Manage Stress and Lose Weight

This is a guest post by Barry Sepulvita.

How are you feeling today? The pressures of the world wearing on your shoulders? Stress is a major contributing factor either directly or indirectly, to coronary artery disease, cancer, respiratory disorders, accidental injuries, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide; the six leading causes of death in the United States. If you aren’t managing your stress properly then you are at serious of risk an untimely death.

Depending on how you cope with stress you may find you need to lose weight as well. Some people choose to combat stress by not eating healthy, or maybe not at eating at all, and other choose to battle it by over-eating. I know I am in the latter camp.

As it happens, many of the things you can do to combat stress will have an immediate impact on your weight. Here are 3 things you should do to deal with your stress:

Exercise

The good news about managing stress and losing weight is that you can do one thing that will quickly and directly help with both. Exercise! Depending on your current fitness levels you should start slow, perhaps just by walking, and then work your way up to sweat inducing activities. Not only does exercise address the physiological aspects of stress but it also is a simple way to take your mind off of doing other things that could be going against your weight loss program, such as eating too much bad food.

Sleep

Getting the proper amount of quality sleep is essential for weight loss and for managing your stress. Whether you have sleep apnea or simply choose to stay up late and get up early, you are robbing your body’s ability to properly manage stress when you don’t get enough sleep. If you do have a sleeping disorder, then get help (or if you have already been diagnosed then be sure to use whatever system you have been asked to use, such as a CPAP mask. If you just don’t like to sleep, then change your habits to spend more time in bed, and make sure that time is spent sleeping!

Distract

One of the simplest things you can to do combat stress is to find ways to simply forget about it! How do you do this? Find ways to be distracted. Check out Quality Logo Products for a selection of stress balls that can be squeezed at all times of day such as when you are sitting at your desk or watching television. Go window shopping, take a leisurely bike ride, start writing that book you’ve been talking about writing (but only if you love writing!). Heck, be like John and start a blog. Anything to take your mind off of your stress and your potential negative approaches to dealing with that stress, such as over-eating.

Stress is a killer and it can have a serious negative effect on your weight loss program. Use these tips to help combat stress and keep those pounds at bay.

photo by: BLW Photography