A secret for when you're faced with stress and the cravings it produces: vertical stretches

slimming secret of Dr Pierre Dukan

A secret for when you're faced with stress and the cravings it produces: vertical stretches

Stress effects weight in two ways: by triggering cortisone secretion which then causes water retention and traps fat and also by encouraging us to eat fatty and sugary comfort foods to deaden the unpleasantness of stress...

When you start to feel stress, I can suggest a technique so that you neutralize it before you see its negative effects develop.

This technique, stretching-breathing, combines two simple actions which reinforce each other.

Stretching: this concerns the trapezius muscles, the two muscles which are the most receptive to stress and whose tension reflects that in your mind. The trapezius muscles are the 2 muscles that connect the neck to the shoulders and extend behind down to the lower back. To stretch them, all you have to do is to push the top of your head up towards the ceiling whilst at the same time dropping your shoulders down as far as you can. Extending the trapezius muscles relaxes them and their relaxation in turn relaxes your mind.

Breathing: at the same time breathe in slowly until your lungs are completely full and then stop breathing in for a maximum of 3 seconds. Then breathe out slowly until your lungs are emptied.

With 5 ins and outs, you will have completely replenished the air in your lungs, released your intercostal muscles and your diaphragm and completely relaxed your trapezius musles.

This takes 75 seconds, hardly more than a minute but you are now safe from stress and its after-effects, your craving for some compensation.