How to de-stress with exercise

New Haven (WTNH) - Fitness expert Lisa Lynn joined us this morning to tell us about how stress can affect weight loss, and showed us some exercises to help you de-stress.

The following information was provided by Lisa:

Stress can affect weight loss in a big way, causing many highly-stressed people to overeat.

What can you do to de-stress yourself so that your body doesn't suffer?

First, get in touch with your body so you can recognize what it feels like to be relaxed and how it feels when you are stressed.

"When we are stressed, our shoulders rise up to ear level and it causes your shoulders to slump over and allows gravity to take over and continue to pull our bodies toward the ground," explains Lisa. "This ages our bodies more than you can imagine."

Bad posture can make you look much older than you really are and it can cause headaches, among other things.

Take a deep cleansing breath if you're really stressed. If we can all learn to relax we will solve our eating/stress problems at the core level where they need to be addressed.

Here are three exercises you can do right now to de-stress:

1. Perform a posture check to see if your shoulders are visiting your ears. If they are, take a deep breath and tell them to "wilt" or "relax." They will relax just by the power of suggestion. If you are very tense this may take multiple breaths. If you are super tense this may take time, so be patient and don't give up. It is well worth the trouble and you will not only feel better, you will look fitter too.
2. Find a quiet place and take a five minute de-stress break to practice your breathing. Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale out through your mouth slowly, as if there were a feather right in front of you and you don't want it to move. Take five seconds to fully exhale. This is one of the simplest yet most effective things we can do to revitalize and de-stress our bodies. That will always equate to a healthier body and mind. Repeat this breathing exercise until you feel relief.
3. LAUGH! Keep your sense of humor; it can make the darkest day seem light and uplifting. Find a way to laugh at things!

Lisa brought her sense of humor to the studio today and taught Matt and Chris how to do a body lift, an exercise that is not only fun, it is good for your body.

If you use the body lift every day, it will improve your posture immediately, bring blood flow to your face, relieve varicose veins and decompress your back and hips from sitting all day.

To check out the body lift, get more great fitness information, or if you have a question for Lisa, please visit www.lisalynnfitness.com. Mention that you saw the segment on WTNH and receive $10.00 off your order.