November 13, 2019

The Best Way to Battle Holiday Stress

Have you ever heard the Christmas carol that calls the holiday season ” the most wonderful time of the year?” Although I love the holidays and the festivities that go along with them, the reality is there’s also a TON of stress around this season.

A survey from the American Psychological Association showed that 22% of Americans describe themselves as being under an “extreme level” of stress in general. The holidays can easily bring that to a whole other level. The other thing that can contribute to feelings of stress, anxiety and depression this time of year is the fact that winter days are shorter and we’re getting less exposure to sunlight.

There are lots of ways to cope with the stresses of the season, but the one health practitioners recommend most – besides avoiding your in-laws – is exercise. The reason is that in addition to improving your physical fitness, exercise has been scientifically proven to improve your mental fitness, too. Studies show that if you’re feeling fatigued, having a hard time focusing or in general feeling fuzzy, exercise is a quick and effective remedy.

Physical exercise actually reduces the levels of stress hormones,

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What Happens When You Eat Late at Night?

The Weekly Burn / By

Chances are if you’re trying to lose weight you’ve come across a lot of expert advice and rules. These include rules around how often you should eat, what you should eat, how often you should work out and when. One “rule” that seems to be getting a lot of play these days is, “don’t eat at night.” I think it stems from the trend of intermittent fasting. Regardless of where this rule originated, I wanted to give my own expert advice on it.

To put it plainly, contrary to what you may have heard, the simple act of eating at night will not make you fat. Your body is not on a timer and can’t tell what time it is when you feed it. Your body will not store more fat if you eat at night. When you eat, whether it’s in the morning, at noon or at night, will not influence whether you lose or gain weight – at least not on its own.

What is more important about the timing of your meals is whether it triggers behavioral patterns in your eating that could negatively affect your weight loss goals.

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Do You Have to Give Up Alcohol to Lose Weight?

The Weekly Burn / By

I read some interesting stats recently. Did you know that most Americans double their drinking during the holidays? The average American drinks 100% more alcohol than they typically do between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. About 69% of people are more likely to overindulge during the holidays than any other time of year.

If you’re trying to lose weight you may be wondering whether you have to wave off drinking all together this holiday season. Good news. The answer is no. It is possible to drink alcohol and still lose weight. In fact, there have been many studies analyzing this that found you can drink light to moderate amounts of alcohol and not gain weight. It’s important to note, however, that a moderate amount of alcohol is one drink a day for women and no more than two a day for men. The picture above illustrates what is considered one drink for wine, distilled spirits and beer.

The way your body breaks down alcohol is very unique. Since your body cannot store alcohol, it moves it quickly through your system. Your metabolism burns the majority of calories in alcohol through the thermic effect of food (TEF).

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The Best Way to Battle Holiday Stress

What Happens When You Eat Late at Night?

Do You Have to Give Up Alcohol to Lose Weight?

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