Rest Not Exercise May Help You Lose Weight

In this fast-paced world we live in, you would never think anyone would tell you to slow down and take it easy. I bet you are probably used to nutritionists telling you what you should and should not eat. But, you’ve probably never heard of a nutritionist making recommendations about rest. “What does rest have to do with nutrition and weight loss?” you may ask. You might be interested to know that rest has more to do with weight loss than you think.
Chronic unrest—lack of sleep coupled with a high stress lifestyle—can nullify the best diet and supplement plan. Lack of rest and lots of stress keeps stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine consistently working in the “on” position. Our bodies are designed to handle periodic situations of stress but not constant exposure.
Stress hormones trigger your flight or fight response. Triggering stress hormones just once a day probably won’t interfere with weight loss because your body easily clears these hormones. Triggering them every five minutes is a recipe for weight gain.
Here’s why: Every time you trigger your stress response, your adrenal glands pump out the stress hormone cortisol. If cortisol levels remain high—as they do when you don’t get enough sleep, keep yourself awake during the day by consuming lots of caffeine, or generally feel edgy and jittery—your entire metabolism becomes unbalanced, suppressing thyroid function, raising blood sugar and blood pressure, weakening muscles and bones and triggering the body to store more abdominal fat.
That’s right, if you deal with stress poorly, allowing life to rev up your metabolism and agitate you, the results will end up on your waistline. Studies show that men and women who respond to challenges with physical symptoms, such as increased heart rates and blood pressure, tend to be heavier than people who respond more calmly.
Here are some tips that can help you relax, http://healthnews.ediets.com/diet-weight-loss/the-rest-prescription.html.
I will continue this topic with more specifics in my next blog.