Guilt Perpetuates the Growth of a Gut

The next time you eat something that makes you experience guilt, think about this: The feeling of guilt raises the stress hormone cortisol throughout your body. When your body is flooded with cortisol, your brain thinks that there’s an emergency, causing it to hold hostage all the calories it can, just in case you don’t have any for a while.The next time you eat something that makes you experience guilt, think about this: The feeling of guilt raises the stress hormone cortisol throughout your body. When your body is flooded with cortisol, your brain thinks that there’s an emergency, causing it to hold hostage all the calories it can, just in case you don’t have any for a while or are starving. When your body experiences stress and your cortisol levels rise, your heart beats faster which causes strain to your heart as well. Depending on how your body reacts to stress as an individual will depend on how long it takes your body to recover from the stress or trauma. When you experience the feeling of guilt, you stress your glands, heart, and systems.

Extreme bouts of guilt can cause stress to parts of your body that you don’t even “feel” necessarily. Like the effects on your glandular system. Too much stress to your thyroid or adrenal glands can cause long-term damage, making their response times to handle stress longer and longer, wearing them out. When the glandular systems are worn out, they work less, and in turn, give you health problems beyond your scope of comfort.

Please make sure that if you have feelings of guilt when you on Reshape or any other health plan, that you manage your stress well, so it doesn’t take its toll on your body, making it seem an impossibility to lose any weight.

Some ways to manage stress: (as borrowed from www.medic8.com)

• Relax. It’s important to unwind. Each person has her own way to relax. Some ways include deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and massage therapy. If you can’t do these things, take a few minutes to sit, listen to soothing music, or read a book.
• Make time for yourself. It’s important to care for yourself. Think of this as an order from your doctor, so you don’t feel guilty! No matter how busy you are, you can try to set aside at least 15 minutes each day in your schedule to do something for yourself, like taking a bubble bath, going for a walk, or calling a friend.
• Sleep. Sleeping is a great way to help both your body and mind. Your stress could get worse if you don’t get enough sleep. You also can’t fight off sickness as well when you sleep poorly. With enough sleep, you can tackle your problems better and lower your risk for illness. Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.
• Eat right. Try to fuel up with fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Good sources of protein can be peanut butter, chicken, or tuna salad. Eat whole-grains, such as wheat breads and wheat crackers. Don’t be fooled by the jolt you get from caffeine or sugar. Your energy will wear off.
• Get moving. Believe it or not, getting physical activity not only helps relieve your tense muscles, but helps your mood too! Your body makes certain chemicals, called endorphins, before and after you work out. They relieve stress and improve your mood.
• Talk to friends. Talk to your friends to help you work through your stress. Friends are good listeners. Finding someone who will let you talk freely about your problems and feelings without judging you does a world of good. It also helps to hear a different point of view. Friends will remind you that you’re not alone.
• Get help from a professional if you need it. Talk to a therapist. A therapist can help you work through stress and find better ways to deal with problems. For more serious stress related disorders, like PTSD, therapy can be helpful. There also are medications that can help ease symptoms of depression and anxiety and help promote sleep.
• Compromise. Sometimes, it’s not always worth the stress to argue. Give in once in awhile.
• Write down your thoughts. Have you ever typed an email to a friend about your lousy day and felt better afterward? Why not grab a pen and paper and write down what’s going on in your life! Keeping a journal can be a great way to get things off your chest and work through issues. Later, you can go back and read through your journal and see how you’ve made progress!
• Help others. Helping someone else can help you. Help your neighbor, or volunteer in your community.
• Get a hobby. Find something you enjoy. Make sure to give yourself time to explore your interests.
• Set limits. When it comes to things like work and family, figure out what you can really do. There are only so many hours in the day. Set limits with yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to say NO to requests for your time and energy.
• Plan your time. Think ahead about how you’re going to spend your time. Write a to-do list. Figure out what’s most important to do.
• Don’t deal with stress in unhealthy ways. This includes drinking too much alcohol, using drugs, smoking, or overeating.

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