Advocating exercise as a pill to counter stress and weight gain ….
the reason why i write this is b’cos i want to share my personal experience – the benefit i got doing regular exercise
If ur interested , lets start from basics
STRESS –
Stress is a subjective sensation , an adaptive response, its like tension in the strings , to an extent it helps- increases productivity , more than that it destructs , both mental and physical health.
The term “stress”, as it is currently used was coined by Hans Selye in 1936, who defined it as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”.
Eustress ,good stress – that which increases productivity ,this is very well illustrated in this fig.
for further reading –
The hormones that r released in response to stress are – cortisol, epinephrine and nor-epi, these r actually healthy human responses to stress .
But the more of these signifies trouble …
The most common medical conditions we come across as a result of stress(not as an etiological factor , but as a contributing factor) are – hypertension , anxiety disorders , cardiovascular diseases , diabetes ,certain GI conditions like peptic ulcer ,and it also accelerates aging process.
Stress and weight gain –
stress leads to weight gain by – increased craving for sweet , spicy and fatty foods , decreased rate of metabolism , decreased activity (decreased energy spending and more fat storage) see emotional eating .
thus weight gain due to increasing stress in turn leads to more stress in health and fashion conscious people .
The way to manage the stress , its health effects – has been broadly referred to as Life style management – this being one of the first advocated primary prevention modules for life style diseases like Hypertension , Diabetes and Obesity , cardiovascular diseases .
Life style management includes good diet , exercise and management of stress by stress busters like yoga , music , any leisure activity …
Exercise
Taking frequent effective exercise is one of the best physical stress-reduction techniques available.exercise will also help by being an outlet for frustrations (eg: if u want punch somebody , imagine their face on ur punch bag and start kicking ,there u go , good exercise !! haha ).
Exercise causes to release of endorphins which lead to a sense of euphoria ,they also lead to enhancement of immune response , decreased pain perception ,and also supposed to cause the “runner’s high“.
Regular daily exercise and diet modulation (meaning :nutritious diet ,not starving ) will slowly help lose weight , gain good shape , more importantly it will be a healthy sustained weight loss .
There are many exercise schedules , what i advice is start slow , try something basic like walking or cycling – when u start feeling the good effects of it , u can try other regimens .there is no need to start looking for a gym to exercise , its unnecessary .All you need is a will , a desire to battle stress and weight gain …..
GO GO RUN ….
