Stress And Belly Fat - The Sugar And Carbohydrate Cravings

Stress and belly fat go hand in hand and many people don't realize it. Stress and belly fat are like partners that do not get along. The belly is the body's stress catcher. Stress and belly fat are often the cause of not only excess weight gain, but also poor self image and social interactions.

One main contributor to belly fat: LONG-TERM SELF INJURY. In our constant state of stress and anxiety we constantly manufacture hormones that have very negative effects on our long term health. The belly is one of the common places for these hormones to be stored. You must learn to manage your stress and the hormones that are associated with it so that you can begin to reduce the excess belly fat.

One hormone that is particularly troublesome is insulin. As soon as we start to feel stress we immediately begin to produce more insulin. This is a good thing for our immediate physical health. However, prolonged stress actually creates an internal situation where there is an overabundance of insulin leading to excessive amounts of glucose in the bloodstream. This is where the problems begin.

All stressors are not created equally nor should they all be addressed. For example, it has been established that certain events such as the death of someone in the family or stress from work are common stressors. These events obviously create an emotional and psychological impact that can greatly affect us. Some of the challenges we face when we are stressed include; difficulty sleeping, high blood pressure, increased appetite, dehydration, mood swings, anxiety, poor digestion problems, irritability, excess salt and fat in the body, headaches, digestive problems, and more.

Now consider the connection between stress and belly fat. The connection is quite strong and clear. A stressed out person has increased visceral fat and reduced subcutaneous fat. In other words, the stressed out person has an unhealthy picture of himself and this unhealthy picture impacts on his metabolism resulting in increased body fat stores.

What does this all mean for weight loss? It means you need to get rid of stress and sleep well. Both of these are essential to stress reduction and the reduction of belly fat stores. If you can't sleep, there is no way your body will be able to deal with stress and consequently, weight gain. If you cannot sleep, then you cannot metabolize stress and consequently, lose weight.

What you need to do is go to bed earlier, take a warm bath before bed, have a quiet meditation or exercise and then take a warm shower in the morning. After the shower, get in a comfortable position to sleep. In the evening, make sure you have high cortisol levels. If you have high cortisol levels, then your blood sugar levels remain elevated until the early hours of the morning. This means that your brain does not send any signals to your body to reduce appetite, suppress your metabolism or stop the extra glucose being manufactured. This is what leads to overeating when you wake up in the morning.

When you eat when you are stressed out, your brain sends signals to your body to take in more sugar and water, which means that your blood sugar levels stay elevated for a longer period of time until it becomes tired and tells your body to shut down production of energy. When your blood sugar levels are low, there is no need for you to metabolize extra glucose because your cells have no glucose to use. You will feel hungry even if you did not eat a lot because your appetite will be driven by hunger. This is why you feel so hungry even if you had not eaten much during the day. You have no energy to burn so your cravings for sugar and carbohydrates will be strong and you will get them even when you are not hungry.