Stress…….what is is doing to you?

I have been so stressed out lately and I am feeling so bloated.

Let me ask you what will seem like two completely unrelated and bizarre questions, (just bare with me, it will all make sense shortly):
1. Are you a bit of a worrier or stress head?
2. Do you have a “muffin top”, (a bigger tummy than you may like?)
No, I have not lost my mind or run out of post ideas. Even though these two questions may seem completely random and unrelated they in fact go very much hand in hand. Let me explain…………….

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Do you sometimes get stressed???

I'm not stressed...who said I was stressed...what are you on about??

Are you a worrier?  Do you find yourself getting stressed more often than you would like? Would you say that you suffer from some type of stress on a daily or weekly basis? Do you realise that it can massively affect your health and your ability to cope?  Stress is a bodily reaction to a fear or danger….hormones are released to prepare us to escape danger or to fend off a threat. You may have heard of this being called our “Flight or Fight response.”  There are definitely situations that require these responses….say, you arrive at a car accident and need to get in there and save people…your stress response with put you in “Action mode”…your strength will increase, your senses will sharpen and panic will be taken over by action.  We have all seen or heard of stories of amazing heroic acts when the heroes don’t even know where their strength or ability to cope came from. It comes from Adrenaline and Cortisol, hormones that assist in our “Flight or fight response”. In an emergency these hormones are extremely
helpful in assisting us to cope, but on a daily basis the release of these hormones can be harmful.  We are not built for constant stress or worry.  These hormones stay in our body, they are not taken up to fend off or escape from impending danger. Small amounts of stress are okay but when we stress/worry too much, we actually affect our health.