Is Stress Making You Fat?
Everybody goes through periods of great stress – before a marriage, after a loved one’s death, with a newborn, etc. Coping with stress in a positive manner has shown to provide a much higher quality of life and inner peace to those who can effectively manage their stress.
However, despite the fact that stress is normal, it may be what’s causing you to gain weight/not lose weight. Stress has a few adverse effects on the body related to weight, such as:
Metabolism – Stress slows the metabolism of a person. As your stress level increases, your metabolism will decrease further. This is a major reason why you should manage your stress and ensure you do not allow it to worsen.
Binge Eating – Stress often causes a person to start binge eating, especially if the stress is induced from a relationship break up. Food makes us happy and because we are sad after a break up, we may resort to overeating. Do not let stress cause you to overeat. You can gain a considerable amount in a short period of time.
Increases Fat Storage – Stress not only causes the body to produce more fat, but also causes the body to store more fat then it normally would. This is not going to provide you with the results you want. In fact, you will probably end up noticing that all your progress is gone within a week or so.
These three reasons are why stress is important to maintain and manage effectively. Stress makes you gain belly fat, not lose belly fat. By managing your stress effectively, you can limit the amount of fat absorbed by your body. If you need some tips on how to manage stress, here are a few things you can do:
- Get away from the stressful place, person, or thing.
- Spend time performing Yoga or Pilates
- Read a book in a quiet room at night
- Take a brisk walk alone
- Listen to calming music
You do not have to let stress destroy your progress. Start managing your stress and continue to lose belly fat in a fast, effective manner.
Categories: General Health Tags:
Mental Fatigue and It’s Impact on Health
When on a diet or training regime, it is hard to understand why people just look at the physical aspects of what they are doing. It should be noted that the mental aspect is just as important as the physical aspect of exercise and dieting. In fact, you could argue that the mental health is more important then maintaining the physical aspect of a diet. It should also be noted that mental breakdowns are extremely common and are one of the worst diet killers. Here’s how you can avoid breaking down and stay on the path to success:
1. Workout with a partner: Studies have shown that people who work out with another person on average, burn about 300-400 calories more per workout. This stems from the fact that you have someone else pushing you, motivating you, so you can work your body harder then you normally would.
2. Take a break: It’s all to common that people think that going to the gym everyday for three hours is their best chances for success. In reality, your body needs time to recover both physically and mentally from the stresses of the week. In order to achieve maximum weight loss, take one full day off and have one or two light days, similar to something like this:
Monday: hard workout
Tuesday: hard workout
Wednesday: light workout
Thursday: hard workout
Friday: light workout
Saturday: hard workout
Sunday: OFF
By adding lighter workouts throughout the week, you ensure that your body can recover for the next day’s hard workout. By taking Sunday, completely off, your body can fully recover and heal itself. Otherwise, your body is in a constant scramble to heal and find energy- which will result in muscle loss, not fat loss.
3. Avoid the Scale: This is arguably the most important thing out of any other tip. Do NOT weigh yourself every day. You are not going to magically lose weight each day overnight. By weighing yourself everyday, you will view your weight loss as slow and insignificant. This often leads to drastic chances such as underrating or overworking at the gym and eventually a completely mental breakdown.
4. Eat!!! : Okay, you may be confused about this one here but bear with me. Under eating is extremely common among dieters but in reality it leads to mental degradation and normally results in weight gain in the long run. Make sure you eat the appropriate number of calories based on your activity level.
Make sure your are keeping your mental state in tact throughout your diet. Mental issues can lead to even more important issues down the road so it is best to bite them in the butt before they grow. Your mental health is important to losing weight, don’t let it stunt your weight loss.
Categories: General Health Tags: burning out, diet, mental exhaustion, mental fatigue, mental health
Liposuction
Liposuction
What is Liposuction?
Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery procedure that removes excess fat from specific parts of the body- normally the buttocks, hips and waist. Do not expect to lose all your fat in one operation, only a limited amount of fat can be removed.
There are different types of liposuction that you can receive to get rid of extra fat. The most common procedure is suction-assisted liposuction. Essentially a tube acts as a vacuum and literally sucks up excess fat. This procedure is most often done but there are other methods of liposuction which are more complex and are far more dangerous.
II. Costs of Liposuction
How much does liposuction cost?
If you have excess fat, you are probably wondering how much does liposuction cost? Generally speaking, liposuction costs anywhere from $3,000-$8,000. The costs of liposuction really depend on the area of the body that fat is going to be removed and the method of liposuction you choose. As mentioned earlier, suction-assisted liposuction is the most common procedure and often costs much less then the other methods.
III. Side Effects of Liposuction
As with any surgercial procedure there are many side effects of liposuction. Here are the most common:
- Bruising: this is often painful in the short-term, but should subside after a few days.
- Swelling: normally is gone after a week or two at the max.
- Pain: if you experience pain, your doctor will prescribe you a prescription to ease it.
- Numbness: Some people say this stays for a few days, others say it stays for a week or two.
- Limited mobility: depends on the procedure, but if fat is removed from the legs, you may be on a bad for a few days.
These are the main five side effects of liposuction. There are other side effects but they are very rare and are not really worth mentioning. As with any medical procedure, consult your doctor or physician before going in for your surgery.
Liposuction Recovery
If you are planning to have liposuction, plan ahead for some extra time off after the surgery. Most people experience the side effects for a few days up to a few weeks. Therefore, plan on taking off about a week from work after your surgery to allow your body to heal itself and get back to normal.
IV. Conclusion
Liposuction is an effective way to lose fat but it is not necessairly the best way. Liposuction does not provide the advantages that proper diet and exercise would provide. Some people will of course still get liposuction, which is fine. However, if you are just looking to get rid of some spotty fat, hit the gym, target that area, and continue to eat healthy.
The Importance of Fats
Fats, both “good and bad”, are considered to be an enemy of dieters worldwide. The thinking seems to be that if “I don’t eat fat, I won’t gain any more weight or fat.” In reality, a low fat diet is not good for you and in fact will have the opposite effects. Likewise, eating the right amount of “good fats’ will actually help you lose weight.
Good fats are unsaturated fats found in natural foods. Foods like peanut butter, almonds, cashews, salmon, and shrimp all contain healthy unsaturated fats. These fats will actually improve your health and help you lose weight. Un-saturated fats have been known to lower blood pressure as well as maintain and keep your heart healthy and functioning properly.
Bad fats have an adverse affect on your health. Bad fats slow down your metabolism, increase your amount of actual fat cells, and slow down the digestive processes in your body. Bad fats can be found in sweets and sugary foods as well as low-quality meat products and processed foods.
This brings us to the question: How do fats affect weight loss?
Well, as already stated bad fats will slow down your body and prevent you from burning as many calories as you may otherwise burn. Good fats however, allow the body to function properly and may even provide a small boost in your metabolism for a few hours. It also helps that the foods that contain good fats already take a long time to digest, thus burning more calories.
Overall, do not worry about your fat intake too much. With a healthy diet, your body will simply get rid of an excess fat you take in throughout the day. Fats, both saturated and non-saturated are needed and will provide the body with energy to function and move. However, try to get at least 50% of your fat intake to be unsaturated fats. This will benefit you in the long-run.
Categories: Diet, General Health Tags: diet, fat and diets, fats, importance of fat, lose weight, saturated fats, unsaturated fats