How to Stop Stress and Burn Your Fat

We encounter stress every day—during traffic jams on the freeway, in the workplace, at home with the spouse and kids, on the evening news. We feel stress when we worry about money or retirement or whether we will get a promotion. Those of us who are middle-aged might face the stress of prop­erly caring for aging or sick parents and our kids leaving the nest. Since September 11, we must also contend with the stress of knowing that our country and loved ones are not immune from possible terrorist attacks. Stressors surround us at every turn.

If stress is so bad for us, then why have our bodies developed the stress response in the first place? From an evolutionary standpoint, stress is not only useful but necessary for survival. For the first two hundred thousand years of humanity’s existence, stress was a useful mechanism that got our ancestors physically prepared to kill wild animals for food, run for their lives, fight an opponent, or survive a natural disaster such as a flash flood. Greater physical strength from the adrenaline rush, sharper hearing and vision, heightened brain function, and more energy to fight or flee were certainly useful.

But the catch is that stress was never meant to be a long-term condition of daily life. Our ancestors experienced the heightened physical and hor­monal response of a stress reaction during times of genuine physical dan­ger. They then discharged their energy while dealing with the problem, cleared the stress hormones out of their system, and returned to a physio­logically normal state.

In the modern world, unless we are being robbed at gunpoint in a dark alley, most of our stress is psychological in nature. Therefore, it is difficult to make it go away by an immediate physical response or action that dis­charges it. When you discover that your new secretary has gotten your mailing lists mixed up, yelling at him or her and pounding on the desk in frustration will not solve anything.

Stress has become a condition in which we accept a short-term level of heightened performance at the expense of long-term health. Whether physical or emotional, stress has many negative effects on the body. One of them is the accumulation of a hormone called cortisol. When faced with a stressful situation, the body produces an adrenaline rush that releases fat and glucose as an energy source to help deal with the stressor. Once the crisis subsides, cortisol becomes active and stimulates the appetite so that we can replenish our fat stores. Since most of us don’t reach for an apple or a chicken breast when we feel hungry, the release of cortisol usually leads to grabbing a quick carbohydrate snack such as a slice of pizza, a donut, a candy bar, or some type of high-carbohydrate fast food. Unfortunately, liv­ing with a high level of daily stress causes the body to produce a consis­tently high level of cortisol, leading to a vicious cycle of stress, frequent overeating, and fat gain.

One of the more serious effects of stress is that it redirects metabolic energy away from the immune system. A tremendous amount of energy is necessary to operate the complex cells, hormones, and organs that make up this system. Fifteen minutes of danger and a return to normal isn’t going to compromise your immune system, but living with constant stress will surely slow you down metabolically, making you more susceptible to illness. Stress can lead to stroke, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. In fact, the six leading causes of death in the United States—heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide—are directly related to stress.

One recent study of how chronic stress weakens the immune system found that the protein interleukin-6 (IL-6) was present in unusually high amounts in people who suffered from chronic stress. IL-6 normally trig­gers inflammation to help fight infections. It also stimulates the production of C-reactive protein, which is a very accurate predictor of heart attack risk. High levels of IL-6 are also associated with type 2 diabetes, some cancers, osteoporosis, arthritis, and depression. Prolonged high levels of IL-6 can lead to a syndrome called permanently aged immune response.

This study also showed that very simple lifestyle changes, such as get­ting enough sleep, eating properly, stopping smoking, and exercising regu­larly, can dramatically reduce levels of IL-6.

Since all of us are stressed at one time or another, it is important to differ­entiate between being able to handle stress and feeling overstressed. I have written extensively about stress self-evaluation and stress management in Maximum Energy for Life, and I refer you to that book if you feel that not being able to handle stress is a major problem in your life. An important point to remember is that you will never be able to get rid of all of the stress in your life. The real goals should be learning to get rid of unneces­sary stress by making wiser lifestyle, work, and relationship decisions and learning how to manage the stress you can’t avoid.

This post has two simple questionnaires on stress and depression designed by the National Mental Health Association (NMHA). Some of their tips for controlling stress are also included.

Everyone handles stress differently—some better than others. If you think you have too much stress in your life, it may be helpful to talk with a doc­tor, clergy member, or other caring professional. Because reactions to stress can be a factor in depression, anxiety, and other mental and emo­tional disorders, you may consider working with a psychiatrist, psycholo­gist, social worker, or other qualified counselor.

Checklist of Negative Reactions to Stress and TensionDo minor problems and disappointments upset you excessively?Are you unable to stop worrying?Do you feel inadequate or suffer from self-doubt?Do you experience flashes of anger over minor problems?Have you noticed a change in sleeping or eating patterns?Do you suffer from chronic pain, headaches, or backaches?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, consider the following suggestions for reducing or controlling stress:

Be realistic. If you feel overwhelmed by some activities, learn to say no!Shed the superman/superwoman urge. No one is perfect, so don’t expect perfection from yourself or others.Meditate for ten to twenty minutes a day.Visualize how you can manage a stressful situation more success­fully.Take one thing at a time. Prioritize your tasks and tackle each one separately.Find a hobby that will give you a break from your worries.Live a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition, adequate rest, regular exercise, limited caffeine and alcohol, and balanced work and play.Share your feelings with family and friends. Don’t try to cope alone.Give in occasionally. Be flexible.Go easy with criticism. You may be expecting too much.

Every year more than 19 million Americans experience clinical depres­sion. It affects men, women, and children of all races and socioeconomic groups, causing them to lose motivation, energy, and the pleasure of every­day life. Clinical depression often goes untreated because people don’t recognize many of its symptoms. The good news is that almost everyone who gets treated can soon feel better.

Here is a checklist of ten symptoms of clinical depression:

A persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” moodSleeping too little or sleeping too muchReduced appetite and weight loss or increased appetite and weight gainLoss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyedRestlessness or irritabilityPersistent physical symptoms that don’t respond to treatment (such as headaches, chronic pain, or constipation and other digestive dis­orders)Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisionsFatigue or loss of energyFeeling guilty, hopeless, or worthlessThoughts of death or suicide

If you experience five or more of these symptoms for longer than two weeks, or if the symptoms are severe enough to interfere with your daily routine, see your doctor or a qualified mental health professional.

For more information on depression, or to locate a free, confiden­tial, and professional depression screening site in your area, call the National Mental Health Association at 800-969-NMHA (6642) or visit www.nmha .org for a confidential online depression screening.

Another helpful resource for evaluating stress levels is the well-known Rahe Life Stress Scale developed by Dr. Thomas Holmes and Dr. Richard H. Rahe, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Based on their years of researching the connection between stress and health, these doctors have assigned numerical values to stressful events. For example, the death of a spouse is 119 points, pregnancy is 67, divorce is 96, changing jobs is 51, and sexual difficulties are 44. Even events that you might think of as good or pleasurable have an impact on your overall stress level. Marriage is 50 points, a major increase in income is 38 points, a vacation is 24, and the birth of a grandchild is 43. According to Drs. Holmes and Rahe, if you score below 200, you have only a low risk of illness. Between 201 and 300, your chances of getting sick are moder­ate. A score between 301 and 450 increases your odds of getting sick con­siderably, and a score greater than 450 puts you at imminent risk. While this test is not an absolute indicator of your risk for disease, it can give you a clearer picture of how many of your daily life circumstances are poten­tially stressful. If you wish to take this test, you can access it on the Inter­net at Dr. Rahe’s Web site: www.hapi-health .com.

If a healthy person is fasting or starving, 90 percent of his or her calories will come from fat stores and only 10 percent from protein. When a person is undergoing chronic stress, even if he or she is not injured or sick, only 70 percent of calories will come from fat stores and 30 percent will come from lean protein.

There is a direct correlation between the breakdown of protein for fuel and the greater metabolic need for glucose during times of physical or emotional stress or trauma. To get the extra glucose, the body takes amino acids from lean muscle mass, converts them to alanine, and changes the alanine into glucose to be used by the tissues as an emergency energy sup­ply. Physiological stress can greatly increase metabolic requirements. For example, after surgery metabolic needs increase by 20 percent; following a serious infection or a traumatic injury, they increase by 50 percent.

Following a well-balanced and nutritional diet such as the Fat-Burning tips becomes even more crucial when you are suffering from the effects of illness or long-term stress.

People who live with high levels of stress will be amazed at how effec­tively exercise combats stress. Stress is a killer because it undermines almost every system in the body, from the cardiovascular system to the immune system. Since I work with so many professionals whose jobs come with an unavoidable stress component, I am always gratified to see how greatly my Fat-Burning tips improves their ability to handle stress.

Bo Walker, the radio host who agreed to participate in a makeover for Let’s Live magazine, worked very hard at my plan and kept exercising even when the twelve-week makeover period was completed and the mag­azine articles had gone to press. Bo’s moment of truth came when the radio station announced that they were not renewing his contract. Suddenly, he was faced with the stress of being the forty-year-old unemployed father of a two-year-old child with financial, career, and self-esteem issues.

Once his job had officially ended, Bo felt no motivation at all to go to the gym. But his wife, Lisa, told him, “You’ve got to continue doing this for your own sanity.” Not giving up on his exercise program turned out to be Bo’s greatest emotional stabilizer: “It kept my mind occupied. I knew I had someplace to go two, three days out of the week. The exercise was cathartic. It allowed me to keep my mind off losing my job. It did more than just make me feel physically better. It was an emotional boost as well. Once I was at the gym, I could do my routine. It put me back on the track again. It’s helped me through quite a bit.”

Fortunately, Bo was only out of work for a few months. Sticking with his exercise program gave him the ability to reduce his stress and have the energy and focus he needed to find another job and get on with his life.

The two forms of exercise offered in the Fat-Burning tips are specifically designed to deal with stress. If you must navigate a series of several stressful events daily, then the steady-state exercises on days 1, 3, and 5 will help to create greater emotional homeostasis so that you can cope better. If you are experiencing continu­ous stress, such as having to be the caregiver for someone in the family who is seriously ill, the core and interval exercises on days 2, 4, and 6 will enable you to achieve greater emotional and physical equilibrium.

In 1994, the National Institute of Health mandated that both genders be more equally represented in the studies done by government and other medical research groups. One of the more interesting outcomes of that decision has been the discovery that men and women are biologically pro­grammed to have different reactions to stress.

When a research team at UCLA led by Shelley E. Taylor analyzed hundreds of stress studies done since 1985, they discovered that men and women release different hormones during stressful situations that result in different styles of coping. Men usually respond with the classic fight-or­flight behavior, increased arousal, and greater risk taking, which for many years had been considered the accepted model for both genders. However, it is now becoming clear that women more often manage stress by seeking out bonding activities.

The mechanism behind this response is the release of the hormone oxytocin. While the large amounts of testosterone produced in men during stress tend to counteract this hormone, estrogen enhances its effect. Oxy­tocin buffers the fight-or-flight response in women and instead encourages them to care for children and bond with other women. “Women are more likely to seek emotional comfort and solace by calling up a friend or relative,” Taylor says. These tending or befriending behaviors cause the body to release more oxytocin, producing a further calming affect.

One of my clients who was diagnosed with breast cancer spent a lot of time talking with her friends and family during her months of treatment: “Cancer is a great shock to everyone involved, not just the patient. I dis­covered that my relatives and friends were just as stressed as I was, and my parents and siblings really felt helpless because they lived all the way on the other side of the country. But when we kept in touch by phone and e-mail, it helped us a lot. My friends also appreciated it when I told them how I was really feeling and what I needed. It helped them to cope with their fear and anxiety. Letting them comfort me or bring over some food made them feel calmer and more empowered because they were doing something for me.”

Another gender difference is that women tend to feel more day-to-day stress than men. The reasons for this can be seen in how women’s emo­tional lives are structured.

Women engage in more multitasking than men in their everyday lives. A man may be the father and breadwinner, but a woman is the mother, career woman, housekeeper, caretaker, and friend and sup­porter of many other women. All of these activities take their toll, creating greater stress.Women are more vulnerable to physical violence, mugging, and rape than men.For a woman to be happy, she has to be in a good relationship with all of the people who are important to her including her kids, her spouse, her family, her coworkers, and her friends.Women are programmed to nurture, caretake, and defer to others, most often at the expense of their own emotional needs.Because nature designed women for child rearing, they are naturally hardwired to be more sensitive to their environment than men.

1. Get enough sleep at night.

2. Don’t skip meals. Have three square meals a day and two snacks.

3. Exercise regularly and at appropriate intensity levels for your gender.

4. Practice meditation or deep-breathing exercises for at least ten minutes a day.

5. Make time for yourself. Take a relaxing aromatherapy bath; listen to music; take a walk in a beautiful setting; do some gardening; buy yourself roses.

6. Try to be conscious of your needs and don’t always put your­self last.