Hating Your Belly Fat? Cortisol, Sleep, and What They Have In Common

     When you are thinking about things that will help you lose weight, you rarely consider sleep in and of itself, but in truth, getting adequate sleep is a vital factor of any diet program. It helps your body to function well - and it also helps fight against one of the natural causes of belly fat: cortisol. Let's examine this a bit closer.

One of the most beneficial results of sleep is that it reduces stress levels. When we have higher levels of stress, it triggers a chemical reaction inside our bodies that puts us into 搒urvival mode? At this time, our bodies produce a chemical known as cortisol - and it directly affects your belly fat. Cortisol basically tells us to save up fat reserves for the 揹ifficult times ahead?

The times in which we live do create a lot of stress in our lives. Personal, social, financial and other obligations add to our stress levels. The incessant bombardment of advertisements and information, 搒elf-imposed famines" that we call 揹ieting? and so much more all contribute to raising our stress levels - and as a result making ourselves fatter - than ever before. Belly fat cortisol production sky rockets inside of us due to stress.

If you need to shrink your belly fat, one thing you really need to try to do is to simply slow down and relax. Allow your body the rest and amount of time it requires to produce endorphins (the feel-good chemicals that you want instead of belly fat cortisol). Enough endorphins inside you contributes to your feeling much more positive about everything - including your dieting success.

Being sure to get enough sleep is also very important for those who are involved in regular exercise routines. Sleep gives your body time to repair itself.

Those achy muscles that you get after strength training exercises are caused by microscopic tears in your muscle tissues, and sleep allows your muscles to rebuild them stronger than before. Those 搑ebuilt?muscles are part of the increased lean muscle mass in your body, and the more lean muscle mass you have, the faster your body burns calories, even while at rest.

Getting enough sleep is not always enjoyable or easy. According to research, most individuals do not get even close to the 7 to 10 hours their bodies need. And if you want to get that lean body and fight belly fat cortisol, be sure to get enough sleep to ward off weight gain.

How do you be sure you get sufficient sleep? The easiest way to find out is to simply do a quick review of how many hours of sleep you are getting on a regular basis. If you are lower than 7 hours each night, figure out what is keeping you up.

Video games, computer time, television alcohol, and others all serve as stimulants that keep you up when you could be getting that precious sleep. Some quick tips for enhancing your sleep time are to avoid caffeine of any kind after noon, do some stretching or yoga, chat with a trusted friend, or journal about the stress in your life.

Try to avoid the use of sleeping aids, and it is entirely too easy to get addicted to them. Discuss them with a physician before usage.

Another great way to encourage good sleeping habits is to make your bedroom a quiet, peaceful room. Pick up some cheap foam earplugs if you are a light sleeper, hang some heavy curtains to keep out the light in the early morning hours, wind down with a cup of chamomile tea and a good book, or with personal devotions.

These are all ways that you can help your body speed up your weight loss through getting enough sleep, how you can ward off the build up of belly fat, cortisol production, and more.

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