The sky is falling

Last week it was the debt ceiling, sky falling… Then it was the reaction to it by the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500, sky falling… Then it was the S&P lowering our bond rating from AAA to AA, sky falling. Now Moody’s is “downbeat” and has assigned a negative outlook on some of the most affluent towns in Massachusetts, sky falling. Anything else?

Many of us are bombarded by the daily news. Some of it is good and more of it is not so good. The negative information thrown at us by the media sells but it can become a stressor for some.

With all of this information you need to know what it does to your body. Some may get stressed due to news, travel, lack of sleep, work and family issues and that causes an increase in many chemicals (hormones) in the body; the most well known ones are Cortisol, Adrenaline, and Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine). They play a major part in our “fight or flight response” and are released when we get stressed.

Now for the good news; Cortisol increases belly fat in the body and makes it hard to remember things. What a one-two punch! The best example of Cortisol buildup I can think of is – you are in a rush and you cannot find your keys no matter where you look? They could be right in your hand, pocket or in the ignition. That is what Cortisol does and it adds belly fat too, great.

Along with Cortisol, Adrenaline and Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine) are another part of the flight or fight response and are released during stressful events. An example (I am sure you can think of plenty) - you are driving and someone cuts you off; you want to lash out but cannot or a sales clerk will not give you a refund for the moldy strawberries you just bought. Here comes Adrenaline and Noradrenaline! Your blood pressure and heart rate increase quickly! Your muscles tense! You want to yell or lash out but you do neither.

It takes time for the hormones to be re-absorbed into the blood stream and you are left feeling blah. The effects of stress on the body after flight/fight are varied. You can be left feeling irritable, angry and impatient which is your body’s way to tell you it has been through quite an ordeal with out you knowing it.

Thank you for the information Mr. What Stress can do to us. Now, what can I do about it?

If you look on a search engine like Google you would find that there are 33,000,000 different ways to handle stress or you can do one simple thing to lessen the effects of these hormones and what they do to the body. You doctor has been telling you for years what to do. You could move! It really goes a long way to lessen the effects of stress.


Many of our clients want to reduce their midsections so they think they can just do sit ups. To reduce belly fat all of the sit ups in the world will not do it. You need to move and that will help reduce the fat and negate the effects of stress, too. It takes a while to reduce fat but in the long run you have found an easy way to get healthier and live a longer life.

You may be thinking, “What should I do when you say, just move, right”?

Walking is a start if you are able. If not riding one of the 8 gazillion exercise bikes sold in this country every year is another way. If you do not have one, you could buy one in your local Pennysaver. You could walk up and down a flight of stairs a few times per day. Once you start moving a little you could even lift a weight or two to strengthen one of the 650 muscles in your body. Then you could try to stretch out one of them too. Imagine how good it would feel and how you body might repay you? You might even start moving better?

They are just a few thoughts because many go through stressful situations everyday and do not know how to lessen the effects. So, the next time you get moldy strawberries or get cut off on the Sagamore Rotary, think of this information.

If the most experienced group of wellness specialists (personal trainers) in the Boston, Metro West, South Shore and Cape Cod are telling you this; maybe you should listen.

If you want more information, you can log onto our website - www.satinwellness.com or email us at info@satinwellness.com or call us at 978-369-3492 and we can send you some information that just might help us all lessen the effects of stress. It all starts with you.