Your skin looks great (of course), but recently you’re noticing a little extra weight around your middle. You could be suffering from beauty therapist’s belly fat. Here’s why and what you can do about it.
Lets face it, a beauty therapist deals with stress. You work long hours; you’re on your feet most of the day; you say no to weekend activities with friends because you have to work… on top of that many of you also have to run a business. It’s no wonder you’re stressed out! Well, don’t worry, help is here. We talk to health coach Laura Moore from Uppy about how to swipe off those pesky stress-related excess kilos.
Are these stress-related issues happening to you? Here’s what you can do about it:
#1 You’re gaining belly fat
Anyone that has experienced back-to-back Brazilian appointments from open to close will know that feeling of heart-racing panic that you might not make it through the day. It may well be good for your financial bottom line, but what is it doing to your body?
“When a person is stressed, the adrenal glands are activated which release adrenaline,” says performance and health coach Laura Moore, founder of Uppy. “The heart-rate and blood flow increase, while cortisol floods the body with glucose for immediate energy.”
Sure, this added energy helps get us through a twelve hour day, but, conversely, it also slows things down, says Moore. “Cortisol slows down the body’s metabolism to maintain the glucose supply, and when it isn’t used, it is stored as fat on the stomach.”
#2 Your hunger has skyrocketed
Delving into a bag of chips at morning tea? Feeding money into the snack machine by 3pm? Well, you can blame it on your stress levels because the other issue with elevated cortisol is that it makes us more hungry.
“These elevated glucose levels also suppress insulin levels, which decreases energy in the cells,” says Moore. “As a result the brain sends out hunger signals which causes over-eating,”.
#3 You’re feeling toxic
If you’re out of your mind because three clients have already called to say they’re “just running fifteen minutes late”, your body is most probably being sent direct to fight mode (which isn’t good). “When the body is stressed it shuts down the digestion system,” says Moore. “Food is then not digested properly and a toxic build up ensues.”
The problem with toxins is they hold onto fat and water, meaning you end up feeling puffy and, well, just not yourself.
“The calories we eat need sufficient nutrients in order to build tissue or burn fat,” says Moore. “If our digestion is poor we don’t absorb the nutrients and the calories cause excess fat. The absence of the nutrients also triggers an urge to eat and leaves us feeling consistently hungry and in ‘fat storage mode’, making weight loss very difficult.”
#4. You don’t sleep
Do you send yourself to sleep reading your emails in bed? Are you watching Netflix on your iPad until the wee hours? Put down the mobile device right now (or, at least 30 minutes before your head hits the pillow) because that blue light your tech emits will keep you awake and make your sleep less sound when you do finally drift off. Think you can just skate through the day? Maybe, but that lack of shut-eye will make you more hungry and less able to make good food choices.
“When we don’t get a good night’s sleep, it disrupts the hormones ghrelin and leptin in our body,” says Moore. “These hormones turn our appetite on and off and tell the brain what to do with the fat; lack of sleep will confuse the process and you will experience unnecessary hunger, not know when you are full, and store fat when it should be burned.”
#5. You exercise but it isn’t working
You’re so wired after a day at work that you’ll often throw on your trainers and go for a run when you get home. You think it should be making a difference but nothing seems to be happening on the scales… Laura Moore tells us why: “Exercise can be stressful on the body…” she says. “If your body is in a constant heightened state of stress then it will already have excess hormones and doesn’t need any more. Exercise releases cortisol but if the levels are already too high in your body then it could contribute to weight gain.”
Moore’s exercise tip: take the intensity down a notch “until the optimal state of the body is restored”.
Wanting to ditch the stress? Here are 7 ways to calm down (and lose a few kilos of stress-induced fat).
Sleep: Laura Moore says get in at least 7-8 hours a night and “establish a relaxing sleep routine.”
Power-out: Turn off your mobile, the TV and your iPad 30-60 minutes before sleeping. That blue light “kills melatonin which is needed to sleep”.
Eat simple: Create meals that have “no more than 7 ingredients” says Moore. Also make sure they are made of “whole, natural ingredients”.
Relax: Yoga and meditation will help increase awareness. “It is the best way to relax the sympathetic nervous system, giving you a sense of calm and clarity” says Moore who suggests starting with deep diaphragmatic breathing.
Stress triggers: Know what stresses you and work out ways to deal with them.
Talk to someone: That could be a girlfriend, a family member, your dog, or, if you really feel as though some things in your life need straightening out, you could ask for professional advice.
Get happy: Prioritise at least one thing a week that makes you happy. It could be a movie, going out to dinner, brunch or a walk in the park. Just make sure you schedule it into your diary – and don’t push it for a demanding client!
