Although cortisol is the hormone produced during the “fight or flight” response and is blamed for anxiety, high blood pressure, stroke, etc., it is still necessary for optimal brain and body function. The fight or flight mode is one that humans have developed in order to, quickly and efficiently, respond to threatening stimuli in our environment, and that spike in cortisol is a good thing. Beyond that, cortisol plays a part in helping our brains form memories, allowing us to feel alert and awake, managing inflammation in the body, supporting our metabolism, and more. The trouble arises when we are stuck in fight or flight mode and our cortisol levels never return to normal. When it comes to cortisol, balance is key. This is why finding ways to relieve and manage stress as well as mitigating stressful inputs is so important in our lives today.

Here are a few ways I reduce stress in my life.

• SHUT OFF THE NEWS. Try it for a day. No news is allowed on the TV, playing in the house either through the radio or Alexa, not online news, unfollow all news stations on facebook including any satire shows.
• Get rid of triggers on social media. Stop reacting to stuff that makes you feel bad, you're explicitly telling the algorithm gods to give you more of the same. Likewise, by not reacting to stuff that makes you feel good, you're explicitly telling the algorithm gods to give you less of it. Simple remedy is to like, comment or spend time on feeds that bring positivity into your life. Heck, my facebook page is now filled with cooking videos and funny videos of cats and dogs. 
• You have got to exercise. You can not hide from the evidence anymore. If you are still making excuses that you do not have the time then all I can say is....STOP IT. 
• Sleep. Prioritize sleep. I make sure I go to bed around the same time every night. It is hard to get 8 hrs and I wake up after 7 to 7.5 hrs and I feel great. Anything less and I feel it in physically and mentally. 
• Nutrition. As a fitness professional you would expect that my nutrition would be something to envy. Nutrition has been a journey for me and by no means am I perfect. I do have an alcoholic  beverage weekly and I do indulge in something decadent at times. What helps me is I log my food daily and I stay within my set macros as best I can. This keeps me from gaining weight and stressing my body with excess calories it now has to process.
• I invest money in myself. I hire professionals to help me. I to hire a personal trainer, nutritionist to keep me on track and a therapist to gripe to about the world and help me cope. 

 Control the things you can control. What I listed above are things that are in your control to reduce stress and reduce the abundance of cortisol they cause.

​Slipping up is inevitable. No matter how good you think you are… you WILL slip up. This is one of the most important facts that you must come to terms with.
Mistakes are part and parcel of the weight loss journey. You can’t avoid them. In fact, you must make them to know what changes to make in order to progress.

​Ever heard someone give themselves permission to indulge their sweet tooth just because they just had a great workout?  It’s a common excuse. Many people believe that because they exercise, they’re in the black as far as their calorie input/output.  But in reality, this sort of thinking is a sure road to failure. Most people with a lean body and a 6 pack didn’t get that way by rationalizing their way to the desert buffet.

A common mistake that many people make when using resistance training to lose weight is that they only work one or two body parts per session. Very often, even the moves they use are not suitable for getting your body in a state where it burns fat rapidly.
There are a few principles that you need to adhere to when engaging in resistance training to burn fat. Let's look at what they are.

The answer to this question is definitely compound movements. When you're trying to lose weight, you always want to get the best bang for your buck during your workouts. Compound movements will give you that.

How too Much Cortisol can lead to Decreased Health and Increased Belly Fat
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Some have called it the “master” of all hormones.  Others curse it for its ability to wreak havoc on our body’s fragile endocrine balance.  In spite of the mixed opinions one thing is certain: cortisol is a powerful hormone necessary for life.  But if its level is not optimal in your body, your health could suffer.

What is Cortisol?

In just a few days, families all over America will be sitting down to a meal which looks back to that first Thanksgiving in which the Pilgrims commemorated the harvest after a harsh winter.  The year was 1621, and Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, which the colonists celebrated as a traditional English harvest feast.

​George Washington declared Thanksgiving a holiday in 1789, and in 1941 Congress passed a resolution which decreed that the holiday should fall on the fourth Thursday of November.
Feasting together is as old as the human race.  It is a way of celebrating and enjoying time with family and friends.  But if we are not careful, we can overdo the festivities and end up setting ourselves back over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

 Surveys have shown that there is something that Americans fear more than death. 

​It is Alzheimer’s disease. 

For most of us, losing our personhood--those characteristics which makes us who we are--is a fate worse than death.