Strategies for Weight Loss

Stress is related to your coping skills and how you deal with the
circumstances in your life.
The most important factor in dealing with and handling stress is having
a sense of control.
Stress is both cause and effect; it causes obesity by producing hormones during stress phase and cause you to over-eat. Your lifestyle, job, and your relationship could be producing stress and making you obese. If you are active, always on the run and success-oriented, and living an unbalanced lifestyle, you could be preparing yourself for obesity by improper eating and by producing unneeded hormones in your body.
You may be on your way to suffering a heart attack. Physiologically, in response to a real or perceived threat, your “fight or flight response” is activated. This stimulates the adrenal gland to produce epinephrine. The release of epinephrine in the blood stimulates release of insulin, which lowers the blood sugar level, and as a result you experience hunger. You eat to relieve the hunger and the cycle continues. Reaction to stress can be either biochemical or psychological. In response to a serious emotional situation, whether it is positive or negative, you
experience arousal that is either physiological or psychological.
You may experience physiological changes such as increased heart rate,
pounding heart, sweaty hands, increased respiration, tense muscles and
butterflies in your stomach. Psychologically, you may experience fear or
anxiety. How one perceives the situation can cause biochemical changes
in one’s body.
Studies on laboratory rats and other animals exposed to stressful situations confirm these biochemical changes in individuals exposed to stressful situations. But the interesting finding was that the level of biochemical changes varied from rat to rat, and the same for the other animals. This confirms that a healthy mental attitude and ability to skillfully handle the stressful situation can reduce the biochemical changes in your brain.
During a stressful situation several hormones produced. Of these, the three main hormones released are as follow:
Epinephrine and cortisol-- increased and tryptophane-- reduced

Role of Leptin

The protein hormone leptin is a neurotransmitter important to the homeostatic regulation of body weight. Leptin was identified as a gene in obese mice, in the genetic obesity syndrome (1994 New York University). Leptin influences hypothalamus and pituitary hormones and promotes secretion of growth hormone and thyroid stimulating hormone. It is produced by adipose tissue and synthesized in the placenta and gastrointestinal tract.
Leptin influences the regulation of appetite, energy expenditure and fat reserve. The lack of secretion of leptin rarely causes obesity itself, though some people are less sensitive to its action. Leptin increases metabolism and decreases appetite, by binding to the satiety center in the hypothalamus, signaling that the stomach is full.
Leptin signals your nutritional status to the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral organs. It influences the reproductive system and the release of insulin. Currently, researchers suspect that overweight individuals may have defective leptin utilization, causing satiety to be inhibited. Exogenous (introduced from an outside source) leptin administration may affect weight loss.
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Internal and External factors effecting your Weight

Willpower vs. Motivation
You have to realize that being overweight has nothing to do with your willpower, and has a lot to do with your motivation – and that motivation can be created. You can reprogram your subconscious mind to resolve addictive behavior. Get excited and motivated by your
personal reasons for wanting to lose weight and be fit, such as looking better or being healthier or having more energy. These all act as rewards for your subconscious.
Minor changes in your eating habits, such as reducing fat and simple carbohydrates, adding fiber and replacing soft drinks with water can create great results. Obesity is associated with a myriad of factors: socioeconomic status; familial conditions; your network of friends; busy lifestyles that discourage eating balanced meals; the availability of inexpensive, “super sized” high-fat food; your pattern of leisure activities; television time; excessive alcohol intake; eating meals away from home; and finally, genetic factors. Genetic factors affect the way that energy surpluses are stored (either as fat or as lean muscle) and the relative production of fats and carbohydrates used by the body. Race is also a factor in obesity, as higher body weight may be more socially acceptable in some cultures. There are also regional factors: obesity is higher in areas where high fat diets and sedentary lifestyles are more prevalent. Age is another factor, as excessive body fat is more common among adults and middle aged people. Have you ever thought much about what goes into your body each day, how food is processed, and what organ or system has a physiological or psychological role in this process? I will share that in my next article. To learn more go to www.drzaritransformation.com