Is your job causing you stress? According to the 2016 study, in this article, exercise can help mitigate the cardio metabolic risk factors caused by stress. If you are concerned about the effects of stress on your cardiovascular system try getting out and burning off some steam. by Ryan Halvorson on Jan 17, 2017
Forty percent of workers find their jobs very stressful, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Twenty-six percent report that they are “often burned out or stressed by their work,” and 29% feel “quite a bit or extremely stressed at work.” Changing careers may not be a possibility; however, a 2016 study suggests fitness can help workers protect themselves against the potentially harmful effects of work-related stress. Published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2016; 48 [11], 2075–81), the study aimed to link cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and self-perceived stress to cardiometabolic risk factors and risk for developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Another purpose was to determine the impact of CRF on stress and CVD risk factors. The study’s researchers analyzed blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol levels, triglycerides, glycated hemoglobin and cardiometabolic risk scores in 197 men and women around 39 years of age. Each study participant underwent CRF tests and provided information on perceived stress levels. Overall, individuals with higher CRF levels tended to have lower blood pressure, BMI, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and cardiometabolic risk scores than the less active participants. These scores remained true among people reporting high work-related stress levels. The researchers believe this information can be helpful for all workers and especially those with stressful jobs. “Better CRF is associated with more favorable levels of several cardiometabolic risk factors, specifically in participants experiencing high stress,” the authors stated. “Higher CRF may provide some protection against the health hazards of high chronic stress by attenuating the stress-related increase in cardiovascular risk factors.”
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If you think you are reducing your daily calories by skipping meals… think again. This article discusses how skipping meals just makes you over eat. by Kelsey N. Brown, MEd, CHES on Jan 18, 2017 via Ideafit
Food for Thought Ignoring hunger and restricting intake can trigger an impulse to overeat (Mathes et al. 2009). Becoming aware of and honoring biological hunger can help. While this sounds simple, it can be challenging. “Many people seem deathly afraid to trust their internal hunger cues,” Washington, D.C., dietitian Victoria Jarzabkowski, MS, RDN, says. “It shouldn’t be terrifying, but that just goes to show how out of touch most of us are with body awareness.” To foster this ability, have a dialogue with yourself concerning your hunger. Ask yourself, “What’s my hunger level?” before eating and at regular intervals throughout the day. Jarzabkowski recommends using a hunger scale, where 1 is completely starving and 10 is uncomfortably full, to help you begin to “hear” your hunger. “You should eat when you're hungry, but not starving, and stop when you are at a 6–8 on the scale. It takes a lot of hyperawareness at the start but becomes easier over time,” she says. “After years of dieting, many people don’t even recognize signals of hunger,” says Marisa Molina of Hello Beautiful Health. “So it’s important to give them examples of what hunger actually feels like. These can include a growling stomach, fatigue or a drop in energy.” By becoming reacquainted with your hunger cues, you can begin eating in response to physiological hunger and avoid becoming ravenous later. Reference Mathes, W.F., et al. 2009. The biology of binge eating. Appetite, 52 (3), 545–53. Acefitness advises to create behavioral goals that focus on the process rather than the end product.
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