If you are on a diet to lose some weight, keep in mind that stress is an important factor in the way that will lead to success or failure of the diet.

Diet and stress

Stress accompanies the changes in routine, whether good or bad. Our body and mind become accustomed to a state and get them out of that state causes internal stresses that result in stress.

When we begin a diet, we changed our way of life: food, exercise, mindset meals. These changes, though beneficial to their health and quality of life can lead to stress.

And the stress of every day

The stress of starting a diet adds to the stress that we have everyday in our work and home, which leads to the so common “and anxiety”.

What results in a vicious circle in which increased stress involves an increase in the food we eat, so we must work harder to follow the diet and this causes more stress.

And people under stress are likely to take a defeatist attitude and self-pity: eating without hunger, drinking, smoking, etc..

Added to this are studies indicating that people under stress gain weight faster. When a person is stressed, the ¨ ¨ stress hormone (cortisol) is secreted in greater quantity and causes the sensation of hunger.

Cortisol Control

The stress management techniques can lower levels of cortisol, a key to a diet to succeed.

Physical exercise, in addition to burning calories, raising the level of functioning of our metabolism and help keep our figure, also reduce the level of cortisol in the blood.

Relaxation techniques and meditation help to reduce levels of cortisol and stress.

It is essential to be surrounded by people who provide emotional support and where you can download anxieties.

This situation is conceptualized as the set of phenomena that occur in the body of the worker with the participation of harmful stressors arising directly from work or in connection with this, can affect the health of the worker.

“Work-related stress has increased in incidence in the field of work and is a major cause of absenteeism, improper influences decisions, misjudgments and low staff morale. On the physical level also has negative effects or diseases causing disorders ranging from irritability, depression, anxiety, to more complex diseases such as ulcers, asthma, hypertension and cardiovascular disease, “says Claudia Contreras, professor in the School of Nursing at the Universidad Andres Bello, Chile.

“However, despite all these negative effects that stress has yet to receive proper care and companies and institutions invest sufficient resources to develop programs that help prevent and address this issue,” he warns.

Psychosocial Factors
According to the nurse, psychosocial factors at work represent the perceptions and experiences of workers, some are individual in nature, others refer to economic prospects and personal development and more to human relationships and emotional aspects.

“These factors consist of interactions between work, their working environment, job satisfaction and organizational conditions on the one hand and on the other hand, the worker’s personal characteristics, their needs, their culture, their experiences and perceptions the world, “he says.

“The major psychosocial stressors present in the working environment involve aspects of organization, administration and systems of work and certainly the quality of human relations,” he adds.

“Other factors outside the workplace but which are closely intertwined with the concerns arising from worker’s family circumstances or his private life, its cultural elements, their nutrition, their transportation facilities, housing, health and job security, “he stresses.

Major symptoms and effects
The nurse describes the major symptoms of stress:

# Physical: cardiovascular problems, allergies, skin problems, migraine headaches, breathing difficulties, sleep disturbances, gastrointestinal problems.

# Psychological: anxiety, boredom, frustration, irritability, isolation, difficulty concentrating, difficulty making decisions, memory loss.

# Behavior: aggression, alcohol or drug abuse, eating disorders, conflicts, absenteeism, decreased production, increased susceptibility to accidents.

The professional stresses that the effects of stress in the workplace are numerous, among these states:

# Contributes to increased risk of accidents
# You can affect performance and absenteeism

# You can create an unhealthy working environment in work organization
# It can be a risk factor for disease
# May be a risk factor of incapacity due to somatic and psychological disorders