Weight Gain, Stress, and Fight-or-Flight
There are many factors that may influence your weight. One of the most prominent factors is stress. Many people turn to food when they feel stress. This is because the body’s fight-or-flight mechanism is being triggered. As a result the body’s natural craving during this time is for sugar. This is a hold over from our distant past: a natural mechanism to provide large amounts of energy to our muscles in order to provide the energy to flee and ensure our survival.
When you are following a weight loss program it is important that you avoid submitting to this type of eating. This must be avoided because as stated earlier, the natural cravings of people in this state are fatty foods or foods high in sugar. Not only do you crave these foods, but you are also prone to eat larger amounts of these foods. These are the exact foods that you are trying to avoid, due to their high contribution to weight gain.
Relieving Stress
Exercise is the body’s natural way to combat stress. An effective way to overcome stress is to go for a walk or maybe even run. Maybe you can’t run or walk. An effective alternative is to maybe try lifting some weights. The weights don’t need to be heavy, only enough to make you exert yourself. Regardless of what method you choose, you should perform some type of exercise. This will have the effect of removing stress levels in the body and ridding yourself of the cravings you may be experiencing.
Regardless of which activity you may choose, it is important not to over do it. Studies have shown that prolonged exercise can actually raise stress levels in the body. This will have the effect or trading one stress for another; thereby defeating the original purpose of the exercise.
David Hilton has successfully lost over 100lbs following proven plans. For more information on how you can succeed at weight loss click here
