Relax in your slacks

Today my trainer said:  hey Claudia, did you write a blog this weekend?  If I didn’t know any better I’d think he actually enjoys reading them.  Or uses them as stalking material.  Either way I am happy to hear some people read my blogs, and give me a kick when I slow down a bit.  And before you ask:  what, the trainer has a personal trainer?  That’s right.  This trainer is the same as most human beings.  If I have a person waiting for me I’ll be there, raring to go to the best of my ability.  But if I don’t have anyone waiting for me I will always, always find something else to do.  That is why this world has personal trainers:  to keep you honest and motivated.

So I went home and looked at my cat.  “What should we write about”, I asked her.  She blinked, yawned and went back to sleep.  And that is when it hit me:  relaxation.  That little word everyone talks about it and very few achieve.

If we don’t relax we don’t sleep.  And if we don’t sleep we won’t get any work done, cause road accidents, develop ulcers and anxiety.  In short, if we don’t relax we are a mess.  Did you know that people who never relax actually gain weight due to the stress hormone cortisol?  As soon as your body is permanently stressed it starts piling on the pounds to ensure you have the energy to cope with this stressful situation.  You must remember that the body’s stress response was created for our greater good.  It was designed to protect you, to ensure we get enough of an adrenaline rush to get us out of trouble.

But our bodies were never designed to keep us out of trouble 24 x 7.  Adrenaline is constantly flooding our system now, and we are permanently in a fight or flight mode.  The manic pace of life and technology has ensured we never switch off, and the price we pay is anxiety, depression, illness and increased weight.

Yeah no kidding.  Increased weight.  When you are stressed you probably eat.  All.the.time.  So you rapidly gain weight.  And remember, your body does not have a weight gain limit.  It will keep growing for as long as you allow it to.  Unlimited.

Some of us don’t eat at all when we are stressed.  Now your body panics and decides to pile on weight.  After all, you are starving and it needs to protect you.  Right?  You can’t win, if you want to remain healthy and lose some weight in the process you better start managing that stress!

This is where we get to that other little word “exercise”.  You knew that was coming. Because everyone knows exercise releases stress.  A good sweat session is all you need to put you in a better mood, and any person suffering from depression will tell you exercise is a must in coping with their depression.

Then why do most people stop exercising when they are stressed or depressed?  Too hard, too much work, couldn’t be bothered they say.  I hear it daily, and I don’t understand it.  I know it can be hard to get out of bed, it can be hard to find your exercise mojo, we’ve all been there.  But if you KNOW exercise makes you feel better (and let’s face it, we all do know) why would you not do it?

Relax in your slacks.  Take a deep breath, get some sleep, and keep exercising.  When you exercise (and follow a decent diet) you can only move forward.  It is impossible to move backwards when you look after yourself, you can only continue to improve.  So why wouldn’t you huh??