Fight off the stress = Fight off weight gaining?

Have you ever been under stress?

I think most of you might say yes. Nowadays, most people are currently living in a day where experiencing stress on a daily basis is inevitable because of millions factors such as overtime working, heavy workload, lack of rest, lack of happiness of life, worrying too much. No matter what age group or social group you belong to, life will bring along its fair share of anxiety and we need to face it hard on.

Scientists said that stress can make you fat. It is not only bad for your health, but also ruin morale and any feelings of well-being. Sleeping and relaxation also help fighting off stress. They can help you to feel more stress-free because of a hormone called cortisol which is needed and used by every single cell in body. It is an anti-inflammatory, and is usually use as a stress hormone. Why cortisol can help us fight off the stress? It is because it helps the body release sugar into bloodstream which are used for immediate energy. During under stress, or exercising, the body will release extra cortisol, therefore exercising can help us stress free.

Which foods help fight off stress?

How you feel can be directly related to what you eat. Apart from relaxation, eating healthy and stress-free foods can help you relieve stress. While you are feeling stressed out, we usually grab refined carbohydrates, which known as comfort foods, and eat them in unhealthy ways and quantities.

Instead of taking a premium chocolate ice cream or potato chips, try changing your diet to include some of the tops 15 healthy food , and see if your stress level decreases. The idea should be eat the right foods that are helping rather than harm. When you are stress out, your organs are working overtime which leads to a risk of serious illness such as heart attack. In this case eating stress-free foods will help pull you back into the game and maintain your health.

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Get Your Answers to "What's your Weight Loss IQ"

Ladies, here are the answers to the last questionnaire post, compare the follow result with yours, and see whether your lifestyle is healthy or not :)

1. CORRECT ANSWER: False.
A Weight Watchers study showed that people who ate cereal right out of the box as a snack tended to munch on way too much of it in a day. Even healthy, high-fiber cereals can up the day's calorie count and halt people's weight loss. Eat cereal only with milk. This combination also decreases the meal's "calorie density" — an ounce of cereal with milk (skim, of course) has fewer calories than an ounce of cereal alone, so you'll take in fewer calories but still feel just as satisfied.

2. CORRECT ANSWER: False.
Quench your thirst with water instead. People who quaff sugar-free soft drinks are 41 percent more likely to gain weight than people who drink regular sodas, according to a University of Texas study. Experts speculate the body isn't fooled by zero-calorie sweets and that it actually searches for sugary foods to make up for calories it expected to get from a faux-sugar beverage.

3. CORRECT ANSWER: False.
You do save on calories when you take out the fat, but many fat-free dressings are loaded with sugar, and offer zero nutrition. In one study, people eating full-fat salad dressing absorbed twice the nutrients of those using reduced-fat dressing. Fat-free dressing allowed for virtually no absorption of these good guys.

4. CORRECT ANSWER: True.
Inhaling and exhaling through your nose, rather than your mouth, helps stabilize your heart rate and increase your endurance. The result? You work out longer and burn more calories. But don't get discouraged if it feels unnatural at first — it takes about six to eight workouts to perfect.

5. CORRECT ANSWER: True.
When scientists observed nearly 3,000 overweight twins, they saw that those who had previously dieted were more likely to die during the 18 years of the study than those who simply maintained the same weight. Researchers suspect that yo-yo dieting places so much stress on your body that it can outweigh the benefits of slimming down.

6. CORRECT ANSWER: C, 2.5 hours.
Yet a quarter of U.S. adults aren't active at all in their leisure time, government research concludes. More than half don't get enough of the kind of physical activity that actually helps health — walking fast enough to raise your heart rate, not just meandering, for instance.

7. CORRECT ANSWER: B, Last.
Strength-train before doing any cardiovascular work, says Ken Fitzgerald, owner of Lift Gym in New York. Why? It takes the body about 15 minutes to warm up and start burning fat. So, a 30-minute bike ride is really only burning fat for the last 15 minutes of your workout. But, if you lift weights first, your body is warmed up by the time you hit the bike, and you'll burn fat throughout the entire ride.

8. CORRECT ANSWER: C, 20%.
Brian Wansink, Ph.D., author of Mindless Eating, found that most people can eat 20 percent less without triggering feelings of hunger. Dish up 20 percent less pasta on your plate and replace it with 20 percent more vegetables.

9. CORRECT ANSWER: D, interval training.
Two minutes on the treadmill at, say, 7 mph, followed by two minutes at 5 mph, then back to 7 mph (and so on) for 20 to 45 minutes will whittle away pounds and build your endurance. Eventually, you'll be able to extend the high-intensity periods until your whole workout is done at top speed. Your body hates boredom. Give it the same workout every week, and it will stop delivering results.

CORRECT ANSWER: C, 90 minutes.
Eating a low-carbohydrate protein bar 90 minutes before you work out will enable you to exercise longer and harder (and burn more calories) than you normally would, says Steve Zim, author of Hot Point Fitness. However, that 90-minute mark is crucial. Eat any closer to your workout, and blood will rush to your stomach, actually diminishing your performance.

Hey, how is your result? Are you satisfied with the result? Congratulation to those who got 6 or above marks in the test, you are having a healthy habit and your view of healthy lifestyle is quite good. Do keep it on. To those who got less than 6, don’t be depressed by the result, you still have chance to change and improve your lifestyle, work hard on your lifelong healthy study. Cheer up ladies!

Source by Marie Claire /By Diana Vilibert

http://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/news/articles/weight-loss-quiz

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What's Your Weight Loss IQ?

To achieve a healthy weight, let’s take the weight loss IQ quiz to see whether your “healthy” habits are actually hurting your waist size.

1. True or false: You can save calories by having your cereal without milk.

2. True or false: You should pick diet soda over regular to lose weight.

3. True or False: Fat-free dressing is the healthiest.

4. True or False: Breathing through your nose instead of your mouth during a workout burns more calories.

5. True or False: Dieting can be bad for your health, even if you succeed in slimming down.

6. According to the Health and Human Services Department, how long should you be vigorously exercising every week to stay healthy?
A. 45 minutes
B. 1.5 hours
C. 2.5 hours
D. 5 hours

7. At what point in your workout should you do cardio?
A. First
B. Last
C. Your entire workout should be cardio
D. It doesn't matter

8. A study found that people can eat up to what amount less to lose weight without triggering feelings of hunger?
A. 5%
B. 10%
C. 20%
D. 40%

9. If you're just starting to work out, what's the best way for you to burn fat?
A. Work out as hard as you can, for as long as you can.
B. Start slow with a short workout and increase your exercise time over a few weeks.
C. Do a short workout in the morning and a short workout in the evening.
D. Do interval training.

10. How soon before a workout should you eat to improve your performance?
A. 30 minutes
B. An hour
C. 90 minutes
D. 2 hours

What are the answers you get? Want to know whether you are healthy enough? (Ha-ha), I will release the answer after you finish the test later on.

Source by Marie Claire /By Diana Vilibert
http://www.marieclaire.com/health-fitness/news/articles/weight-loss-quiz