Reducing Cortisol Levels While Dieting

Dieting and the reasons why we find ourselves in the need of dieting is caused by many things. I have found that as I have gotten older than many things in my body chemistry has changed. Making it harder for me to lose weight once I have gained it. Also the reasons for which I gained the weight in the first place.

Hopefully this article I found will help you in your search of the how's and why's of dieting.


Women's Health and Fitness - Reducing Cortisol Levels Can Help You To Lose Weight


It is now known that stress can actually stop you losing weight especially around your middle. Stress can cause your body to secrete high levels of cortisol hormone into your bloodstream, because of your body's "flight or fight" response to stress. Stress can be either psychological (mental and emotional) or physical.

Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and is actually important for the regulation of blood pressure, the immune system and many other functions. Cortisol can be good in small amounts but high levels can lead to an increase of abdominal fat, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and can also increase your bad cholesterol levels and decrease your good cholesterol levels.

High levels of cortisol can also decrease your bone density, leading to osteoporosis and loss of muscle tissue, which will also slow down your metabolic rate, and it can also increase your blood pressure along with other problems.

Each of you will react differently to stress; some of you will produce more cortisol to a particular stress while others will produce less. It has been found that those of you that produce more cortisol will actually eat more food as well, in particular carbohydrates.

What you need to do to combat producing too much cortisol is to learn ways to relax and also to maybe change your lifestyle.

Relaxation can be achieved in a number of ways either by exercising, mediation, yoga or breathing to start with.

Maybe one of the easiest and simplest ways is breathing. This is done by gently breathing in through the nose, gently expanding your abdomen and then gently expelling the air through your nose pulling in your abdomen at the same time. Whilst breathing out the air you need to focus on that breath. After several breaths in and out you should start to feel yourself relax. You need to practice doing this exercise a few minutes a day to start with building up to five minutes in the end. You can also practice this when you are feeling stressed or when things are getting on top of you. Just a few minutes can slow your body down and help it to feel relax.

Life style changes can be like changing your eating habits for a healthier diet, getting enough sleep, or even organizing your time more efficiently so that you do not feel so stressed. Also looking after your body will help your body to cope with stresses that you come across during your day.

So if you are exercising frequently and eating properly but still not losing any weight especially from around the middle then maybe you are suffering from high levels of cortisol caused by stress. Look at ways to solve the problem and hopefully then you should see a difference in your weight and around your middle.


- - - - - -Gill Webster is dedicated to helping women over 40, learn how to live a healthy beautiful life. To learn more, jump to www.feelinggreatafter40.com and sign up for her free newsletter on health and fitness.

Dieting and Cholesterol Problems

Dieting and Cholesterol Problems

Dieting thru the years has shown that cholesterol levels are way out of the limits. Normally you don't realize it till you go to your doctor to check in with him prior to going on certain diets. The doctor normally will request for you to have a few regular test ran and one of them concerns your cholesterol levels.

What a rude awakening when you find out that you not only need to diet to lose weight, but you need to somehow get your cholesterol in check and fast.

I found this product after I had gone to my doctor for a checkup before my diet and realized I had a cholesterol problem. Thought I would share this with you. It is all natural and something I did some research before trying.

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Studies show, the ingredients in Cholestapro, when used in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program, are clinically proven to reduce Total and LDL cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of Heart Disease. The ingredients in Cholestapro are so effective, they are FDA approved for cholesterol reduction.

Concerned About Your Cholesterol?

Fact #1 - The need for natural Cholesterol reduction is clear and visible. An estimated 101 million American adults, nearly half the adults in the US, have been classified as having borderline-high or higher total blood cholesterol concentrations. (AHA, 2002a) Finally there is a safe and effective solution for cholesterol management.

Fact #2 - Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is the world's leading cause of death, killing over 12 million people per year. Over 4 million of those deaths can be attributed to high-cholesterol levels. Once considered only a problem in the Western world, CHD is now spreading outward rapidly. Although this news may sound sobering, there is hope. Now there are simple and effective intervention methods to counter heart disease.

Fact #3 - We all have varying levels of cholesterol in our bloodstream. There are a number of factors that contribute to your cholesterol levels. Family history, diet, exercise, lifestyle, to name just a few. Luckily, now there are natural ingredients that have recently been given FDA approval for cholesterol reduction. The ingredients in Cholestapro contain these FDA approved ingredients.

Fact#4 - 1 in 5 Americans over 55 years old are taking some form of statin-lowering medication to reduce their cholesterol levels. Now, there is an all natural alternative to some of the more popular prescription medications for cholesterol reduction. The ingredients in Cholestapro are FDA approved and clinically proven to Lower Total and LDL cholesterol levels and to reduce the risk of Heart Disease. Cholestapro can provide you reduction results similar to that of most statin medications without the common side effects such as liver damage and skeletal muscle damage (rhabdomyalgia).

Understanding Cholesterol

There’s a lot of talk about high cholesterol. It’s everywhere. In the news, on television, on the radio, but many people don’t really understand what cholesterol is. All cholesterol isn’t bad. In fact, it’s produced naturally in your liver and it helps with important bodily functions. Cholesterol is an essential component to every cell in your body.

The term “high cholesterol” refers to when you have too much total cholesterol or too much “bad” LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in your bloodstream. High cholesterol is the main contributing factor to heart disease. There are many factors that could contribute to high cholesterol. It can be inherited from your family members or be a result of your body chemistry. It can also be the result of a diet high in saturated fats, lack of exercise, or diabetes. Luckily, now there are safe and effective alternatives to help you lower your cholesterol, naturally.

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Diet And Exercise Review

Diet And Exercise Review

If you think you can diet only and not need to exercise, you are only fooling one person. Yourself! Believe me, I know this for a fact. For years I tried every diet available. My main problem was, I didn't exercise. What a waste of time and money.

I can say that I finally broke through the myth of dieting without exercising a few years ago. I took off the weight by doing both and kept it off.

The best part of all, was that I didn't have to continue being on a diet. Instead, I watch what I eat and I get up and walk or exercise every day.

Below I found an article that I thought you would like on diet and exercise. Read it and enjoy.

Dieting and Exercising? Results all the time!

To be successful in keeping to an exercise program, you going to have to define results. Results for most mean weight on a scale, a dress size, the number of pounds on a bench press, and your waist size. I challenge you to think in abstracts. Results, all the time? Yes! It just may not come in the form you are looking for on the surface. You can break the type of results into three categories: emotional, internal and external.

EMOTIONAL

I believe more important than waistline measurements, personal bench press records or reading whatever the scale says, is what exercise does for you emotionally. For me, it was self-confidence and self- esteem. I will do this for life because I do not want to go back to the person I once was. For you, it may be a feeling of being productive. Or because you are doing something for you and no one else.

INTERNAL

Internal results come in the form of vital signs, such as lower blood pressure, and a decrease in body fats, cholesterols and triglycerides. Of course, these are important, but do not look just at the typical attributes.

EXTERNAL

These are results you are accustomed to achieving. It is something we can see or touch. Pants are fitting loser, arms are looking toned, and numbers on the scales are going down. At times it is a lot easier to get motivated by those things we can see, rather than all that is going on inside. Personally, I have seen more people stick with a program if they focus on the emotional and internal results, more than the external. The outside results may motivate you in the beginning, but it is the INSIDE OUT approach that keeps you going.


About the author:

Greg Ryan is a best selling author, former employee of Kathy Smith, and high profile fitness expert. LOSE WEIGHT IMMEDIATELY! Discover the common sense way to lose weight with out dieting that the doctors DON’T want you to know.
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Dieting Information

FREE DIET INFORMATION



What is best diet or diet plan for you? So much to choose from can make it all that more confusing.

This blog will hopefully give some insight on the things you need to look for before starting a diet or diet plan.

Why You Should Personalize Your Diet

For the best diet results, you need a personalized diet that you can stick to.

Maybe you are aiming to shape up, or to improve your fitness and health, no matter what you want to achieve the best way to achieve it is with a diet designed for you - to suit your tastes, habits, and lifestyle.

A personalized diet plan may be obtained from a multitude of sources. Provided you have no major health problems and your trying to lose, weight (as opposed to lowering cholesterol, which will probably require a more specialized diet) then one of the many diets offered by the major fitness and diet gurus will do the job perfectly. Just pick the diet that best suits you. Advice can also be obtained at your local gym where there will usually be a knowledgeable person who can help you find your perfect diet.

Everyone reacts differently to diets; certain diets that cause immediate weight loss for you may cause lackluster change in other people. So personalizing your diet - making it suit you - can greatly increase the benefits you get out of your diet. So verify that the food you eat is the correct food for you.

If you suffer from a health condition that is interfering with your diet, or perhaps is not compatible with your diet, you should avoid changing the diet to suit your condition without consulting your doctor first. Most doctors will be able to tell you what foods are or are not compatible with your condition and advise you on what to do with your diet.

Of course your doctor knows as much as anyone about your health. They are in an excellent position to help you decide on the diet that will be most effective for you. They will also be able to spot any potential problems with a diet you are on, or are considering. For example if you are on medication to prevent blood clots then you should not eat green vegetables (spinach in particular). Your doctor will spot issues like this and point them out to you.

Most mass-market diets are designed to be “one size fits all”, but in truth we are all different. What works for one person might not work for you. That is why the diet that you can tailor to your self and your body is the best kind of diet. Therefore, when you are considering diets you need to check if the diet can be shaped to suit you. This is the kind of diet that will work best for you.

Another problem is that depending on where you live, some diets might call for you to eat a particular food that is difficult or even impossible to find. They might also require you to eat foods that are out of season or more expensive to buy in your location than others. If this is the case, you should change your diet to include foods that are easier to come by, but that also work in your diet.

Of course, there is little point in beginning your diet with great determination only to find a week later that you do not have the ability to stick with it. It is important that you ease yourself into your diet when possible. Phase out your old diet while gradually adopting your new personalized diet.
That way you will be able to stick with it and get the most out of your new diet.

Avoid a diet that requires you to abruptly change your eating habits, forcing you to stop eating your favorite foods for example. Changes like that will cause temptation and make you cheat on your diet. A diet like this will rarely last long enough to have any meaningful effect on your health or weight.

If your diet has an aim - like losing weight or lowering your blood pressure then you should consider making a progress chart. That way you can look at the chart and see how far you have come and how much closer to your goal, you are. That kind of encouragement will give you a much-needed boost in your confidence, and your resolve to work along the path of your new diet and achieve your goals.

About the Author: Andrew Banderman is the owner and editor of RC Diet -- a premier source of information on diet.