Do you rush around busy from the time you get up until the time you go to bed, over-run with work and responsibilities? If so, you may be experiencing the kind of stress that can cause the body to store fat around the midsection.

Stress can take many forms including physical and mental stress. However there are a whole host of other factors that add stress to the body. There is a huge amount of physical stress placed on the body from poor posture. When the body structure is not in proper balance, breathing, muscle function, joint health, circulation and internal organ support are compromised.

When was the last time you checked in on your thinking? Are your

thoughts positive or negative? Are you focusing on what you don t want or are you focusing on the life of your dreams? When you are stressed, a fight-or-flight response is activated causing the stress hormone cortisol to be elevated in the body. Extra cortisol in the body tells the abdomen to open its fat depots and store more fat than it otherwise would. The equation is simple: the more you stress > the more your body pumps out cortisol to handle your stress > and the more fat you store.

Research confirms that unrelenting chronic stress is a factor that promotes weight gain. New research performed at Laval University in Quebec shows that chronic stress causes our fat cells

to become resistant to fat loss, especially fat cells around our abdomens. Cortisol activates fat cells all fat cells to store fat! But those that are called central fat cells, found mainly deep in the abdominal wall, have four times the cortisol receptors on their cell membranes. Each time you are stressed the cortisol-fat mechanism turns on and your body stores more fat to handle all the stress you are experiencing.

What are potential solutions?

Reduce the physical stress on your body by enrolling in a pilates class. Pilates works specifically to improve posture and optimal movement patterns in the body so that the body can move with ease and efficiency throughout the day.

Consider taking a yoga class. Yoga

offers a perfect way to de-stress. Thirteen separate research studies demonstrated that the practice of yoga reduced body weight by as much as 13.6% for participants, not because they were involved in an all-out, sweat-induced workout, but because it gave them time to relax.

Work with a lifestyle coach. Lifestyle coaches can help you identify key areas of stress in your life and work through strategies to reduce stress in all areas of your life.

Melissa West, Ph.D.
Melissa West is a lifestyle and coach yoga and pilates instructor who practices yoga daily as a way of coping with day- to-day stress. For more information check out the lifestyle coaching and pilates and yoga DVDs available through http://www.melissawest.com