How To Beat The Belly Fat And Cortisol Combination

Here is a great Guest post from fitness pro & trainer Shane Doll:

You may have heard before that excess belly fat is directly related to increased cortisol levels. This is arguably one of the deadliest combinations for the human body because of the connection to increased visceral fat (the fat that surrounds your organs) and high levels of inflammation.
If you have a significant amount of belly fat your chances for developing insulin resistance and type II diabetes nearly doubles.

What you may not be aware of is the reason behind the connection of belly fat and cortisol. The objective of this post is to explain the details behind the connection and provide you with action steps to reverse it.

For starters let’s look at how cortisol levels get increased in the first place. While cortisol gets a bad rap it serves a beneficial role in the human body. Cortisol is a hormone that is secreted by the adrenal glands in times of stress. The stress may be psychological or physiological.

A little bit of stress like produced during high intensity, short-duration burst training exercise is a good thing. The adrenals also secrete adrenaline and nor-adrenaline which are powerful fat burning catalysts. The problem occurs when stress levels remain elevated for prolonged periods of time. This is referred to as “chronic stress.”

You need to really get your head around the fact that chronic stress is often the result of physiological stress even more so than psychological stress. Sure excessive worrying, problems at work, and emotional unrest are forms of obvious mental stress but these things only add to the physiological stress that happens in your body.

Chronic stress is directly related to the following:

- Poor diet that is high in excess starch carbohydrates, processed foods, and simple sugars.
This results in digestive system imbalances where beneficial micro flora and probiotics are destroyed and a yeast/fungal environment develops. In essence, your digestive tract becomes a feeding ground for yeast such as candida.

This results in inflammation in your gastrointestinal tract signaling the adrenals to release cortisol. Nutrient absorption is significantly decreased as your body fights to deal with the inflammation.

- Excessive use of caffeine which over-stimulates the adrenals
- Lack of sleep
- Lack of physical activity and exercise
- Excessive consumption of alcohol

Why you store more fat around your belly with high cortisol levels…
This is the area most people don’t fully understand. When cortisol levels remain elevated for long periods of time it signals a transfer of fat to the abdominal region. Why? Because the abdominal region has more cortisol receptors in the fat cells located there.

This becomes a double edged sword as the more belly fat you store the more cortisol levels increase. Belly fat leads to even more cortisol production because it has higher concentrations of an enzyme (11-Beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase) that converts inactive cortisone to active cortisol.

How to reduce belly fat and cortisol at the same time…

Contrary to what you’d be led to believe from some supplement manufacturers there is no viable “cortisol blocker” in the form of a pill that will reduce cortisol levels and melt away belly fat. The manufacturers of these products don’t expect you to fully understand the enzyme pathways and conversion process of cortisone to cortisol.

Bottom line is these products don’t work.
The only way to reduce belly fat and elevated cortisol levels is to simultaneously work on restoring balance in your body. Yes, this means you’ll have to clean up your diet, start exercising daily, and work on reducing mental and emotional stress.

Specifically you’ll want to target digestive system imbalances first. Remove all processed and refined foods along with simple sugars and starches. I’d recommend doing a cleanse of some sort, like the Advocare Herbal Cleanse (my favorite) to help with restoring digestive system balance.
Transition to a diet that is mostly lean proteins, greens, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and healthy omega-3 fats.

While you can incorporate back in a moderate amount of whole grains, legumes, and other starches in your diet after the cleanse, I’d leave them out for a while. You want to remove the starches that candida and other yeasts feed on in your digestive tract.

Remember the objective is to squash inflammation in your body and the single most prevalent area is in the gastrointestinal tract.

The point is "diet" pills won’t work and neither will crash dieting or excessive cardiovascular exercise. Following a severe caloric restrictive diet or doing lots of cardio will only be viewed as stress by your body resulting in increased cortisol production.

There is no quick and easy approach to reducing belly fat and cortisol levels. It’s going to require lifestyle changes and a commitment to restoring balance in your body. Eat a clean diet of mostly whole, natural foods, exercise daily, get plenty of sleep, and take action steps on reducing mental stress with relaxation techniques.

Shane Doll is a certified Charleston personal trainer, fat loss expert, speaker, and founder of Shaping Concepts. personal fitness training in Charleston

What's Your Stepping Stone?

Everyone needs a stepping stone. What’s yours? In other words, what is your reason for your goals?

My stepping stone is my father. You see my father had a very nasty stroke over 5 years ago, and laid in a bed for months asleep before he woke up, which was a miracle in itself. He then stayed in a bed for few more months, not being able to feed himself, or move many body parts. He could barely talk, and I’m not even sure he knew who I was at times.

You see my father didn’t really take care of himself. Instead he took care of everyone else. He was great like that. However, he can no longer take care of anyone because he forgot to take care of the one person that matters most, himself. He didn’t exercise, he ate absolutely horribly, he never even had any vitamins that I knew of. He just wasn’t the healthiest person in the world by any means.

As I saw him laying in those hospital beds, being moved from one hospital to another, to another, and yet another, knowing that he was never going to be the same “father” as I knew him to be all my life, it honestly just hurt me. Call it selfish, call it what you will, but as a fitness professional, I knew all the things he could have done to prevent this from happening. As a son, I was mad that he let the one thing go that nobody should…their own health.

So by his unfortunate passing 5 years ago, I as a fitness professional, and I as a human being simply don’t want to see anyone have to go through what my father did. Nor do I want anyone have to watch the suffering of a loved one go through that.

This is what drives me. My goal in life is to help others not get to that point, to prevent that from happening. So in a way, my father’s passing is my stepping stone, my reason, my purpose for bettering the health of others, possibly even you.

I just happen to own a great fitness training center, a place where people can go to improve their health and fitness levels and be educated about proper eating habits, and I just happen to have the best nutritional supplements on the planet available to others to improve on their proper eating habits. These are just two ways out of many how I can help improve upon the health of others.

Again, I ask you what your stepping stone is. What is your reason or your purpose for the goals you have set? I ask this because when you know what this is, your results are much more likely to happen.


Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center, in Bluffton, SC, and is an independant distributor for AdvoCare International.

Couples That Train Together Stay Together

After a hard day at work, spouses come home to spend the little time left in the day together. Let’s be honest, this takes a huge toll on relationships. Now add kids to the equation, driving them to after school activities, and planning and cooking dinner. There is so much to do, when is there time to spend quality time together? Not much.

Here’s a great way for keeping the spark in a relationship. Try working out together. Over the last 23 years I have trained many couples together, and as a trainer I love when couples come in and say they want to workout together. This to me is awesome, not only for getting healthy and fit, but because it brings new light to relationships.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still hard to find time to workout together, however, it saves time by doing it together. And yes, it is very much quality time together, especially when someone else makes the workout. Someone like me, a trainer. This puts both people in the relationship on edge, to see what’s coming next. This feeling somehow sparks a flame, simply by seeing your spouse act a certain way. She might say “bring it on” while he’s quite thinking to himself “this trainer wants me to do what?” You can sense what your spouse is thinking and feeling. This in itself can make a relationship stronger.

Don’t forget about letting out some well needed frustration towards each other. We all know that there is vent up frustration when it comes to building and keeping relationships going. Working out together, performing certain types of exercise can really help bring out some needed venting. Take fitness boxing for instance. Boxing is perfect for a little tension release. There are plenty of partner type exercises also where both people have to work as a team to get it accomplished. Physical team building exercises work for corporations, so why not relationships?

Fact is, couples that train together stay together, and fitness can be a great way to spend quality time with each other.

We at the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center offer partner training as well as small group training. Try pushing each other in a workout. Find time to go for walks together, or go to a trainer together. Trust me, it’s completely worth it!

Chad Cannon is the owner of the Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center and is an Independent Distributor for AdvoCare International.

Tips for women and muscle toning

1 Push yourself. Overtraining is pretty easy, however you want to make sure you cannot do one more repetition in a set because you are too exhausted. You want it to burn (this feeling is lactic acid stimulating muscle growth) and want to make the next set harder to do.

2 Add resistance. You'll get a burn when you add resistance training, and with resistance comes stronger muscles and a more toned look.

3 Harness the big tree exercises. Train the trunk of the tree most, not the limbs. The big three exercises when you build muscles include the deadlift, squatting, and the bench press. They should always be included in your workout plan in some fashion as they build condition, strength, and bulkiness.

4 Workout a few times a week. You should workout at a minimum of 3 times a week - that should provide more than enough exercise required by your body to build nicely toned muscles.

5 Keep it balanced. You want to focus on both cardiovascular workouts like running and biking while you try to build muscles. However, you never want to do both extremes at once - for example, training to run a marathon while still lifting 5 times a week. It is great to mix cardio and strength training, but just don't push each to the max at the same time. It is also great to combine your cardiovascular exercise into your strength routines, such as jump roping or short sprints between strength exercises.

6 Eat well. Not only does this mean eating healthy, but you need to eat for your muscles to build and not deplete. If you're cutting calories as part of a weight-loss regime, they will leave your muscle and you'll be fighting to build them back up. If you are trying to lose weight at the same time as you're building your muscles and are required to drop the amount of food you eat, make sure at the very least to keep your protein levels the same as before. You can work out how many calories you need on a daily basis by using a BMR calculator.

7 Measure body fat, not weight. If you are part of a diet and weight loss regime and perform strength training, be sure to measure body fat - not your weight. If you're actually gaining muscles, you will be gaining weight (pounds on the scale), even if you're losing calories in other places on your body. Remember, weight does not equal size - it's about how you look in the mirror, not how much you weigh!

8 Carbohydrates are your friend. If you're exercising and performing cardio and weight strengthening exercises everyday, your levels of glucose are being depleted. If you fail to fuel your body with a sufficient amount of protein, your body will begin to ravage your muscles to extract protein (for carbohydrates). It depends on how much you're exercising, but you should consume anywhere from 2 to 3.5 grams of carbs for every pound of body weight you have daily.

9 Consume protein before and after workouts. Consume about 10 to 20 grams of protein less than an hour before training to help increase the muscle-building effect of training. This equals to about the same size as 1 or 2 glasses of milk. After your workout, have a protein shake.

10 Try supplements. While the results vary for all individuals and should be taken only under the advice of a medical professional, many supplements may have the ability to enhance your training - making you workout harder and for longer period of times. This could lean to increased muscle growth. Additionally, recent research performed has demonstrated that a creatine supplement combined with proteins and carbohydrates may encourage muscle building.

Shoot for the stars, but it might take a while. It takes a long time to send a rocket shuttle into space. You need to make sure to set systematic, reasonable goals for your muscle building program that you can track, progress, and meet overtime. The bottom line is that if you keep training you will lose weight, and you will also gain muscle and strength. It's time for the women to get in the gym and start training with resistance!

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC, and is an independent distributor for AdvoCare International.

What it takes to TRANSFORM!

A lifestyle transformation is not just doing what it takes to lose weight. A complete transformation includes all aspects of a person's life, including family, physical and emotional well-being; fashion, home design; personal finance; food; and jobs.

Everything around us effects the way we live our lives, especially emotionally. Even being around the right colors, and lighting changes our mood.

If you are a person that truly wants a life transformation, a person that is unhappy with who you are, it usually has to do with everything involved in your life, not just what you look like.

The television show The Biggest Loser is well known for the Body Transformations that people go through. What most people don't realize is that most of the people on that show not only changed their fitness habits, but also their eating habits, their emotional wellbeing, their home lifestyle, even their jobs once they returned home. You'll see a difference in the way they dress, and the colors they wear. You'll see a difference in the way their home is put together. You'll see a difference in their organizational skills. You'll see a differnce in their friends and the people they hang around with. You'll see a difference in the foods they eat. You'll see a difference in healthy habits, and priorities. It's an all in one package deal when a life is transformed.

I know this sounds like a lot, but remember where the people on The Biggest Loser started. They were worse off than most people. So don't think you can't do it.

Start with a few simple things. These things might sound simple, but they are not at all easy. I totally admit that. However, I do know that all of us can make these changes.

• First and foremost, get away from all the negetive people in your life. I don't care if they are your best friends. If they are a negative influence, they effect you in a bad way. You don't want anything to do with that. Surround yourself with those that you want to be like. Happy people, people that make money, people that are fit and healthy. Surround yourself with coaches and mentors that will help you achieve your goals and dreams.



• Figure out what your true passion is and do that for a living. I'm not saying go quit your job. But work on transitioning to something you really love doing. Working in a place you love everyday makes all the difference in the world.



• This one sounds wierd, but trust me, it WILL help more than you can ever imagine. Eat breakfast, and a healthy one at that! Start your day off on the right foot by fueling your body right from the start. You WILL feel so much better throughout the rest of the day simply because you ate first thing in the morning.



• Everyday, do some kind of exercise. You'll be so shocked at how you feel after a simple power-walk. Get yourself on a regular scheduled out routine with both resistance training and cardiovascular training integrated into it. I also highly recommend going for a power-walk outside in the sun at least once per week, just to look up at the blue sky and think. It's a great release!
  

Again, I know that this all sounds good and you might want to do them, but you also might be telling yourself, it's just not me, I can't really make these changes. I'm hear to tell you, YES you can make these changes. It's a simple decision, a split second decision, either to do something about it, or to keep doing the same thing and keep getting the same results. You CAN do it! I believe in you!

Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC and is an Advisor with AdvoCare International.