The Stress-Weight Connection
Stress doesn’t just affect your mood—it impacts your body’s chemistry in ways that directly influence weight. Here’s how: Chronic stress increases cortisol levels—your “survival hormone.” Elevated cortisol can lead to belly fat storage, sugar cravings, and disrupted sleep. Disrupted sleep can affect various hormones that regulate appetite. Leptin-the hormone that supports us in feeling satiated-gets reduced Ghrelin-our hunger hormone-gets increased. Increased cortisol levels from chronic stress can lead to metabolism changes, increase in appetite and a propensity to use food as a coping tool. But here’s the good news: When you calm your mind, the…
May is Women’s Health Month
“Sometimes the weight you need to lose isn’t on your body.” — Unknown When I learned that May is Women’s Health Month, I knew it was a perfect time to dig into how stress impacts so many areas of our lives-sometimes it’s very obvious, other times not so much. One area that might not be so obvious, is how it’s related to weight issues. As the days get longer and we start thinking about summer, many women will start fretting about their weight and want to start dieting. While dieting can work for short periods…
Dear Stress: It’s Time To Break Up!
Dear Stress, It’s Time to Break Up “Because you’re just not good for me anymore.” Stress has a way of sneaking into our lives like a toxic relationship. It promises to “help” us stay alert, get things done, and stay in control—but in reality, it drains our energy, clouds our thinking, and keeps us stuck in a loop of tension. So, what if we finally said: Enough is enough? The good news is, you don’t have to stay trapped in the stress cycle. You can shift your focus, step out of the loop, and create…
My Stress Reliever: Traveling!
April is already almost over, and it still amazes me how time does have a way of going by quickly! My husband and I just returned from a 3 week European adventure. It was fabulous. Not only did we get to visit some friends in Germany, we got to experience an organization called Road Scholar that does educational and active educational tours. Ours was in Tuscany and Umbria part of Italy. This group was a new experience for us and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people and learning about the regions in ways we never…
Stressed About Taxes? Nature Has the Perfect Refund
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl I’m going to make this short and sweet, since I need to file my taxes! LOL! Actually, they’ve been done for a while, I’m fortunate that my husband is always on top of doing this and he’s got the organization of it all down pat. Tax season is not a stressor for us, but I know it is for many people. Read the article below…
Mind Tricks We Might Fall For (That Aren’t True!)
“I have to do everything perfectly, or I’ll fail.” Truth: Perfection causes paralysis and it’s more valuable to make progress and move forward than striving for perfection. “I don’t have time for self-care.” Truth: You can’t pour from an empty cup—small self-care resets boost productivity and shows you value YOU! “I’m not good enough / smart enough / capable enough.” Truth: Your mind gathers ‘evidence’ for this belief, when you keep telling yourself this, instead shift your focus and self talk to I am good enough, I am smart enough and I am capable enough.…