Stress increases the level of the hormone cortisol in your body. Too much cortisol can cause your metabolism to slow down. This means you don’t burn as many calories and you’ll gain weight.

Stress also affects your sleep. When you’re too stressed and unable to sleep your hormones are once again effected. You’ll feel hungrier during the day due to an imbalance in leptin.

Finally stress is an emotion and it brings with it a whole host of other emotions. This overflow of emotions often results in binge eating or overeating. I mean who hasn’t eaten simply because they’re stressed out? And you generally don’t make great food choices when you’re stressed.

So what do you do?

• Exercise
• Meditate
• Find gratitude
• Learn to let go
• Take on less
• Go for a walk or get out in nature
• Take a vacation
• Read a book – take time away!
• Embrace your successes
• And strive to live in the moment.

There are a variety of things you can do to manage and reduce stress. Find the steps that work for you. Learn how to take great care of yourself. Reduce stress. Lose weight and live a long and healthy life.  It’s all up to you.

Yes, there is a level of discomfort that comes from a bloating feeling, but it doesn’t mean that you are putting on ten or twenty pounds. It might feel like it, but you really aren’t. The truth is that there is only a difference of about 2-4 pounds.

So where does this weight gain come from?

There are many misconceptions about where this weight gain comes from before menstruation. Many believe that it comes from overeating. After all, you do eat more during PMS. The truth behind this is that while there is more eating going on, there is also a rise in metabolism that is just enough to offset the difference. There might be a mild increase, but not enough to be noticeable.

Another misconception is that it comes from eating more sweets. The fact is you are craving more sweets during pre-menstruation. It isn’t clear why that is the case, but it’s obvious that it exists and that craving increases as the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome worsen. While you might think that this would cause a lot of weight to come, you aren’t eating enough of an increase in calories to cause very much of on increase in weight.

The weight that you do put on happens to primarily come from water retention. For those who are struggling to control their weight, this can be a very frustrating thing. It seems that no matter how much work you normally do or how good your diet it, you seem to still put on weight and feel bloated. Don’t worry, though. The water that is retained usually all comes off during menstruation.

There is a couple of things that you can do to help limit the amount of water you retain.

1) Limit the amount of sodium you take in.

2) Increase the water you drink.

When you get more sodium (salt) than you need, it tends to sit in the intestines and requires more from the kidneys to flush it out. What happens is that your body starts to need more. When your body isn’t getting the water it needs, it starts retaining more. It notices that it needs more and realizes it isn’t going to get more. When your body feels like it isn’t getting the water it needs to function properly, it starts to go into conservation mode. It starts using less and keeping more.

When you cut down the amount of salt and sodium you normally eat or drink, your body needs less water to function efficiently. When you know that your body is going to be retaining fluids more anyway because you are approaching your menstrual period, start cutting back on salt. Also, start increasing the amount of water you drink. In doing this, you will see your body wanting to retain less and you won’t be wondering each month how much weight gain is going to take place.

All Natural Homeopathic Supplements That Can Help Alleviate Monthly PMS Symptoms

Femalite:

Femalite is formulated by Clinical Psychologists to help maintain stable mood and hormonal balance before menstruation, as well as provide a soothing effect for those common monthly ‘aches and pains’ during menstruation itself. It contains three well known, soothing and effective herbal ingredients – Fennel, Pulsatilla and Melissa.

Formulated in convenient drop form, Femalite may be taken when needed for support during the premenstrual and menstrual period. Simply added to juice or water and sipped, Femalite is pleasant tasting and can make all the difference. Get more info on Femalite for PMS

Dong Quai:

Dong Quai, one of the most important of the Chinese tonic herbs, is used as a nourishing blood tonic and helps to support healthy menstrual cycles. Dong Quai has been used for centuries by Asian healers to promote balance of female hormones and emotional health during menopause and perimenopause. More recently, clinical research has confirmed the effectiveness of this tonic herb. More info on Dong Quai can be found here.

When it comes right down to it, there are just limited outdoor activities that you can do if you live in harsh winter climates. Indoor exercise is boring and stagnant to many people so it becomes looked upon as a chore in comparison to outdoor exercising which makes you feel healthier. There isn’t too much you can do to change the fact that you’ll have to move your routine inside. But what you can do is make it short. In fact, you can cut your workout time in half just by varying it’s intensity. Switch back and forth between shorts bursts of high aerobic exercise that really gets you huffing and puffing with rest periods where you just calm it down.

Next, pay attention to what you’re eating. Not just what you are eating every day but how it looks, smells and tastes in your mouth. If you can enjoy your meals and snacks rather than just wolfing them down, you will feel fuller and more satisfied. Of course, this all goes along with trying to stick to a healthy diet and pattern. A good rule  of thumb is to eat three moderate meals each day and two healthy snacks. Stick to fruit, vegetables, lean meat, whole grain and fiber-rich foods. Eat nuts and cheese for snacks instead of sweets or processed foods.

Also, identify patterns. If you’ve always gained weight in the winter, try to figure out why. If you know why, do something to alter that pattern. Many people eat out of boredom. Try a new hobby or take up a class.

Big holiday times occur during the winter and this might be the biggest culprit of all when it comes to winter weight gain. If you’re cooking for the holidays, make sure you keep raw vegetables nearby to snack on and also serve healthy dishes as alternatives. If you’re a guest at many parties, try to go for the healthy choices first.

Having a buddy partner or joining some sort of support group can help too. It’s much easier to stick to your initiatives when you’re held responsible by someone else who is going for the same goals.

Finally, remember that winter weight gain is perfectly normal. While you don’t want to be packing on the pounds, don’t get worked up over a couple of extra ones. These can be lost almost as easily as they were gained.

1.  Eat more…a lot more.  This may seem like an obvious tip, but trouble gaining weight usually means you are not eating anywhere near enough food.  Even if you think you are eating enough to gain weight, you may not even be compensating for the extra calories burned by your workout.  Most people underestimate the sheer amount of calories needed to gain even one pound.  While most sedentary people will have trouble restricting their calorie intake to less than their expenditure, physically active people may burn up to five or six thousand calories per day.

2.  Use online calorie counting tools and weight loss calculators to set goals and track your progress.  In the past, keeping track of your calories was tedious and time-consuming.  You had to look up every food in a calorie book and write down your calculations in a notebook.  Now you can easily input the food you just ate into an online calorie counting site and it will look up the calories for you.  Many sites allow you to set up a free account to record of your intake and print reports showing the breakdown by food type.

A weight loss (or gain, in this case) calculator will take your measurements, physical activity level, and desired weight to give you a required calorie intake per day.  Combining this with your online tracking site lets you quickly and easily see if you are meeting your calorie goals for the day.  It is helpful to see if you will fall short because then you can adjust and eat a larger dinner or add a snack before bed.  The breakdown of fats, carbs, and proteins is also useful for changing up your intake as the day progresses.  Review your reports at the end of the week to see if there are any empty calories that you can remove from your diet.

3.  Change up your workout to focus on gaining muscle.  There are adjustments you can make while you are in the gym to speed up your weight gain.  Progressively overloading a specific muscle group with increasing amounts of weight will maximize your gains in size from one workout to the next.  Be sure to keep pushing your body by periodically changing up the types of exercises you do in the weight room.  Also, getting enough rest in between sessions is crucial to making the most of your workouts.  Many people think they need to workout more in order to achieve rapid weight gain, but that only breaks down the muscles without giving the body a chance to rebuild itself.

If you feel you are too skinny or seem to keep losing weight for some unknown reason it’s time to see your doctor. There may be a possibility of some type of illness or disease, which could be causing you to be underweight or losing pounds, you can’t afford to lose.

Most people have to lose weight, but there are a few (lucky you might say!) folks out there who have the opposite problem; in that they have trouble putting on weight. These people generally can eat a lot of what they want but simply don’t gain weight. Once an illness has been ruled out, a weight gaining diet plan needs to be formulated.

Just because a person is thin it doesn’t mean they are healthy. People who don’t put on weight may feel they can eat whatever and whenever they like. However there are hidden dangers; the cholesterol levels can easily climb and various other silent killers may lurk about; such as diabetes. It is therefore pivotal that thin people who have trouble putting on weight still eat healthy.

There are various weight gaining diet plans but all have the one goal; to consume more calories than are being burned. Many people who struggle to put on weight are very active and therefore require a high daily calorie intake. The secret is to focus on good calories and not bad ones.

Some examples of weight gaining diet foods include:

•    Fish
Fish is high in protein, makes you feel fuller faster and is known for excellent weight gain. Bodybuilders eat a lot of fish for the protein and because protein does not result in excess fat, you are putting on lean muscle instead which is healthier.

•    Fruit
Fruit such as bananas are ideal for weight gain. Most other fruits will not result in actual gains but will make you healthy.

•    Vegetables
Vegetables are the key to weight gain. You can eat as many vegetables as you like without feeling guilty. If you really need to gain weight then consider two to three small vegetable meals per day.

•    Lean Meat
Meat is the other key to putting on weight. Although vegetarians may not be skinny, eating meat will certainly hasten the process of weight gain. Lean meats like lean beef and chicken should be eaten 4-5 times per week if your goal is to put on weight.

Some other tips for a weight gaining diet include eating regular small meals rather than 3 large meals. 6 smaller meals will stop your body using up reserves of fat as it waits for the next meal. Providing a constant supply of food means there is always something for your body to work from.

In conclusion you can eat a weight gaining diet, but metabolism and genetics may be working against you. Regardless if you are losing weight or trying to gain weight, the most important thing is for you to eat healthy.

One of the biggest contributing factors can be winter boredom. Chances are you decrease your activities during the winter months; especially the outdoor ones. This can be due to the shorter daylight hours.

Recent studies have shown that when physical activities are reduced you tend to get bored. The same studies indicate boredom causes many people to eat more than they normally would. And if you are like so many others you will tend to snack on comfort food.

Unfortunately much of today’s comfort food is not good for our overall health much less our waist line. If you must snack out of boredom you should be extremely careful to make sure your snacks or healthy. It would be a good idea to keep veggies, fruits and nuts around. The lower the calorie counts the less chances you will have winter weight gain.

Some scientist place the blame of cold season weight gain on our ancestral blood lines. These same folks think some of your pre-historic relatives may have had to pack on the fat just to stay alive during the cold months. In turn this same need created a desire for food that would add the extra fat quickly and easily. Today we call that loading up on the calories.

Furthermore these scientists also believe your relatives also piled on the extra calories because of the fear of the food spoiling. And of course the food spoilage would cause shortages before the coldest part of the winter was over. The need for survival was to add the fat, just like some animals do for survival.

But you don’t have to let this needling of “Need Meat”, “Need Meat” control you. A chain around the refrigerator will do just fine; thank you very much. Seriously you can over come this inherited need (if that is what it is) by remembering you live in a warm friendly environment and the grocery store is just around the corner. Thus you don’t have to eat everything in sight just to stay warm and survive.

But let’s face it; you know darn good and well you tend not to exercise as much during the winter. It’s much easier to come home in the evening and throw yourself down in the recliner and catch some TV time. Well, friend you just compounded your winter weight gain by a factor of  2 or more.

No matter what else you do you have to get some exercise. If the weather is to bad to go outside and walk, use the stairs in your office building. Go to the gym for lunch instead of to the cafeteria. Do what ever you to do to keep your metabolism up to burn those extra calories.

As you can see there are many things that can cause you to jump up to 2 pants size larger during the winter months. However, if you take some of the steps mentioned above it will help control your winter weight gain and make it easier to lose when the warmer months roll around.