Posts Tagged ‘sleep’

Stress and Obesity – 7 Reduction Methods

Saturday, May 15th, 2010


According to Dr. Sandeep Chaudhary studies, obesity can be caused by stress. This means that if you can recover from stress, you can low down your risks of developing obesity. Isn’t it interesting?

I recently came across Shaudhary researches and wanted to share this information with you. Dr. Shaudhary works in California Scripps Memorial Hospital. He has certifications in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Endocrinology. I think he has made a good point that all overweight people should keep in mind.

How can stress lead to obesity? In a response to your stress, your body releases the hormone cortisone. This hormone rises up your insulin resistance and you have to secrete much more insulin hormone to help with food metabolism. The higher your cortisone level is, the more insulin resistance you develop. This results in extra weight gaining. And you can help yourself by decreasing your stress and dropping the levels of cortisone in your body, Chaudhary says.

Stress Reduction Methods

There are many different techniques that can help you to reduce stress. The first one is to distract yourself from the stressor and pressures that can cause stress.

Of course, we can’t change all situations that lead to stress. But we can change our exposure to them. You must simply change your reaction and look at the stressful situations from another side.

What can you do to fight stress? You can joke, self-talk, rehydrate, sleep and rest, drink cuppa, cry and use other stress relieve methods. Let’s talk about each method. Just keep in mind that these tips cannot guarantee 100% treatment of obesity. They are just tips you can follow or not.


1. Jokes and Humor

When you laugh your brains produce helpful chemicals that can help to reduce stress. Use humour in stressful situations. Distract yourself from a stressed mindset.

Humour is a working de-stressor that keeps your mind away from stress and improves your self-being. You can find jokes online, talk to your friends, watch funny TV-programs – do anything that can make you smile or laugh.


2. Self-Talk

Of course, you don’t have to talk to yourself all the time. But try this – Brisk Walk Self-Talk. Go outside and change your environment for a while. You need fresh air, new scenes (flowers, grass, sun, clouds) and motivation.

It’s better to exercise saying out loud: “I am leaving the building” when you go out, and “I have left the building” when you are jogging or walking. You can also jump, kick a ball, pick up litter or walk a dog to relax and forget about the stress.


3. Rehydrate

For this you’ll need a cup and a bottle of water. Not many people remember to drink pure water every day. And our brains and organs depend on water. Thus, if you drink enough water, you can mentally and physically fight the stress.

Try to drink a glass of water every day to help your body rehydrate.


4. Sleep and Rest

A quick nap can sometimes help you to recharge your strength. Take a catnap for 10-30 minutes. It can help you to reduce stress.

Maybe you can take a midday nap when you are too tired and stressful? If your work doesn’t allow you this, start practicing short sessions of self-hypnosis. Deep breathe and relax at work.


5. Cuppa Help

Drink a cup of a flavored tea. Try tea with fruit or herbs. What is good for your body in stressful situations? It’s fresh mint, nettles, orange zest, ginger root and other spices. These all have great therapeutic properties.

You can also add honey to your green tea. Just remember to take your mind off all your problems when you make your tea.


6. Cry

When you face a stress situation, cry. Your tears can help you to reduce your stress.

This method is mostly used by women. Don’t feel ashamed crying. It’s not childish, because sometimes it can really help you a lot.

7. Other Methods of Stress Relief

Try to understand what stressor is affecting you and develop an approach that can help you to manage your stress.

Take more B vitamins and magnesium to improve your diet plan. A healthy diet can help you to reduce stress. Avoid extra toxins (alcohol mostly). Do more exercises. Share your worries with your friends. Try yoga, other meditations or a massage. Maybe your stress will disappear.

10 Unusual Weight Loss Tips

Friday, May 14th, 2010

In order to get slim and perfect body a person should do regular exercises and follow a healthy diet plan. These are two main conditions that can help you to lose extra weight. However, exercises and healthy food are no the only way to a slender body. There are other weight loss recipes that we would like to share with you. They are very effective. Of course, you have to choose yourself what tips suit you the best.


1. Make a Colorful Revolution. Use paints to achieve your ideal forms. Remember that yellow color is associated with slenderness. It can help you to control your body weight. It helps your organism to get rid of toxins. It can be used instead of expensive medications to treat the swelling of your body. Surround yourself with more yellow colors and you will see the difference!

Maybe you have noticed that restaurants with Swiss tables use many dark blue tones in their design. If you put meals on a blue-green plate you will eat much less and you won’t ask for more. Dark blue color in nature means uneatable things. So you can use this color as a herbal medication to block your appetite. Orange color, vice versa, excites your appetite.

Blue color cannot help you to lose extra pounds because it doesn’t encourage you to make changes. If you want to become more slender get rid of all blue jeans and blouses from your wardrobe.


2. Read. A magazine is an excellent way to say ‘good-bye’ to your extra weight. One hour of reading helps your organism to burn 71 kkal. If you start intensively thinking about measures that can help you to lose pounds, your body will consume up to 128 kkal of energy which is great. Physiologists say that every person has a chance to become a bit more slender just thinking about it. Unfortunately, they haven’t shown any volunteer to prove their theory so the experiment is still not finished. Lets concentrate on this word ‘just a bit’. If you spend ‘just a bit’ time on running you will burn 485 kkal! After running you can dream about an ideal body. If you follow this order your dreams will come true much quicker.


3. Sleep more. You can always use a natural way to stay slim and not gain extra pounds. This is a healthy sleep. Authoritative scientific magazine Lancet writes that violation of sleep provokes obesity because it leads to a hormonal disbalance. Sleeplessness reduces the amount of Leptin, protein hormones that are responsible for appetite reduction and stimulation of physical activity. At the same time the amount of Neiropeptid Y increases and your body asks for more food. You can gain more pounds in one week in you don’t sleep enough. If it happens you must immediately go through a prophylactic procedure and sleep at least 8 hours every day.


4. TV’s Off.This is the advice of Chicago Medical School. Their professors have found out that those who spend more than 4 hours a day in front of a TV set consume 30 % calories more than those who turn TV off. Medics from Harvard agree with this theory. They say that even two hours of a daily TV session can increase the risks of obesity development on 23 %. The reason for this is simple. News and thrillers are more entertaining when you eat chips, nuts and sandwiches with tea. If you sit in front of TV for a long time, you wake your appetite up. The most ‘high-calorie’ programs are melodramas and horror movies. Worries, strong emotions multiply the amounts of extra fats and carbohydrates. ‘Dietary’ programs include films about nature and traveling. Watching them we eat 2.5 times less food.


5. Look at the Moon. When the Moon wanes your organism easily gets rid of all unnecessary surpluses. It loses weight without our help. Every astrologer says this. Every dietitian confirms. Moon influence on humans is very strong. When the Moon is on the way to a new Moon every person reaches the peak of physical form; metabolism works in the optimum mode; you need much less calories to maintain your energy, and the feeling of hunger goes down. Your organism is working hard on getting rid of all the surpluses. If you start your diet program at this time you will achieve a better and quicker result. You can fasten it if you sit on a diet at the New Moon. Your body will get rid of at least one pound of fats and toxins. When the Moon is on its way to a Full Mood you must not argue with nature that makes your body accumulate more energy and pounds. Just try to maintain your desirable body mass.


6. Brush Your Teeth More Often. This is useful for both your teeth and your body. Those who brush their teeth three times a day much rarely suffer from obesity. This is the theory of Japanese scientists. How can a simple procedure burn fats? The answer is simple. When you brush your teeth with mint toothpaste you low down your appetite and protect your teeth from destruction. This also helps to correct food assimilation. Besides this, people who care about their teeth health are more attentive to themselves. Just think about it. Only 9.7 % of Russians brush their teeth at least twice a day. What about you?


7. Forget the Classics. Affection to the classical music speaks about a good taste but not about a slim silhouette. All these fugues, cantatas and preludes are nice to your ear but rude to your body shape. Classical music wakes your appetite up. Listening to Antonio Vivaldi, Ludvig Beethoven and Iogan Bakh people eat much more than those who listen to others accompaniment. Classic’s admirers order additional dishes and drinks that are refined but high-calorie. English physiologists from Lestera Medical College have noticed it during the experiment hold in several British restaurants. Of course, you can still attend conservatory. But it’s better to choose popular music or silence to accompany your dinner.


8. Say ‘No’ to Moving. Do you want to change your address? Don’t hurry! According to California University scientists, the risk of obesity development is 18 % low if you live within 20 km area from the place where you were born. The results of this research are very curious. However there is still no scientific explanation for this theory. Maybe ‘aborigines’ don’t worry as much as ‘cosmopolitans’ who have to change their address several times during their lives. Every moving causes extra stress. And many people like to eat when they go through a stress.


9. Inhale Slenderness. How does a perfect body smell? It smells like vanilla, specialists from Chicago Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation say. This aroma reduces appetite and lows down your ‘need’ in sweets. Citrus smells are similarly effective. Strong-smelling molecules are caught by special receptors in your nose called olfactory mucosa. Received data is transformed to olfactory nerve in your brains. Cerebrum processes sweet-scented signal and sends your organism a command: “Lose weight”. For a visible result it’s better to inhale concentrate smell before the meal. During the meal you can use fragrant candles. Scientists assure that only two weeks of aroma diet can help you to get rid of 2 extra pounds.


10. Eat on the Dates. The best way to refuse sweets and deserts is your man. Yes, sweets don’t let women achieve ideal forms 90-60-90, but dates can do magic. All women love sweets. However experts have noticed that only 11 % of women eat sweets when they dinner with a man. It can be your friend, colleague, classmate or boyfriend. Every man can be useful in this particular case. Specialists explain this interesting fact by women’s wish to demonstrate their adherence towards healthy food and care about a perfect body. If you minus chocolate mousse or apple pie you will add plus to your slenderness.

And be happy :)