ShareThere you are. Standing in the kitchen, woofing down last night’s leftovers with the fridge door still open. And you’re not even hungry.
What’s the WORST thing you can do when you feel stressed?
Go out to dinner and “treat yourself”. Justifying a random cheat just because you had a bad day is a slippery slope.
You might know someone who’s said this before…
“I deserve this [insert favorite cheat food] because I work so hard… I had a bad day… Blah blah blah.”
“I’m going to treat myself to celebrate.”
Either way, your waistline will lose. You already know stress is the dark enemy when it comes to fat loss. But a shocking new study shows that “stressing out” can have a negative effect on your metabolism.
In a recent study, 58 women between 31-70 years old ate a meal high in calories and fat, and researchers studied their blood sugar, insulin, triglycerides and the stress hormone, cortisol.
Here’s where it gets interesting…
The study found that people who are stressed burn 104 fewer calories the next day than those who don’t stress. This may not seem like a lot to you, but if you’re a person who is stressing out a lot… it adds up quickly.
But it gets even worse… Frequent stress combined with high calorie meals will lead to even more fat gain because of your slowed metabolism.
Researchers from the study suggested the best meal to eat after a stressful day is chicken or fish and vegetables, to boost your metabolism.
That’s why it’s so important to be prepared in advance and have your fridge stocked full of delicious, healthy food choices. So when you come home from a rough day, you can whip up a nutritious dinner instead of ordering fat-laden take away. Or better still, have your meals prepared so you don’t have to think about.
Here are 3 other tips to beat stress eating:
1. Sit Down and Stop
Sit down and focus every time you eat. Avoid sitting in front of screens (like TV, computers, iPads) and be present for every mouthful. Make sure you put your knife and fork down between each mouthful. Sounds simple, but it will slow you down so that you’re mindful of how much you’re eating.
2. Drink Water and Wait
Before you think about eating another snack, drink a liter of water (or 16oz) and wait 15-20 minutes. If you’re still hungry, go ahead and eat. But often when you want to eat, you’re actually thirsty.
3. Bodyweight 4-minute workout
Nothing beats stress like a quick energizing bodyweight workout. The key to this is bringing intensity to release the tension and get your fat burning hormones firing.
Here’s a ZERO equipment workout you can try:
Do 45 seconds of each exercise, followed by 15 seconds rest for one round
(A) Glute Bridge
(B) Push Ups
(C) Prisoner Squats
(D) X-body mountain climbers
Now that’s an awesome stress beater, right?
Here’s another way to beat stress and lose fat…
There’s a NEW way of doing cardio that has been proven to melt up to 9 pounds of fat in just 14 days.
Now although this is “cardio”, you won’t need an elliptical, treadmill or bike.
This breakthrough will improve your heart health, boost your endurance and even speed up your metabolism so you burn fat while you sleep.
=> NEW cardio melts 9 pounds in 14 days
And don’t worry… if high intensity exercise sounds like too much for you right now, I’ve got a beginner level too that is highly effective and joint-friendly.
Beat stress, crank your metabolism and lose the fat.
Rock on!
KV
