Secrets to Burning More Fat

Did you know that when you are relaxed you actually burn more fat?  Say, whaaaat? Yep.  It's true. And also, when you are stressed, you accumulate more fat. So.  Let's work on this, shall we?

You know that bloated feeling? It might not be happening because of what you ate.  It could be digestive stress - meaning it is HOW you are eating. Are you working like a crazy person, running at warp speed, constantly eating on the go, multitasking during the meal, engaging in negative gossip? These are all ways in which we feed the stress response. And by now we know (or at least we should know if we've been paying attention) that our bodies cannot digest food when we are in the stress response.

Of course we know that eating under stress has been ingrained into our day to day. It is not only commonplace, it’s socially acceptable and often a prerequisite for managing life as we know it. Stress is the opposite of relaxation. When do we feel stress? Mostly when we’re moving too fast. And then we eat too fast while under stress and it totally ruins our calorie burning power.

Listen to me people... The slower you eat, the faster you metabolize. The more relaxed you are throughout your day, the more energy you will have.

Now, you can eat the healthiest meal on the planet, but if you eat it in a stressed out, anxious state, your digestion is dramatically diminished.

Have you ever had the experience of eating a full meal and still being hungry? Like you just can’t get satiated no matter how much you eat?

Sure - we all have at some point... Well, this is a pretty strong sign that the stress response is on and your body is not assimilating any nutrients.

So, let’s talk about the connection between stress and metabolism...  If you subscribe to my email list you'll have a copy of the fat burning cheat sheet.  If not, join now to get yours.

To boost metabolism, you must relax and stop producing so much cortisol. What’s the number one way to stop producing so much cortisol? The answer is to slow down. 

The good news is that it takes less than two minutes to de-stress the body and move it into a maximum nutritional metabolism, metabolic state. So, you can eat stress-free anywhere, anytime and tap into your metabolic power instantly.

So, how do you do this? We’re going to trick your central nervous system. The shortcut to turn off stress and activate a psychological relaxation response is conscious breathing.

This is what we call the 5-5-7 breath. You’ll inhale for five, hold for five and exhale for seven, so the exhale is a little bit longer than the inhale.

Inhale for one, two, three, four, five—filling your lungs to two-thirds capacity.

Hold for five, four, three, two, one and exhale for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one— exhaling it all out and slowly drawing in through the nose.  And you're going to repeat this ten times.

This is two minutes to relaxation. You can do this anywhere, anytime, and I love it because it’s free. Breathing before and during meals is a great way to help you become a relaxed eater and boost your metabolic power. You can also do this in your car, at work, before bed.

Even when there’s chaos going on throughout your day, pay attention to who you are being. Can you relax into the chaos? Some people say, ‘If I’m relaxed, I won’t get as much done.’ Relaxing isn’t necessarily about non-doing. It’s about who you are being. 

So, practice using conscious breath throughout the day and working in the rhythm of relaxation, so it’s still productivity but in the rhythm of relaxation. You’ll find that you are more focused, more productive and more energized.

It’s very exhausting to be in that stressed state all the time. You’re using up a lot of energy and still storing a lot of fat.

Go out there and breathe people.  Take your time.

xoxo,

AAA