Cortisol Belly Fat

Break This Connection

The cortisol belly fat connection may be undermining your abs and waist exercises and your diet for abs. You could call cortisol the make-or-break chemical for flat abs.

"Don't let stress keep making you fat!"

Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It is very useful in the short term when you need to respond to a life-threatening situation. But long-term high levels of cortisol have these negative effects on your body:

sluggish immune system
high blood pressure
insulin resistance which can lead to diabetes
fatigue
headaches
increase in belly fat

It is this cortisol belly fat connection that we are concerned with here. Not only does belly fat affect your appearance negatively it has now been linked to many serious diseases including:

heart disease
gall bladder disease
certain cancers
osteoarthritis
diabetes
asthma

All fat is not created equally and that holds especially true for belly fat. For example, it releases fatty acids into your system which impairs your body�s ability to break down insulin. This elevated insulin level can lead to diabetes.

"Lose Your Stress - Lose Your Belly Fat"

Abdominal fat has a very rich blood supply and is loaded with cortisol receptors. Abdominal fat has four times more cortisol receptors than other body fat. Throughout the day your cortisol levels increase and decrease according to what you are faced with throughout the day.

If you were to remain under chronic stress your body would produce more adrenaline. Adrenaline is the hormone that gets your body ready to respond to stress. It gets more blood and oxygen to your brain and muscles.

Adrenalin also signals your body fat to release its fatty acids to be used for energy. All of a sudden you can run faster or lift more weight for a short period of time. The stress diminishes and your body returns to homeostasis or its normal functioning state.

The cortisol belly fat connection comes into play when you are under chronic stress. In addition to adrenalin your adrenal glands secrete cortisol and this cortisol likes to store the unused fat that has been released by your body in the stress response.

"Is your job causing you to be stressed? Click below to see what one did about the stress her job was creating."

Since your belly fat is full of these cortisol receptors, you gain fat in the abdominal region as you remain under stress. This is the reason that before you begin any plan to fight belly fat you should seek to get your stress under control.

These stress-fighting exercises should be implemented before you start doing crunches everyday in order to break the cortisol belly fat connection:

Practice deep breathing.
Take breaks during the day to stretch.
Get ample sleep.
Spend time relaxing in the evening before going to bed.
Either verbally or in writing express your feelings each day.
Take relaxing vacations.
Consciously avoid stressful situations.
Take brief naps.
Don�t hold grudges. Forgive others.
Leave in time for your destination so you can be relaxed while driving.
Incorporate solitude and meditation into your day.

These exercises might not be a part of the usual flat abs routine to fight belly fat. However wellness coaching includes reducing stress in order to minimize the cortisol belly fat connection.

So, your starting point on the way to flat abs: Reduce Stress!

After you've reduced your stress you might ask, "How do I lose my belly fat?" Click here.

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