One aspect of weight loss and healthy weight maintenance is finding out what our triggers are so we can take control over them vs allowing them to have their wicked ways with us.

How to do that? Well, I’m not an expert in emotional eating but I’m having a call with someone who is.

My colleague Melissa McCreery PhD has agreed to spend an hour with us discussing emotional eating. (we will also have open Q & A)

Melissa has been working with busy, overwhelmed women since 1989 to get at the root of their frustrations surrounding emotional eating.

We start each day with the best of intentions to eat well and eat just enough to feel satisfied. The pressures of the work day, our money situations, clients—you name it, the every day stresses of life have the power to knock us off course. Add to this the hormonal fluctuations of midlife and and without some awareness of what’s going on we are bound to wake up in the middle of a pig out wondering how we got there at some point.

But why does it happen? If you think it would be powerful to know what drives us to power through a bag of chips or nuts or cookies, giving away our power to do what’s more supportive of our intentions, then sign up for the call. In combination Melissa and I are going to inform and answer questions on the things both emotional and physical that cause us to lose control around food to soothe ourselves.

There is no charge for this call and if you can’t be on the call live but want the information, sign up for the recording. Either way you can ask a question at the sign up page.

I look forward to sharing another hour with you and hope you’ll be with us on the call.

Whether you have diabetes or not managing stress is vital to your overall health for so many reasons. In diabetics however it is even more so because stress increases the fight or flight hormones adrenaline and cortisol. One of the many physical responses that occur  is an increase in blood sugar levels so we will have the energy to flee or fight the thing that caused the stress in the first place. It worked perfectly in the days of caves and wooly mammoths but can be harmful these days unless we truly are in danger.

In non-diabetic people insulin levels self regulate during times of stress which in turn manages blood sugar levels. In diabetics this system is broken or working below optimal so blood sugar levels rise–just the thing people with diabetes are working to avoid.

“There is a myth out there that it’s all about food as to why the blood sugar rises,” says Richard Hellman, MD, former president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. The truth is that other factors play a role, he explains, including stress. 

First line of defense, know when you are stressed and build in some time to release it. If you have been under long term, chronic stress such as caring for an aging parent or juggling cash and credit to keep your family afloat, your efforts to manage your blood sugar naturally or with insulin and diabetes drugs must be accompanied with a concerted effort to de-stress. If you have never been one to pay attention to stress or finding ways to relax and think it’s for weak of wimpy types, now would be a good time to wise up and pick a relaxation method. 

The suggestions are ubiquitous but I’ll list some here: yoga, pilates, Tai Chi, any form of exercise, breathing, meditation, laughter, connecting with people you enjoy, and so on.

And the small daily stressors can add up so why not practice detached observing the next time the line at the grocery store is being held up by the cashier chatting with an elderly shopper? How about laughing off the snarky teenager who had to finish texting before he took your order at the deli counter? All of these things we allow to annoy/stress us are really just plain silly if you think about it.

Take this information to heart–the quality of your life depends on it. Maybe not now, but left unattended, stress–especially for those with diabetes–can rob you of mobility, sight, the use of your limbs, and the ability to live a full, joyful life.

At midlife, we ain’t dead yet and there is still plenty to be do and have; it takes caring for ourselves with a vengeance sometimes but the extra effort sure will be worth it if we can age with the gift of health. порнографиякартинки

Quite frankly, I was shocked. Yesterday on my call with Patti Milligan, MS. RD. nutrition and supplement expert I mentioned that exercise and healthy eating are not enough, most of us should include some supplements depending on our bodies needs, the environment around us, our levels of stress. Patti jumped in there and said, “I don’t want to be an alarmist but that’s the worst toxin we have.” What is? “Stress” she answered emphatically.

The worst one? Like so many women I tend to down play stress as it shows up day to day. Granted I also don’t have anything chronically eating at me–or at least I’m not awake to it. Toxic stress includes, never getting a good night’s sleep, a long frustrating commute, a disruptive colleague or unreasonable boss, an abusive relationship with anyone you interact with, chronic illness or pain, and so on. 

Here’s what Patti shared. First off picture some rock salt or even Kosher salt, it’s course and jagged right? This is the shape of a stress hormone. As it floats through the bloodstream, it nicks at the edges of the arteries. These nicks require patching up, think small band aid on a paper cut. The band aid in this case is cholesterol, the cholesterol builds up due to more and more nicks and you get clogged arteries. You can also get a heart attack, a stroke, or that final disco dance.

But wait, there’s more. Stress aggravates the immune system which means we are more susceptible to illness and bugs. It’s also extremely fatiguing when the immune system is always on high alert. A clinician told Patti that after a stressful event or after chronic stress the body is like a post hurricane event on land. There is a disaster with lots of clean up and relief help needed. 

Our B vitamins are the sacrificial lamb in the body’s stress management program. Why care? B vitamins are important for brain function, neurotransmitters firing, nourishing the adrenal glads and modulating stress.

What else can we do to help manage stress in the body? Maintain an even blood sugar level throughout the day. This requires you to eat 4 – 6 times per day. Hydration is #2 but not just water, cellular hydration which includes making sure you have the right electrolyte balance which will in part come from eating plenty of vegetables and some fruit, not drinking sugary bevs or eating too much salt.

#3 is take care of yourself. Look around when you start to feel squeezed–and I’m not talking about getting into your high school jeans. If you feel pressure from life look around and see what the cause is. What can you do to relief some of the pressure? Exercise is great, a long soak in the tub helps some, talking to a friend is also helpful. Do these things get to the root of the problem tho? No. It’s important at this age to get that stuff handled and out of your life. How to do it? Get yourself a coach, a support system, do some research on how others have done what you need or want to do.

Some stress is ok but clearly the stress that’s chronic is something we’ve got to pay attention to.

You’ve no doubt heard that not enough sleep leads to a host of potential problems. The one I want to talk about here is weight gain. What’s that got to do with the holidays? Plenty because the next three weeks are a land mine of late nights and extra stress. As midlifers we are prone to losing sleep when the stress-ometer goes up.

Now stress alone is a known belly fat creator. Add less-than-needed sleep to the equation and you are asking for weight gain. Can it happen in as short a time as 3 or 4 weeks? Yes and especially when you add more food temptations than normal.

What to do? Go to bed! Turn off the bloody television, it’s not the great relaxer you think it is if you are using it to “wind down.” It actually stimulates certain parts of the brain, making it harder for you to fall asleep. 

Have your last cocktail or peppermint chocolate bar at least an hour-two is better–before you want to fall asleep. While booze may knock you out the effect is temporary and you will probably find yourself awake at 3 or 4 am. If you do sleep through the night I bet you’ll wake up tired.

Digestion take work and if the body is working while you are trying to sleep it can be disruptive.

Late nights, treats and toasts are almost unavoidable at this time of year but staying aware of the importance of sleep and doing what you can to ensure a sound 7 -8 hours can help prevent the holiday 7 or 8.

How do you ensure proper rest during this busy season?