How Reducing Cortisol Levels Can Help You To Lose Weight
Have you made a resolution to lose weight this year? Losing excess weight and maintaining a healthy weight go way beyond the basics of eating a healthy diet and getting enough exercise. It is now known that stress can actually stop you from losing weight, especially around your middle. Stress can cause your body to secrete high levels of the stress hormone cortisol into your bloodstream, because of your body's "fight or flight" response to stress.
Stress can be either psychological (mental and emotional) or physical. Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and is actually important for the regulation of blood pressure, the immune system, and many other functions. Cortisol can be good in small amounts but high levels can lead to an increase of abdominal fat, which can increase your bad cholesterol levels {LDL) and decrease your good cholesterol (HDL) levels and increase risks of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. High levels of cortisol can also decrease your bone density, leading to osteoporosis and loss of muscle tissue, which will also slow down your metabolic rate. Each of you will react differently to stress; some of you will produce more cortisol to a particular stress while others will produce less. It has been found that those of you that produce more cortisol will actually eat more food as well, especially carbohydrates.
How to Reduce Cortisol
What you need to do to combat producing too much cortisol is to learn ways to relax and also to include more mindful practices in your life. Relaxation can be achieved in a number of ways, and can easily be added to your daily routine. Maybe one of the easiest and simplest ways is mindful breathing. This is done by gently breathing in through the nose, expanding your abdomen, and then expelling the air through your nose pulling in your abdomen at the same time. As you inhale and exhale you are focusing on the breath. After several breaths in and out you should start to feel yourself relax. You need to practice doing this exercise a few minutes a day to start with building up to five minutes routinely.
You can also practice this when you are feeling stressed or when you are experiencing anxiety. Just a few minutes can slow your body down and help it to feel relaxed. The great thing is, it costs nothing and can be done anywhere and anytime.
Mindful practices like breathing can be done while standing, sitting, walking, or laying down. After starting with breathing, you may be interested in trying mediation, yoga, Reiki or other practices. As a holistic health professional, I have several mind-body self-care practices in my daily routine.. I also am able to help others find the mindful practices that are a good fit for them. That is why I have integrated Reiki, HeartMath and EFT (Tapping) into my work as a nurse coach. These practices will also help you to cope with the stressors that might occur during your day. You might find an added benefit of better sleep, and be able to organize your time more efficiently so that you do not feel so stressed. So if you are exercising frequently and eating a healthy whole foods diet but still not losing any weight, especially from around the middle then maybe you are suffering from high levels of cortisol caused by stress. Look at ways to include mindful strategies and practices and then you should see a difference in your weight and waist.