Sweating some weight off is not only a bodily matter
If you’re feeling the flab creep up around your waist, spending hours and hours at the gym may not be the answer. If you’ve been anxious and fretful, you might be surprised to learn that the path to a shrinking waistline might also lead to the massage table or the meditation mat.
Research has shown that our bodies tend to store fat in our abdominal zone when we’re highly stressed. If that’s not bad enough, stress also causes a high amount of cortisol to be released. This, in turn, encourages emotional eating and the extra food you crave will probably be sweet, fatty fare – a neverending ‘fat cycle’.
How do you fight the flab, then? Well, before rushing to the gym and putting yourself on a strict diet (which might cause even more stress!), you’ll need to find a ways to relax. Each time you feel the anxiety levels climb, stop and take a deep breath. This sounds a little too simple to be true but it works. Another easy way to calm down is to listen to some comforting music. Pop in a soothing CD during your drive back from work and you might not find the traffic jams as annoying as they normally are.
Writing down your feelings is also a great way to calm down. Sometimes getting all your worries down in black and white really helps put things into perspective and essentially diminishes fear.
Perhaps the most effective method of staying calm is to learn how to remain in the moment. When you hear that little voice in your head predicting a dire future (oh no! how am I ever going to pay my bills!) or resuscitating an unhappy past (if only my boyfriend hadn’t cheated on me!) stop and take a moment. Do something to silence that voice. Physical activity that requires concentration like gardening or cooking can be very effective or maybe you could share a little teatime chat with a friend.
Keep practicing these little methods and soon you’ll find that you’ve transformed from an Anxious Anna to Tranquil Tina – and you’ll have a trimmer waistline too!
Image via www.marthastewart.com
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