Archivi dei tag: hormones

Why By Walking You Will Lose More Weight Than By Running

Regular physical activity is essential for a person’s well-being. It helps with relaxation, it fights stress, chases away fatigue and it is even effective with light depression. Many people opt for cardio training to burn fat and lose weight. However, these exercises do not aim to gain muscle mass but only to increase endurance. Walking is the real cure-all activity.

You may know that cardiovascular exercises can influence the functioning of the thyroid. This gland produces a hormone called T4 which, in combination with iodine, turns into the hormone T3. The latter stimulates the body’s metabolism.

Unfortunately, during the production of cortisol while you are running, the thyroid gland does not produce the hormone T4. Therefore, it disrupts the process of metabolism, weakens the body and reduces the ability to burn fat. Because of this, excessive cardiovascular exercise can reduce your muscle mass and metabolism and, as a consequence, lead to weight gain instead of weight loss.

When running, the body burns calories and muscle mass. Therefore, you don’t not get rid of fat but you produce cortisol, which gives a feeling of hunger because the body feels the need to recover the calories burned. Overweight people should avoid running as it could damage their knees and joints.

Walking doesn’t have the same effect as running when it comes to burning calories. Actually, you burn much less calories. However, this activity is much more beneficial because it produces cortisol in small amounts. Therefore, the feeling of hunger won’t take over as much as if you were running.

The physical activity of walking is well known for its benefits because you can get a lot of muscles to work (thighs, calves, buttocks, back, abdominal belt) and by that you may refine your silhouette. It draws on fat and muscle reserves gently. To have satisfactory results, you should walk at least 30 minutes a day. It is preferable to walk in places without traffic and not too polluted, such as beaches, parks or the forests.

This exercise is also recommended for people who suffer from heart disease because it tones the heart muscle. It is also recommended for diabetics and people suffering from osteoporosis. Moreover, by walking 30 minutes, you will burn about 125 calories. I know, it’s not a lot but day after day you will see good results.

As of today, will you start walking more?

How and Why Fighting Your Stress Is Important

I’m sure you use the word stress often throughout your day.

We all feel a little stressed due to the multiple commitments we have, pending deadlines, and lack of time to dedicate to ourselves.

The common denominator of all forms of stress is a feeling of malaise, fatigue, irritability that makes us more fragile with illness and less tolerant of others and of daily problems.

Actually stress is an adaptive response that has allowed our species to survive throughout its evolution.

Hans Seyle, the first theorist of stress, conceived it as an adaptive response that the body puts into force to overcome all the situations that its alarm systems deem dangerous.

The stress reaction is indeed characterized by the secretion of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline which make the muscles stronger and the person more reactive. In this sense, stress has a value that is not only positive but also necessary for the survival of the species.

Primitive men had to face dangers that were of a short duration. While they were hunting, for example, they might encounter an animal and had to decide whether to run away or face it (have you ever heard of the “fight or flight” response?), but once they made up their mind and acted accordingly, they had plenty of time to recover.

Photo by Crawford Jolly on Unsplash

In the contemporary age, we too have this type of reaction when facing what, on a conscious or unconscious level, we perceive as dangerous (stressor). But today’s stressors are definitely different from those our ancestors faced. Modern stressors are psychosocial and no longer physical. It’s about the work environment, social relationships, financial worries, the huge amount of commitments we have and the limited time to complete them. Above all, these stressors are not momentary but can persist for a long time and consequently we need more time to recover.

Look at these signs that may indicate that stress is becoming a threat to your health:

  1. Discomfort with sounds and lights
  2. Muscle pains, contractures and cramps
  3. Headache
  4. Sleeping Disorders
  5. Cardiac arrhythmia
  6. Hypertension
  7. Digestive difficulties
  8. Anxiety
  9. Depression
  10. Irritability
  11. General fatigue

What can you do concretely to combat stress, when the conditions in which you find yourself do not allow you to avoid it?

Physical activity, especially aerobic, such as brisk walking, swimming and cycling, is undoubtedly one of the best remedies for stress.

Breathing control, like getting used to using the diaphragm and slowing the respiratory rate, is another useful tool against stress.

Other activities may be: yoga, tai chi and meditation. In recent years, mindfulness has become popular. Mindfulness, by increasing the level of personal awareness, carries out an anti-stress action.

Obviously, a good massage that helps you increase the level of oxytocin, a hormone capable of counteracting cortisol, is certainly effective.

As regards food supplement, magnesium is the anti-stress mineral for excellence, also because we are chronically deficient. Remember that a supplement is such because it must be complementary to a healthy diet. Therefore, remember to eat well!

What about you? What are the solutions you adopt to fight your stress?

Photo by Sharon Wright on Unsplash