Why Stress Could be the Missing Link Between you and your Health Goals?

ARE YOUR STRESS LEVELS SABOTAGING YOUR FITNESS RESULTS?

You’re training regularly, you’ve adjusted your nutrition habits, dialled back the booze and increased your daily step count… and nothing. Nothing’s happening. What gives? If you’ve been ticking all the boxes without seeing results, here’s something worth investigating - your stress levels.

Stress is something we all live with and cannot be completely avoided. However, with the fast-paced nature of our modern lives (hello full time work, hectic kids schedules, multiple social media platforms pinging with notifications, 24/7 news cycle and being contactable every minute of the day!) many of us are existing in a constant state of stress.

While stress can propel us to get things done, it also elevates our cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone that drives our flight or fight response, which is very handy when facing an actual threat, but not so handy when just going about our day to day business. Fight or flight mode hits pause on bodily functions like digestion and slows your metabolism. It can also impact appetite and sleep, and drive cravings for salty and sweet foods - all of this adds up to your body being unable to repair/build muscle or lose fat efficiently! So how do we take control of cortisol?

Avoid these cortisol spiking activities:

• using stimulants like caffeine (coffee, energy drinks) to keep yourself going - and using depressants (alcohol) to wind down
• multi-tasking (at work and also while “relaxing” like scrolling social media while watching Netflix)
• skipping meals, eating on the go.

And try adding these stress management activities:

• deep breathing exercises (just 5mins a day can make a difference)
• low impact movement like walking, stretching
• time blocking your schedule, cancelling extra activities or delegating tasks to others.