Transform your body in just 4 weeks with these simple exercises

magical solution exists for making your stress — and its weight-related issues —disappear, but you can take some of the following measures to combat the effect of stress on your waistline:
• Exercise: Get your body moving to reduce cortisol levels and lift your mood. Find an exercise you enjoy to get your mind off your worries. Take up a new sport or join a workout class where you can find social support through movement.
• Find an outlet: Some people find that writing in a journal helps them to cope with stress. A journal can also help you figure out why you may be feeling stressed, and give you ideas on how to deal with the problems that may be troubling your mind.
• Learn to say no: If you're too busy, you could lose sleep, and you might not have enough time to prepare healthy meals and get enough exercise. Plan your days so you always have time to unwind and take care of yourself properly.
• Practice positive thinking: By taking a positive approach to life, you might find that the problems that stress you out aren't as bad as you thought they were. Restructure or refocus a situation to direct your thoughts into a frame of mind that promotes confident thinking.
You Don't Get Enough Sleep
Life is hectic, and busy schedules can quickly get in the way of healthy sleep habits. You might reason that you should cut out long hours of sleep so you can exercise more, but reducing your sleeping hours isn't necessarily a good idea.
When you are sleep-deprived, you have more of the hormone Ghrelin, a hormone that prompts you to start eating. You also have less of the hormone Leptin, a hormone that signals your body to stop eating. With these hormonal imbalances, you're more likely to mindlessly snack while you push your exhausted body through your daily activities. Furthermore, a lack of sleep can slow down your metabolism.
Most adults need between seven and eight hours of sleep each night. Improve your sleep habits by cutting out your afternoon cup of coffee and taking the last few hours before you go to bed to relax. Also, try to avoid using your smartphone or computer when you're about to go to sleep. The bright light of the screen will stimulate your brain and trick you into staying awake. Going to bed at the same time each night may also help.
What if you're getting enough sleep and you still don't seem to have the energy to make it through your day? An underlying medical cause could be the problem. Your doctor also may refer you to a sleep specialist to determine the cause of the problem.
You Aren't Exercising Enough — Or You're Exercising Too Much
Health experts recommend that adults get 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. During your weight-loss efforts, you might exercise even more than that amount. Still, if you have an office job, the time you set aside specifically for exercise may not be enough time. You don't have to overexert yourself by spending two hours at the gym every morning. Instead, try increasing your activity throughout the day.
You might consider the following:
• Opt for the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Park farther away from your destination when you're at work or when you shop for groceries.
• Clean your home often. The calories you burn when you're sweeping the floor or scrubbing the toilet can add up.
• Go for a walk during your breaks at work.
• Buy a pedometer and try to take at least 10,000 steps per day.
Surprisingly, getting too much exercise can also hinder your attempts to slim down. Exercise boosts your metabolism, but it also increases your appetite. If you find that you could eat a pizza after your session at the gym, you might want to adjust your workout routine and opt for gentler activity instead.
YOU'RE NOT ADDING STRENGTH TRAINING TO YOUR WORKOUTS
Strength training helps you to build lean muscle, in turn, increasing your metabolism. However, working out in the weight section of the gym has even more benefits for your weight-loss efforts. Comparing cardio with strength training, James Chan, writing for BodyBuilding.com states, "While cardio burns calories and fat when you're performing it, high rep strength training has what is known as high EPOC or 'Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption.' This is a fancy term for saying how long your metabolism is elevated after exercise.
"Studies show that a well-designed strength program can elevate your EPOC or metabolism for up to 38 hours after the workout. In other words, you continue to burn calories long after strength training. Whereas once you stop cardio, the calorie burning stops as well."
When strength training, you should add some resistance to your workouts. If you've been hesitant to try incorporating strength training into your fitness regimen, you may want to pay for a few sessions with a personal trainer who can show you how to perform strength-training exercises safely and for maximum impact on your body.
Whether you want to lose five pounds or 50, losing weight can be difficult and particularly frustrating when your efforts don't seem to be getting you anywhere. By using the information presented here, you can work toward getting your weight-loss goals back on track.