Health/Life Challenge
Senior Member
Joined: 07-26-2006
Posts: 903
From: Soon to be Longview, Texas
I notice that nobody has mentioned the effect that stress has on weight (with the possible exception of Harpozep's "self-employed is self-destroyed" comment). I have found from personal experience that this is the truth. Without changing my eating patterns at all (and I know they aren't the best in the world), and before I started riding my bicycle regularly around campus, I dropped appx. 70 pounds (from 350 to 280) because of moving and a job change from a management position to a regular "Joe Schmo" position at my current store. I can tell you that the exercise helped me immensely. I've been tracking myself based on clothing sizes: since I've been living here, I've dropped 6 inches off my waistline (from 50 to 44), dropped 4 inches off the width of my neck (from 19 to 15 - at my wedding my pre-weight loss tux shirt was so loose I looked like a little kid trying on daddy's tuxedo), and much to my amazement have begun being able to buy off the rack at Old Navy (!!!!!). I know that there's no real way I'll ever get to the weight for my height (6'0 man is supposed to weight 200 lbs. - just my skeleton probably weighs 185), but I feel like a truer measure of my health is my physical size.
Senior Member
Joined: 07-21-2006
Posts: 1,708
From: Ft Walton Bch FL
We just kind of assumed stress causes most weight gains. It really didn't need to be stated outloud. I was married for over 14 years and happy for about 3 of them. That translated into 60 extra pounds. The divorce took such a toll on my health, I needed a hysterectomy and had half my thyroid removed in one year. I spent the past 6 years working for a man who thinks he can treat people like dirt but if he gives a lot of money to the church, he'll be saved. I heard there was retirement paperwork on his desk this week. Say a prayer with me that he finally does retire.
I can't take any kind of medication to help lose weight and severe arthritis greatly affects my ability to exercise. My best bet is light exercise and sensible eating. So far I have no issues with high blood pressure, cholestoral, or diabetes. I'm just tired of being tired all the time.
I can't take any kind of medication to help lose weight and severe arthritis greatly affects my ability to exercise. My best bet is light exercise and sensible eating. So far I have no issues with high blood pressure, cholestoral, or diabetes. I'm just tired of being tired all the time.
Senior Member
Joined: 01-20-2006
Posts: 1,707
From: Centralia, Missouri
What the heck, I'm in. My problem is I gain a bunch of weight during winter, and then lose it during the summer. My exercise consist of helping my son practice for his baseball team, gardening, and landscaping. My job really picks up during the summer also, so that helps.
My info is:
Age....39 will be 40 on March 28th
Height.... 5'9"
Weight.... 185
BP has always been good, though I don't know the numbers
Cholesterol....last check was 211 but that was several years ago. yea it's high
Goal...170
Strategy....Take a Cholesterol test and see where I am. No junk food. Eat less for meals, knowing when to stop. Exercise is already taken care of. In the last 3 years I have given up all soda, tea, chocolate and anything else with caffeine, because of stomach problems. (chocolate was very tough, and I cheat once in a while
).
My info is:
Age....39 will be 40 on March 28th
Height.... 5'9"
Weight.... 185
BP has always been good, though I don't know the numbers
Cholesterol....last check was 211 but that was several years ago. yea it's high
Goal...170
Strategy....Take a Cholesterol test and see where I am. No junk food. Eat less for meals, knowing when to stop. Exercise is already taken care of. In the last 3 years I have given up all soda, tea, chocolate and anything else with caffeine, because of stomach problems. (chocolate was very tough, and I cheat once in a while
).
Senior Member
Joined: 08-27-2006
Posts: 2,566
From: Anaheim, CA
Hillsdale, great start! I know getting into this kind of workout routine is near impossible for me, but I'm making a stab at it also.
Re stress - I had never heard about stress causing fat to accumulate around the middle until a year or 2 ago - and even then, it's mostly hack OTC drug hawkers. But I think it's real, and I think it has to do with some hormone - I forget which - I was hoping someone had more info on this. Because if that's true, exercising is probably a great way to disperse the stress AND that hormone. We get told over and over to exercise, but I respond better when I understand why. And telling me, "It's good for your heart" just doesn't cut it.
Re stress - I had never heard about stress causing fat to accumulate around the middle until a year or 2 ago - and even then, it's mostly hack OTC drug hawkers. But I think it's real, and I think it has to do with some hormone - I forget which - I was hoping someone had more info on this. Because if that's true, exercising is probably a great way to disperse the stress AND that hormone. We get told over and over to exercise, but I respond better when I understand why. And telling me, "It's good for your heart" just doesn't cut it.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 08-20-2006
Posts: 21,640
From: Hillsdale, Michigan
Mitzkity, check this and the next post on exercise and cortisol
Exercise and Stress Relief: Using Exercise as a Stress Management Tool
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
As our society becomes more health-conscious, there has been an increased focus on the importance of exercise. Many people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever for several reasons:
Outlet For Frustrations: When life’s annoyances or frustrating situations build up, you can feel stressed or experience low-grade anger. More high-energy forms of exercise like boxing, martial arts or weight training can also provide an effective release of these negative emotions, turning these otherwise potentially unhealthy emotions into motivation for increased health and well-being.
Exercise and Stress Hormones: Exercise can decrease ‘stress hormones' like cortisol, and increase endorphins, your body's ‘feel-good’ chemicals, giving your mood a natural boost. (This is the chemistry behind a ‘runner’s high’.)
Distraction: Physical activity itself can take your mind off of your problems and either redirect it on the activity at hand or get you into a zen-like state. Exercise usually involves a change of scenery as well, either taking you to a gym, a dojo, a boxing ring, a park, a scenic mountain, a biking trail or a neighborhood sidewalk, all of which can be pleasant, low-stress places.
Lookin’ Good: I have to include this possibly superficial, but significant, benefit of exercise: it helps you lose weight, tone your body, and maintain a healthy glow and a smile. You may feel a subtle but significant boost as your clothes look more flattering on, and you project an aura of increased confidence and strength. Call me shallow, but this does impact many people, and can relieve stress for those who are concerned with their appearance and worry that they don’t look as healthy as they could.
Social Support: The benefits of social support are well-documented and manifold. Because exercise and physical activity can often involve others, you can enjoy a double dose of stress-relief with the combined benefits of exercise and fun with friends. Whether you’re in a class with others, working out in the gym with a buddy, playing softball in a league or taking a walk or hike with a friend, having others work out with you can make you feel good as well as help motivate you to push harder to get a better workout without it feeling so much like ‘work’.
Increased Health: While stress can cause illness, illness can also cause stress, with the physical pain, missed activities, feelings of isolation and other costs that come with it. So improving your overall health and longevity with exercise can also save you a great deal of stress in the short run (by strengthening your immunity to colds, the flu and other minor illnesses) and the long run (by helping you stay healthier longer, and enjoy life more because of it).
Exercise and Stress Relief: Using Exercise as a Stress Management Tool
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
As our society becomes more health-conscious, there has been an increased focus on the importance of exercise. Many people exercise to control weight and get in better physical condition to become more healthy or physically attractive, but exercise and stress management are also closely linked. Exercise can be an extremely effective stress reliever for several reasons:
Outlet For Frustrations: When life’s annoyances or frustrating situations build up, you can feel stressed or experience low-grade anger. More high-energy forms of exercise like boxing, martial arts or weight training can also provide an effective release of these negative emotions, turning these otherwise potentially unhealthy emotions into motivation for increased health and well-being.
Exercise and Stress Hormones: Exercise can decrease ‘stress hormones' like cortisol, and increase endorphins, your body's ‘feel-good’ chemicals, giving your mood a natural boost. (This is the chemistry behind a ‘runner’s high’.)
Distraction: Physical activity itself can take your mind off of your problems and either redirect it on the activity at hand or get you into a zen-like state. Exercise usually involves a change of scenery as well, either taking you to a gym, a dojo, a boxing ring, a park, a scenic mountain, a biking trail or a neighborhood sidewalk, all of which can be pleasant, low-stress places.
Lookin’ Good: I have to include this possibly superficial, but significant, benefit of exercise: it helps you lose weight, tone your body, and maintain a healthy glow and a smile. You may feel a subtle but significant boost as your clothes look more flattering on, and you project an aura of increased confidence and strength. Call me shallow, but this does impact many people, and can relieve stress for those who are concerned with their appearance and worry that they don’t look as healthy as they could.
Social Support: The benefits of social support are well-documented and manifold. Because exercise and physical activity can often involve others, you can enjoy a double dose of stress-relief with the combined benefits of exercise and fun with friends. Whether you’re in a class with others, working out in the gym with a buddy, playing softball in a league or taking a walk or hike with a friend, having others work out with you can make you feel good as well as help motivate you to push harder to get a better workout without it feeling so much like ‘work’.
Increased Health: While stress can cause illness, illness can also cause stress, with the physical pain, missed activities, feelings of isolation and other costs that come with it. So improving your overall health and longevity with exercise can also save you a great deal of stress in the short run (by strengthening your immunity to colds, the flu and other minor illnesses) and the long run (by helping you stay healthier longer, and enjoy life more because of it).
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 08-20-2006
Posts: 21,640
From: Hillsdale, Michigan
Cortisol and Stress: How to Stay Healthy
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
Cortisol and Your Body
Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:
Proper glucose metabolism
Regulation of blood pressure
Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
Immune function
Inflammatory response
Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body.
Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:
A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
Heightened memory functions
A burst of increased immunity
Lower sensitivity to pain
Helps maintain homeostasis in the body
While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that functioning often doesn’t have a chance to return to normal, producing chronic stress.
Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:
Impaired cognitive performance
Suppressed thyroid function
Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissue
Higher blood pressure
Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, as well as other health consequences
Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of , higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:
Guided Imagery
Journaling
Self-Hypnosis
Exercise
Yoga
Listening to Music
Breathing Exercises
Meditation
Sex
Other Techniques
Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.
From Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,
Cortisol and Your Body
Cortisol is an important hormone in the body, secreted by the adrenal glands and involved in the following functions and more:
Proper glucose metabolism
Regulation of blood pressure
Insulin release for blood sugar maintanence
Immune function
Inflammatory response
Normally, it’s present in the body at higher levels in the morning, and at its lowest at night. Although stress isn’t the only reason that cortisol is secreted into the bloodstream, it has been termed “the stress hormone” because it’s also secreted in higher levels during the body’s ‘fight or flight’ response to stress, and is responsible for several stress-related changes in the body.
Small increases of cortisol have some positive effects:
A quick burst of energy for survival reasons
Heightened memory functions
A burst of increased immunity
Lower sensitivity to pain
Helps maintain homeostasis in the body
While cortisol is an important and helpful part of the body’s response to stress, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response to be activated so the body’s functions can return to normal. Unfortunately, in our current high-stress culture, the body’s stress response is activated so often that functioning often doesn’t have a chance to return to normal, producing chronic stress.
Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (like those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:
Impaired cognitive performance
Suppressed thyroid function
Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
Decreased bone density
Decrease in muscle tissue
Higher blood pressure
Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, as well as other health consequences
Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of , higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!
To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, the body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. You can learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and you can make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place. The following have been found by many to be very helpful in relaxing the body and mind, aiding the body in maintaining healthy cortisol levels:
Guided Imagery
Journaling
Self-Hypnosis
Exercise
Yoga
Listening to Music
Breathing Exercises
Meditation
Sex
Other Techniques
Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. People are biologically ‘wired’ to react differently to stress. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have also shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to learn stress management techniques and maintain a low-stress lifestyle.
Platinum Member
Joined: 05-09-2006
Posts: 6,805
From: "Upland" Mesa, Arizona
Hillsdale....
Although the information is mostly accurate, don't expect to get the benefits from taking the pills/suppliment.
If I can find the article, I'll post it.....but essentially REAL TRIAL studies indicate that you would need to take about a bottle of the stuff a day, to get any benefit.
By all studies/tests/investigations/surveys/trials, weight loss still comes down to a basic truth....CALORIES IN VS. CALORIES OUT
Although the information is mostly accurate, don't expect to get the benefits from taking the pills/suppliment.
If I can find the article, I'll post it.....but essentially REAL TRIAL studies indicate that you would need to take about a bottle of the stuff a day, to get any benefit.
By all studies/tests/investigations/surveys/trials, weight loss still comes down to a basic truth....CALORIES IN VS. CALORIES OUT
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 08-20-2006
Posts: 21,640
From: Hillsdale, Michigan
No pills here Snoopy! Besides a daily vitamin and a potassium pill. We are talking about the hormone Cortisol that is naturally released in the body and how it affects you, not the drug cortisol blocking pill.
Platinum Member
Joined: 05-09-2006
Posts: 6,805
From: "Upland" Mesa, Arizona
O'k...I'm glad to hear that.
Just thought, with the information you posted, you were going to encourage the pill. Some of the same info is used to promote sales of the product.
Oh, if you care...I don't have aproblem with anyone taking vitamins, etc. especially to supplement everyday diet. I just think, sometimes, people go overboard (years ago, I was partial owner in several "health food" staores, and relied on people to believe they needed "something").
Just thought, with the information you posted, you were going to encourage the pill. Some of the same info is used to promote sales of the product.
Oh, if you care...I don't have aproblem with anyone taking vitamins, etc. especially to supplement everyday diet. I just think, sometimes, people go overboard (years ago, I was partial owner in several "health food" staores, and relied on people to believe they needed "something").
