Are you trying to lose a few pounds? Would you love an energy boost? Have you committed more than once to get back in shape only to find it doesn't matter what you do? It's like reading as it gets dark. You finally decide to interrupt your book and flip the switch. When you do however, you find the light switch has no effect and you don't know how to turn it on.
Several things are working against you. Hormones during a woman's late 40s to 60 take her for yet another ride. For some it's a nice cruise, but for others this ride is a roller coaster ride you wish you'd been too short to take. Then there's time, stress, and a good chance that there's been some injury that changes what you can do. Finally, here's some insight on how and why to turn things around.
1. There actually is a best time of day to exercise. The answer to that question has always been the best time is the time you'll do it. Expert opinions lean toward morning since there are fewer interruptions at 5:00 am than later in the day.
A recent study showed that exercise first thing in the morning, in a fasted state, helped burn more fat throughout the day compared to no exercise or the same exercise after breakfast.
In the particular study, subjects followed a diet higher in calories and fat than their usual diet. The study suggests that if you over-indulge you can prevent weight gain by getting up the following morning and exercising with adequate intensity before you've had breakfast.
2. Cortisol is not your keeper. Known as the stress hormone for good reason, cortisol is a necessary hormone in the body. Under stress, particularly prolonged stress, however, higher levels of it encourage fat storage. Easily stored as bat wings and muffin top, it's harder to burn off. Harder to store as deep belly fat you can beat like a drum, it is at least easier to burn off with exercise.
Reducing the amount of cortisol you have in response to stress gets at the real problem. If you focus on losing fat while your body is still on high-speed fat storage you can't win. Once experts suggested reducing exposure to stress. Another suggestion was find your way to yoga or get a hobby. Breath in and breath out. Studies suggest now the ultimate stress strategy is to embrace your stress.
People who think of stress as a positive challenge and expect there will be stress fare better than those of us who believe stress is bad. When you buy into the stress is bad for your health idea, it is. You can change the biology in your body based on your thoughts. Choose a positive attitude toward stress and you will live longer healthier based on mortality rates. Believe stress is bad for health and you shorten your life.
3. Hacking has become a new sport. A hack is a short cut. People are trying to hack sleep, hack work, hack exercise. While it works in some areas as a working smarter not harder or more strategy it doesn't work at all in others. Sleep is one of those areas. If you've been an infomercial fan whose ordered one of those fat loss programs for a quick fix in the past, you'll love this.
Sleep is one of the most passive things you can do to get some weight loss control. When you're sleep deprived your cortisol levels go up. Not only that but two other hormones work against you as well. Ghrelin tells you that you're hungry after a short night. Leptin never tells you you're full. Round out the trio with cortisol and you are likely to eat foods you don't need, never feel you get enough, and then have the super-storage power thanks to cortisol.
Find your optimal sleep length. Do everything you can to protect it. Seek support if you've had sleep problems for years. It's time you got a good night's sleep and you may find that it changes your weight loss efforts.
4. Exercise and diet count but less than you think. We need to eat right. The hard thing here is fine tuning your "right." While we seek diet and exercise changes first to take control, they are really only a part of the picture. Without optimal alignment of your hormones a good diet and exercise won't work and might each contribute to your lack of success.
You want to as Pamela Peeke wrote in her book, Fitness After Forty, have a routine and a stress routine. We often don't adjust. That pushes hormones further out-of-order. If you tend to have a "if I work harder I get better results" ethic you may have to rewind and relax your grip in order for things to work.
What got you here won't get you there. That's a line borrowed from author and coach Marshall Goldsmith. You can't look inside to check whether your hormones are in balance without testing. Yet, if you know, intuitively you know something isn't right here, then focus on these steps first. Then test don't guess to see what you're working against. Even tests sometimes won't come back positive some doctors will admit. You know you. Use that information and find support in creating a priority list of where to begin.
Personal Training and Fitness expert Debra Atkinson, MS, CSCS is a barely boomer and founder of Voice for Fitness. As a wellness coach and personal trainer she provides articles, videos and up-to-date research in practical tips for exercise and nutrition that will change the way we age. Learn more at https://www.voiceforfitness.com/activeagingsecrets/ or find tips for being fifty going on sexy athttps://www.voiceforfitness.com/navigatingthebook
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