Gaining Weight Around the Middle and Stress Linked

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Do you know stress can make you fat? Around the waist, above it, below it, everywhere. This article is for those of us who are between 35 and forty and have noticed fat building up around waist. This is not something we can take casually. Do you have an idea how dangerous the fat around our middle really is? It increases our risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and certain type of cancers. It can also cause insulin resistance.Rearranging our lifestyle plan in certain ways will not only help us do away with the fat around the middle, we will also be able to successfully prevent health problems in the future. In will make us look better and long term we will live longer and healthier.

The revelations may surprise many readers but it true that the main reason why people gather fat around their middle is because of the action of the stress hormone called cortisol. These days, many of us live under chronic stress. The reason fat gets stored in the middle is because it is close to the liver and here it can be converted back into energy faster, if and when needed.

After a stressful event cortisol level in the blood remains high for some time, which in turn increases our appetite as our body gives out a message that we should refuel it after this fighting or fleeing session. This goes to prove that people who are under constant stress all the time feel hungry all the time too.

The best test is the ‘hip to waist ratio’. This gives the true measure of fat around the middle and indicates whether or not you are at a risk of all the health risks associated with it. Get a tape measure and compare your waist measurement at the narrowest point with measurement of your hips at the widest point. Divide waist figure by hip figure to get waist–hip ratio.

If the calculation gives a figure greater than 0.8 and if you are a woman you need to take action. For men the danger line is if the calculation results show above 0.95.

The best way to fight the fat around middle is like I said before can by achieved by incorporating simple changes to the way you eat, take supplements, approach stress, and take to exercise. Don’t diet, have small servings often during the day. Add protein to the diet. Do away with sugar and refined carbohydrates, eat essential fats, be careful about what you drink, how much what time of the day and change the way you think about food. Exercise and learn to identify and deal with everyday stress. If you are feeling unhealthy get stress tests done.

If you can work out a plan for three months and follow it strictly for three months, the results will show. With the help of a doctor or dietician do go for it. By the end of these three months you’d be looking good, feeling better and healthier and would have learnt to deal with stress. Which is a big personal feat. To understand what stress is and what harm it can do to you and learning to tackle it is the best technique one can learn in these stressful times.