Are you stuck wondering why your metabolism is suddenly on the decline? Forget looking at your nutrition and fitness for a moment and consider the 6-letter word that affects every single one of us, every day in some way or another: STRESS.
You can be the most dedicated gym-goer in the world, with a ‘perfect’ diet and still battle a sluggish engine if you’re constantly under stress. It all has to do with how this kind of pressure impacts your brain, which affects pretty much all of your body’s processes.
If we’re going to talk about your body’s stress response, we have to look at the sympathetic nervous system. Your SNS activates your fight-or-flight response when you enter a stressful situation, speeding up your heart rate for a quicker reaction time, tensing your muscles for protection and dilating your pupils for tunnel vision.
Your adrenal glands also release the hormone cortisol into your bloodstream when you flip your stress switch, which has been specifically linked to fat gain in the abdomen. If you’re not careful, you could predispose yourself to insulin problems and diseases like type 2 diabetes, which in turn can lead to overeating and food control issues.
Come back to the mind-body connection you know and remember the power of physically releasing your mental stress. Take your stress out at the gym and leave it there! Sweat it out at least once a day for 20-30 minutes to decompress fully. It all starts with self-care, self-discipline and YOU!
