It’s a proven fact that stress makes you fat and it’s no coincidence that our ever increasing hurried, hectic and rushed lifestyles have coincided with increases in obesity, cancer, heart disease and diabetes rates in the last 20 years or more. So stress not only makes you fat but kills you too!
Before we take a look at ways in which we can manage stress, let’s first identify if you are stressed and then how to you can help to relieve it. It makes perfect sense that if we reduce our stress levels our health will improve, we’ll lose fat and be less likely to develop a life threatening disease.
The term type C personality was coined by Shawn Talbott, the author of The Cortisol Connection. It is a name for someone who is chronically stressed. Some common type C characteristics include; feeling always snowed under with work, continual state of hurry-hurry, constant fatigue, abdominal weight gain, depressed and low sex drive. The C stands for Cortisol, an important hormone released by the adrenal glands and its responsible regulating the body’s metabolism of glucose, proteins and lipids. It’s called the fight or flight hormone; when we face a stressor cortisol levels increase which in turn increases blood glucose, protein and fat levels for energy ready to fight or flee the stressor. In an ideal scenario we deal with the stressor and the cortisol levels return to a normal level but we usually can’t run or hide from our everyday stresses such as paying the mortgage, cramming too much into a day, family life or work, so it’s very easy for cortisol levels to be continuously raised leaving us chronically stressed and a ‘type C personality’.
To help you find out if you are a type C personality answer the following questions with either 0 for Never or No, 1 for Occasionally and 2 for Frequently or Yes.
• How often do you experience stressful situations?
• How often do you feel fatigued for no apparent reason?
• How often do you get less than 8 hours sleep?
• How often do you feel anxious/depressed?
• How often do you feel overwhelmed or confused?
• How often is your sex drive lower than you would like it to be?
• Do you tend to gain weight easily?
• How often have you attempted to control your body weight?
• How often do you pay close attention to the foods you eat?
• How often do you crave carbohydrates (sweets/breads etc)?
• How often do you experience difficulty with memory or muscle tightness in your neck, shoulders or jaw?
• How often do you experience digestive problems such as gas, bloating, ulcers, heartburn, constipation or diarrhoea?
• How often do you get sick/catch colds or the flu?
Now add up the answers to give you a total score. If you scored 0-5 points you are as cool as a cucumber, well done! A score of 6-10 points and you’re a Strained Jane but are managing your stress levels well. If you scored 11 points and above you are a Stressed Jess and almost definitely suffering from an overactive stress response and need to deal with it.
We can’t always avoid stress but we can learn how to manage it more effectively. The following tips will serve as a good base from which to start changing the way you manage your lifestyle but if you feel you need an extra hand or a push in the right direction come and have a chat. At Phoenix Pro Fitness the holistic approach to improved health runs through our veins and we are always here as a shoulder to lean on. Come and speak to one of the team and we’ll help provide the tools to manage your stress.
1. Change your email program so that it only checks for messages every hour – you’ll not be interrupted with a ‘ding’ or ‘ping’ from the screen, leaving you to get some real work done.
2. Leave the phone behind – even though you tell yourself you won’t answer it there is a part of you waiting for that ring.
3. Read – Take time out in the day to lose yourself in a chapter of your favourite book or magazine.
4. Take a break – Take a proper lunch break, you’ll be more productive in the afternoon too.
5. Day Off – Take a day off each week, strictly no work including thoughts and worries.
6. Get a massage – A great way to unwind each week. At Phoenix Pro Fitness we have an in house sports massage therapist so book a free 30 minute massage.
7. Take a bath
8. Lighten up and laugh – Life’s too short to mope about, share some jokes with friends, watch your favourite comedian, whatever makes you laugh do more it.
9. Take a long weekend – Even short breaks significantly reduce cortisol levels.
10. Get a pet – Stroking a cat or walking a dog relieves stress too.
11. Get some sleep – This is vital, make sure you have enough every night, don’t stay up and watch crap on TV or finish that work report. Hit the sack early and get 8 or more hours.
12. Exercise – Leave the thinking and programming to us at PPF and just enjoy the process of feeling fitter and healthier.
13. Eat well – Speak to a member of the team and we’ll guide you in the right direction to a better diet.
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