortisol levels,all helping to control appetite and also promote weight loss.

3. You must sleep enough,don't lose sleep, over your stress and weight loss problems,when you don't get enough rest, cortisol levels rise, making you feel hungry and less satisfied with what you eat.

4. Take time for relaxation.
This because it works much like exercise to produce brain chemicals that counter the effects of stress and promote weight loss,it’s best finding the activities that make you feel relaxed and calm.
For some people, yoga can help very much. Others may prefer meditation techniques or deep breathing techniques.
Never underestimate the relaxing power of sitting up or under a sofa with a good book or magazine, or even watching your favorite movie.
Anything that makes you feel calm and relaxed will help counter the biochemical effects of stress.

5. When snacking,choose whole grain or high fiber foods.
Try eating foods high in fiber and low in sugar, like oatmeal, whole wheat bread, or fruits such as pears or plums.
Foods that are high in sugar and simple carbohydrates,like white flour, cookies, cake, white rice, or pasta, cause insulin levels to rise.This increases stress hormones and makes you feel more hungry.

6. Avoid caffeine, cigarettes and alcohol at all costs.
If you are going through a lot of stress, stay away from alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and junk food.
These are foods with no nutritional value,they are not good at all.
According to the American Institute of Stress, cigarettes, caffeine soft drinks, coffee, tea, and even chocolate, can cause cortisol levels to rise, stress to increase, blood sugar to decrease and hunger to appear resulting in a slower weight loss. The institute also cautions against drinking too much alcohol, which can affect blood sugar and insulin levels and it’s also very high in calories.

7. Take some vitamin supplements.
Many medical studies have shown that stress can deplete important nutrients ,particularly the B complex and C vitamins, and sometimes the minerals calcium and magnesium.

These nutrients are needed to balance the effects of stress hormones like cortisol, and may even play a good role in helping us burn fat, it's important to keep nutrient levels high.
While a good diet will help, taking a multi-vitamin supplement can insure you give your body what it needs to deal with the stress and also burn fat and lose weight.

Massage is another method that is very effective in reducing stress in your body .
The massage helps the body get rid of toxins released into your blood stream when you are stressed.

Increasing your protein intake by eating protein more often will help your body deal better with stress.
There are some herbal supplements that can help you when you are going through stressful times. Chamomile is a calming herb available in tea form.
Valerian root is another relaxing herb that comes in pill form.
Kava was very popular for a while as a natural relaxation supplement.
There are also herbal combination supplements that are not harmful to your body.
A good B-complex supplement always helps you feel better if you are verystressed.
Taken in the morning and in the evening the B vitamins complex will nourish your nervous system.

And speaking about stress and weight loss,here’s one piece of information thay you may be happy to hear:
Experts are saying you shouldn’t go on a strict diet when you’re under extreme or chronic stress.
Severely limiting calorie intake could modify many biochemical events that not only increase stress levels, but can also make you feel hungry.

Alberta McKain is nutritionist woman who used to be fat. After testing tens of so-called "wonder diets" she decided to create a Weight Loss Programs Review Website, containing a top of the 3 best programs with a brief description about their features and benefits.

Visiting the website will help you make a wise decision. http://www.LoseWeightFast.999answers.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alberta_McKain

One-Year Checkup

I still cannot believe that it has been a year since I had surgery! I do not think that I have done as well as I think that I should have; I feel like I am a failure. I did have a friend tell me a few months back that I was going to fail and that I would be fat for the rest of my life. I do not know what to think about that, all I know is that a REAL friend would never have said something like that too me!

I have lost all of this weight and I have to be honest and tell you no it makes me any happier than I was before. Because happiness comes from inside your self, not from bettering your self, I am not saying that bettering yourself can bring happiness, but not complete happiness.

I talked to Belnap about some of the health problems that I have been having; things that are not normal for a gastric bypass patient to be having. I told me that I maybe dumping, but I know that I am not because when ever I eat almost anything I end up sick with diarrhea. I told him that I had many digestive health problems before I had surgery, I have had two positive H Pillory test and that scares me. After I had surgery I found out that, it causes stomach cancer and I think that it maybe positive again because of some of the stomach pains that I have been having.

Therefore, I think that I maybe working with him a little bit longer; we will see where things take us and what ends up happening. There is a lot more that we talked about but I thin that I Want to keep some of that private. Just know that I am fine and healthy and there is not any thing wrong with me; well nothing that might kill me!

The love and support that all of you have shown me over the last year has been great, it has really helped me a lot and I appreciate it very much. I love you all very much thank you for the love and support. Over the next year, I am going to be trying to blog s little more to see if it will help me through the last leg of my weight loss. This last little bit that I need to loose is going to be hard and I am going to need all the support that I can get.

Thanks for the support

Lots of Love

The Secret to Stubborn Pounds and Belly Fat

Your body is protecting you.

You have two small pyramid shaped glands that sit on top of your kidneys called the adrenals. Your adrenals are nicknamed your stress glands or your stress organs. The hormones they release can be triggered by emotional stress, chemical stress, or even physical trauma. The adrenals are a part of a feedback loop that helps control and respond to various functions of your body's hormonal and nervous systems.

These tiny adrenal glands are responsible for the funny feeling you get when you are scared by something. Just imagine the last time you were driving or riding in the car, when suddenly another car cuts in front of you. The brakes are slammed to avoid an accident and hopefully the near accident was avoided. That "wave" of fear and funny adrenaline rush you get is called your "fight or flight response". This is an instinctive reaction by your body for your protection. This reaction is designed to either get you out of a dangerous situation or allow you to deal with a dangerous situation for your ultimate survival.

There are an amazing number of hormones being released to prepare you for stressful scenarios whenever the body deems it necessary. The problem occurs when this protective mechanism that is designed for promoting survival is fooled into being active when no true stressful event is present. When you get scared by something there are certain physiological functions that occur such as an increased heart rate to pump more blood to your extremities in case you need to flee, your digestive system stops breaking down food to allow more energy for other areas of the body and you become more focused. All of these responses occur during the excited state of the nervous system.

Stress and belly fat explained...stay with me I'm going somewhere with this.

The true problem occurs when your nervous system is functioning in the excited state during a relaxed scenario. Here's a brief example. If you are like millions of people in this country and enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea to start your day or get you through a mid afternoon meeting, to battle your chronic fatigue, you are causing this false scenario to occur. Caffeine is a researched and known stimulant that triggers the same functions that are triggered when you are scared. The problem is after you ingest the caffeine your body is left in the excited state during a relaxed scenario.

Some of the physiological effects are an increased heart rate, changes to the digestive system and better mental focus. This is great to avoid being caught sleeping in a boring meeting but not so great for your body. You have just sent the signals to your adrenals and nervous system that some dangerous scenario is occurring. The body is very smart but also very dumb. It will do what it's told just like a computer. When the user tells a computer to delete something, that's exactly what the computer will do. The body can't differentiate between right and wrong when it comes to releasing hormones and reactions to stress. Physiologically the body cannot tell whether you were almost in a car accident or sitting in the weekly board room meeting.

I'm often asked, what is the best way to lose belly fat?

While you will increase abdominal strength doing exercises, doing them is not the best way to lose fat. The quickest way to lose is through stress management. Stress and belly fat have a very intimate relationship that you can easily abolish. You must eliminate or decrease the stressful influences on the body so the adrenals don't release stress related hormones on a continual basis. When these hormones are released they travel through the blood stream in search of problems to fix. When no true problem is discovered your body will begin to prepare itself for some impending stressful scenario that the body assumes must be on the way. After all why would there be a stress response if no stress were coming?

A hormone that you may be familiar with is called cortisol. Cortisol is released when the body gets information that it is in danger. Cortisol is responsible for controlling inflammation and swelling when there is a physical stress on the body. Once the adrenals release the cortisol because of increased stress, the hormone does not just disappear if no trauma is discovered.

When there is no dangerous situation the one protective mechanism is to use the cortisol to store fat around internal organs to protect them from a future risk. This is where the unwanted belly fat comes from. When this hormone is triggered with other protective hormones it will appear that the exercise and dieting you have so intensely committed yourself to are in vain. The problem stems from another source and that is the reason for the poor results with your weight loss protocol.

How can you decrease the emotional, chemical and environmental stress?

Obviously we all have things that concern us. The best way to deal with emotional stress is by using avenues like prayer or meditation to help balance your mental well being. Exercising is a great way to promote adrenal health. This can be doing something as simple as walking, yoga, swimming or more intense types of exercise. The emotional component of stress is extremely common in our society and can be the most damaging. This is because we can potentially think "bad" thoughts constantly and constantly keep our system in a position to release fat storing hormones.

The chemical and environmental stressors are somewhat easier to handle because we can all make better choices of the products we consume and use. Are you on a diet? I recommend avoiding diets and just adopt better habits and lifestyle changes over a period of time. You have higher chance of sticking with it if you're not overwhelmed by the sudden changes in your routine.

The easiest changes to make are centered at the foods you eat. Avoid foods made with preservatives, additives and other synthetic chemicals that trigger stress responses. Substances like alcohol, nicotine and caffeine all cause the adrenals to become active. Sugars and artificial sweeteners also contribute to causing elevated adrenal stress. Weight loss pills will only make your problem worse when the bottle is finished and should be avoided at all cost. A great and simple way to start is to decrease the amount of liquids you consume that contain caffeine and excess sugars. Then choose a time frame to start reducing certain foods from your diet that lead to adrenal stress.

Environmental stress can be reduced by making better choices around the home and using more "green" products. Using more organic friendly cleaning products and personal hygiene products is not only better for your body but may also help you with your weight loss protocol. It has been researched for over half a century that certain types of chemicals will cause your hormonal system to function less than optimum. Research has been performed by the FDA, EPA, CDC, major pharmaceutical companies and medical universities showing the effects of certain chemicals on your body. The fancy name for these problems is "endocrine disruptors". I suggest you just search the term on Google and read the information for yourself.

Belly fat is only one of the symptoms that you will experience when the adrenals are compromised or fatigued. The adrenals are also responsible for a few other key functions in your body. The adrenals do not only control inflammation and swelling.

You may have adrenal fatigue if you notice any of the following symptoms:

chronic fatigue, osteoporosis, trouble falling asleep or difficulty sleeping through the entire night, anxiety, constant worrying, high blood pressure, cravings, arthritis, difficult menstrual cycles, low sex drive, allergies and asthma.

One of the best ways to know if your adrenals are compromised is to have an Adrenal Stress Index performed. This is a saliva test that will measure your hormonal levels over a period of time. The test is non-invasive & can be performed wherever you are. Saliva is collected under real life conditions and there are no stressful blood draws and no gallon sized urine containers to carry around for 24 hours. With blood and urine testing, a number of borderline adrenal conditions are missed due to lack of sensitivity.

This is not the case with the Adrenal Stress Index because samples are taken within one circadian cycle and the more definitive free fraction is measured. Treatment options are expanded by 400-500% over blood test and urine test results.

Once you understand the mechanisms for many of the symptoms that are causing your difficulty, it becomes much easier to handle the battle of the bulge. Good luck to you and I trust this information will serve you well.

Dr. Evans practices in Marietta, GA Please visit his website: http://www.dtoxdoc.com for more information. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Eva_Ringold

A Year in Photo's

January 19, 2008 417 lbs


March 14, 2008 375lbs





February 21, 2009 269lbs

Look at these pictures fills me with so much emotion, I cannot believe that the top picture was me a little more than a year ago. The changes that I have gone through over the past year are incredible and the pictures are a good reminder of who I am and where it is that I came from. I never thought that I would ever get my weight off. I am so grateful to my Dr. Brain Platt for sending me to Dr. Belnap; and for Dr. Belnap and his wonderful staff for everything that they have done for me.

One-Year Anniversary….

I cannot believe that today is March 14, 2009; one year ago, today I had my life changing surgery. I do not regret having surgery; but out of all the lessons that I have learned through out my life, Do not regret the past. How can I regret the fact that I feel absolutely AMAZING, I look pretty good as well.

If there is anything that I regret, it is the stress that I have been under the last eight months. I am not one of those people who loose weight when I am stressed out, I actually gain; but right now I am staying the same so I can’t complain much about that either. I would like to loose another seventy pounds but I think that I am actually going to have to earn that weight loss. They say that you only loose about 70% of your weight the first year and I feel good about what I have done.

Wow, is all I can say about the last year; it has been bloody amazing and I wouldn’t go back and redo it for anything in the world. There are maybe a few things that I would change, but not the surgery. I want to thank all of you who have been there for me over the last year; thank you for all the love and support that you have shown me through this difficult time. It has helped more than you know; I hope that I can return the favor some day! I love you all Thank you!

Cute Note Books I made last Night.....

This is the front of the book


This is the back of the book

My New Pictuers...

Anthony isn't a Little Boy Anymore...

This is not a attractive picture of me, I don't look my best first thing in the morning. But Anthony is no longer shorter than I am the boy is 5'11''. He is such a handsome boy I just wish that he could see how wonderful that I and every one else that loves him thinks that he is. Being a teenager is difficult, but even more so when you are trying to find your self and fit in, when you aren't sure what and where that is.