Stress Makes Us Fat

Stress is a part of life. You cannot live without some stress. The important thing is to reduce the negative stresses in our lives.

Stress itself can make us fat. As our cortisol levels go up, so does our waist measurement according to lots of studies.

What makes stress so fattening for me is emotional eating. One of the first things I used to do when I felt stressed was to reach for some rich food. That brought up my serotonin levels and I felt better.

Not bad if you keep that in control, but if you start to eat those foods over and over instead of learning to feel the emotions and deal with them in other ways, it is easy to have the problem balloon out of hand. That's what happened to me!

Now my cravings are under control and I am practicing other ways of reducing stress. For example, a quick walk--just a couple minutes in the fresh air and sunshine helps immensely. One of the best stress reducers I've found is to meditate.

Sometimes I do a short meditation. At other times I like to use guided meditations--to do that get a good CD that will sort of walk you through it. Dr. Wayne Dyer has several that are really good. Find one that feels good to you.

Hard to believe, but sitting still can actually help you lose weight!