FAT ON FIRE: EFFECTS OF EXERCISE, NUTRITION AND STRESS.

Where there's smoke, there's fire.

And where there's fire there's a raging body-fat burning inferno with your name on it.
 
You can't start a fire without three things:  fuel, oxygen and heat.
 
You also cannot start a body fat burning fire without three things being in order in your life:  exercise, nutrition and stress management.
 
I have three very specific case-studies of current / past clients who showed a great deal of progress in a short amount of time, simply by diligently doing those three things.
 

Horace M. - male, 60 years of age - he came to me to begin training 6 weeks before he was supposed to make a hiking trek to the top of Mt. Rainier.  I prescribed 3 days per week of weight training and 5 days per week of stair climbing at the Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State University.  He cleaned up his eating habits and already was in a place of being a very easy-going, low-stress guy.  He dropped 15 pounds in 6 weeks.  The backpack he was to carry was to be in the neighborhood of 45 pounds.  That's a net difference of really only being an additional 30 pounds he had to carry.  He made it to the top with his 21 year old son who was a punter for FSU at the time.
 
Paola G. - female, 40 years of age - for 3 months, she had a bit of a rough time getting started with her exercise routine, not the least of which was due to being busy over the holidays, stress at home and a fast-paced work environment.  She started her exercise plan in October and up unto the point where the holidays kept her from exercise for two weeks, she had lost seventeen pounds -- 7 of which she put back on during that lapse.  She started exercising again in January to moderate results.  After a request to meet with me for a follow-up, and after about an hour discussion about various things including nutrition, exercise and such, we determined that her home-life was causing a great deal of stress in her life.  We talked through some things and I suggested she take a look at Meetup.com to find some activities with some people that have similar interests.  6 weeks later when our paths crossed again, I could tell that she had lost another 10-15 pounds - I wasn't in a place where I could get an accurate number from her, but she was/is definitely shaping up well.
 
Allyson G. - female, 29 years of age - like Paola, she had some starts and stops for about 3 months as well when it came to getting her routine underway.  Work was stressful and although she was exercising, she wasn't seeing a great deal of progress.  But she stayed on it.  When things leveled out at work (aka, when the work-related stress subsided a bit), she buckled back down on her exercise (a combination of indoor and outdoor cardio and resistance training) and with the accountability of Weight Watchers, she was down 12.6 and then 26.2 pounds at two meetings that we had to discuss her progress (each about 6 weeks apart) after our initial set-up of her exercise plan at the beginning of January.  After seeing her in passing last week, she is down 30+ pounds since the beginning of 2011.
 

I've been working with another gal, Laura, who is 30 and definitely getting stronger but feels like her shape isn't changing too much after almost 6 weeks.  She raised this concern with me and after a brief discussion (she eats fairly decently and exercises 6 days a week), it seems that outside stress is sabotaging her progress.

This composition has mainly taken a turn toward being about stress, even though I indicated that it takes all three things to have a balanced approach to wellness and weight-loss.  Though, I suppose that was a natural course in which this article would flow, because stress is perhaps a less-discussed part of the wellness continuum.

EVERYONE knows that if you eat poorly, it will reflect in poor body shape, and a litany of other health-issues aside from just excess body fat.

EVERYONE knows (even if they're not willing to admit it) that exercise (cardiovascular, resistance training) are going to assist with general wellness, weight management and a feeling of well-being.

Even in Los Angeles, which is rated the #1 Most Stressed Out City in America, many don't consider that their stress / stress-management may be torpedoing their exercise goals without even realizing it.
 
In Laura's instance (and the other two for that matter), they indicated that coming to the gym for exercise was a big step in helping reduce stress and that is absolutely correct.  You're all right on target ladies, and we haven't even gotten into any discussions about hyper-thyroidism (which can lead to major weight gain due more to hormonal imbalance) because it wasn't applicable in these cases.  But, how we deal with stress as it presents itself during the day on a day to day basis is enormously key in helping keep our cortisol levels under control and generally aiding in a feeling of well-being.

And know that not all stress is bad, or at least, the way your body is designed to respond to certain stress is not necessarily bad.  Cortisol is a stress hormone that has numerous benefits, including:

• A quick energy burst for survival reasons
• Heightened memory function
• Increased immunity
• Lowering pain sensitivity
• Homeostasis maintenance in the body

Though, it’s important that the body’s relaxation response be activated so the body functions can return to normal following a stressful event.

Higher and more prolonged levels of cortisol in the bloodstream (such as those associated with chronic stress) have been shown to have negative effects, such as:

• Cognitive performance impairment
• Thyroid function suppression
• Blood sugar imbalances -- hyperglycemia
• Decrease in bone density and muscle tissue
• Higher blood pressure
• Lowered immunity / inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, other health consequences
• Increased abdominal fat. Abdominal fat 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 metabolic syndrome, higher levels of “bad” cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of “good” cholesterol (HDL).

To keep cortisol levels healthy and under control, your body’s relaxation response should be activated after the fight or flight response occurs. Learn to relax your body with various stress management techniques, and make lifestyle changes in order to keep your body from reacting to stress in the first place.

Cortisol secretion varies among individuals. One person may secrete higher levels of cortisol than another in the same situation. Studies have shown that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, that food being higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol.

So, the takeaway...

Do we roll with the punches (indeed there are many in life and sometimes they are punches in the face with fitness) and keep on trucking?
 
Do we let things roll off so that we don't hold onto unnecessary burdens?
 
Easier said than done right?
 
Yep.

But you have to find a way.  You MUST find a way.  There is NO other way.  YOU have to find what works for YOU.
 
In each of the 3 success stories above, they found what worked for them.  And what worked for them was NOT by purchasing an over-the-counter cortisol reducing supplement (which only treats the symptom and not the cause of the problem) but by balancing their life.

Have a strong day, stress reducers.