What’s the difference between good stress and bad stress?

Research shows that bad stress slows down the metabolism and causes the body to release hormones that promote fat storage. When faced with bad stress many people turn to food to ease their stress. Not only does this interfere with our weight loss by adding extra calories. Food will not solve whatever issue that is upsetting us.
Good stress can do quite the opposite.
So, what’s the difference between bad stress and good stress? Bad stress is mental and emotional stress. Good stress is physical stress by activity or exercise.
When an individual is experiencing mental and emotional stress what can help that person to deal with the stress? Researchers investigated the effects of overeating and eating less on the effects of mental stress. They measured physiological effects of stress such as heart rate, blood pressure, and blood levels of stress hormones.
They found that people who overate carbohydrates and fats did not reduce any physiological effects of stress. On the other hand, those who were placed on a restricted calorie diet showed improvement in measures of mental stress.
Bad stress has a negative influence on our bodies and weight loss efforts. Overeating
doesn’t help reduce these negative effects. However, being on a weight loss program has been shown to help. So if you’re feeling bad, work on solving the root of your problem and stick to your weight loss program. You will feel better emotionally, improve your health, and appearance physically as you continue to lose weight.
Another area that greatly impacts our mental and emotional stress and helps us cope with that stress is physical activity and exercise (good stress). Physical activity is essential to keeping our calorie-burning muscles, heart, lungs, and bones strong. Although you may think of physically stressing your body as tiring and a lot of work, it can reduce emotional stress and improve our energy levels! When we put our body under physical stress by exercising, we’re burning calories, boosting metabolism, building strength, flexibility, and endurance.
If you think you’re too old, or not prepared to take on an exercise routine – think again. Studies show that a person can gain benefits from exercise at any age. No matter how busy your schedule is; short, 5 or 10-minute sessions of physical activity are still beneficial. And you don’t need equipment or a membership at the gym to take a walk, do sit-ups or push-ups, or walk up and down a staircase. Start physically stressing your body to improve your health and weight loss progress!
Please consult your physician before starting an exercise program. If you’ve been struggling with weight loss, please call Eunice at 928-753-5066 or stop by Diet Center in the Hilltop Plaza at 2601 Stockton Hill Road, Suite H4 in Kingman.