Topic: rest

The Hormone Diet: Is it Possible to Drop Five Pounds by Sleeping?

A good rest has always been called beauty sleep – but how about a lean body sleep? Sufficient rest and recuperation effectively reduces our stress hormone, cortisol. When we are sleep-deprived, cortisol levels rise. This omnipotent hormone controls our appetite, often making us feel hungry even when we have eaten enough. It also raises blood sugar and insulin levels and results in increased fat deposition around the abdomen. To further complicate the situation, high cortisol can negatively affect our sleep patterns, making it difficult to fall or stay asleep when we finally do go to bed. This increase in stress hormones also has detrimental effects on other aspects of our endocrine system, like thyroid gland function which governs our metabolism – and in turn, our body composition. More »

Forget About Laboring On Labor Day: You Need The Rest!

There’s no shortage of Labor Day races this holiday weekend—from 5K’s to 10K’s and half-marathons, it’s not only the unofficial end of summer, it is the unofficial start of prime racing season for many runners. If you’re partaking in an event, that’s awesome. If not, that’s OK too, because (believe it or not) we’re actually going to recommend that you take a rest day. More »

Morning Links: Get Rest to Lose Weight

Study Says “Let Him Cheat” – You should let your spouse check other people out if they’re so inclined, according to a new study. (Healthland)

Lab Mice Now Suffer Bullying, and Don’t Like It – A new study shows that bullying alters mice brains, indicating that it could have long-term social anxiety effects on humans, too. But now we just feel really bad for those mice who were bullied by lab scientists. (ScienceDaily)

Lose Weight By Being Lazy – All work and no play (or sleep) makes Jack slightly more prone to being overweight, so rest up to lose weight. But for the record: We’re not telling you to skip the gym. (Psychology Today) More »