Welcome back to another episode of health hacks

as I continue talking about stress and how it impacts our

long term health, even our short term health and our body

overall. And today, I want to share with you how stress

actually contributes to weight gain, because it can lead to

overeating and cravings of unhealthy foods as we're rushing

around trying to get everything done, and we need food for

energy, and we just grab whatever's fastest, and that can

often be sugary treats, chocolate bars, muffins,

pastries, cookies, etc, to keep us going in our stressed out

day, versus having time to actually sit down and Prepare

and enjoy a healthy meal. And this then over time, when we do

this day in and day out, results in weight gain, and it will

particularly show up around the middle, when the weight gain is

due to stress versus other reasons. And so when you see

people that have skinny arms and skinny legs and around middle,

you can look at them and go, I bet they have a lot of their

stress in their lives, and that's what's been a

contributing factor to their weight gain. And in another

episode, I'm going to talk about the correlation to stress and

your digestive system, and then you will further understand this

whole concept of stress contributing to weight gain. And

so in each episode, I'm sharing steps you can take to count for

that. And so one of those is to exercise regularly. Find

something that you enjoy doing to move your body, whether it be

walking in nature, doing some yoga at a class or on your own

at home, is it putting on your favorite playlist for 30 minutes

and just dancing it out to your heart's content like you did

when you were 13 years old or 14 or 15, because all of these

things help to release endorphins, improve your mood,

and they get your body moving, they get your heart rate up,

they have you burning some calories to counter the

additional calories that are being taken in As a result of

the stress that's in your life. So just take a moment to stop

and think about what do you love to do to move your body, and it

can be different from person to person, and make some time in

your calendar in order to allow you to do that at the start of

your day. Maybe it's in the middle of your day, maybe it's

at the end of your day, not too close to bedtime, though,

because you don't want to go into too much of a cardio

workout at bedtime, because that can raise cortisol levels and

negatively impact your sleep. However, you know right after

work might be a good time to do that, to release the stresses of

the work day and transition into an enjoyable evening with your

family. So as I said, think about how you like to move your

body. What brings you joy? Try some different things, because

maybe you're not even sure it doesn't have to be the standard.

I have to go to the gym and work out. It absolutely does not have

to be that. Find what works for you and get some exercise in

each and every day to help counter the stresses that are

happening in your life and counter the weight gain that you

might be experiencing as a result of those stresses in your

life.