subject: Hating Your Belly Fat? Cortisol, Sleep, Stress, And What They Have In Common [print this page] Sleep usually isnt the first thing you think about when you are considering ways to lose weight, but in reality, getting adequate sleep is a vital factor of any weight loss plan. Sleep enables your body to function well - and it also helps fight against one of the natural causes of belly fat: cortisol. Let's take a closer look at this.
When you get enough sleep, you lower your stress level considerably. When we have higher levels of stress, the stress triggers a chemical reaction inside our bodies that puts us into a type of "survival" mode. At this time, our bodies create a chemical known as cortisol - and it directly affects your belly fat. Cortisol basically tells us to save up fat stores for the difficult times ahead.
Most people today have some elements of stress in their lives. Financial, social, personal, emotional and other obligations add to our stress levels. The incessant bombardment of informations and advertisments, self-imposed famines" that we call dieting, and so much more all contribute to raising our stress levels - and as a result making ourselves fatter - than ever before. Belly fat cortisol production sky rockets inside of us due to stress.
If you want to reduce your belly fat, one rule you need to enforce is to simply slow down and relax. Allow your body the rest and amount of time it needs to produce endorphins (the feel-good chemicals that you want instead of belly fat cortisol). Having more endorphins in your body contributes to your feeling more content and upbeat about everything - including your weight.
Being sure to get enough sleep is also very important for those who are involved in regular exercise routines. Your body gets time to repair itself when you sleep.
Those achy muscles from strength training are caused by microscopic tears in your muscle tissues, and sleep allows your body time to repair and rebuild stronger muscles. Those rebuilt muscles make up the increased lean muscle mass in your body, and the greater amount of lean muscle mass you have, the faster your body burns through calories - even while you are resting.
Getting enough sleep is not always enjoyable or easy. According to several studies, the majority of people do not get even close to the 7 to 10 hours that their bodies require. And if you want to get that lean body and fight belly fat cortisol, be sure to get enough sleep to ward off weight gain.
How do you be certain that you are getting an adequate amount of sleep? You can simply do a quick review of how many hours of sleep you are getting on a regular basis. If you are lower than 7 hours each night, look at what is keeping you up.
Video games, movies or tv, computer time caffeine or alcohol, and others all serve as stimulants that keep you awake when you could be getting that valuable sleep. Some quick tips for enhancing your sleep time are to avoid caffeine of any kind after noon, do some stretching or yoga, chat with a trusted friend, or journal about the stress in your life.
Try to avoid the use of sleeping aids, and it is entirely too easy to get addicted to them. Discuss them with a physician before usage.
Another great way to encourage good sleeping habits is to make your bedroom a quiet, peaceful place. Use some cheap foam earplugs if you are a light sleeper, hang some heavy curtains to keep out the light in the early morning hours, wind down with a good book or a cup of chamomile tea, or with personal devotions.
These are all ways your belly fat one rule of getting enough sleep will work for you, how you can ward off the build up of belly fat, cortisol production, and more.
