KEYNOTE: Cavemen Had No Love Handles
Why the stress response can wreak havoc on the body and how we can make physiology work to our advantage

We live in a very fast-paced, high-stress world, which can create a continual stream of stress hormones being released into the body, resulting in The Cortisol Crisis™: depleted levels of energy, poor sleep, reduced performance, increased body fat, extreme appetites and eating patterns, as well as decreased health and immunity. Many of us who are stressed out may cope by turning to things that are bad for us — French fries, donuts, alcohol, cigarettes, working longer hours, or skipping workouts — adding several more layers of stress!

Our body's physiological response mechanisms are adapted for dealing with short-term emergencies. Most of the survival issues we faced in the first few million years did not take hours or even minutes to resolve. We were either eaten or ran away — the whole thing lasted about 30 seconds. Our stress responses were designed to solve problems for seconds, not years.

Stress stimulates the body's fight or flight response, which releases the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, making energy available for fighting or fleeing. As we fight or flee our body releases the "feel good" hormones endorphins, which flush out the stress hormones — the same reaction we have to physical activity! If we don't get the opportunity for the physical activity needed for the release of endorphins due to our sedentary society and time restrictions, the toxic stress hormones continue to circulate through our body. There is a proven, direct scientific link between elevated levels of cortisol and abdominal fat deposits, decreased immunity, quality of sleep and the types of foods we crave.

In this enlightening and entertaining session you'll learn simple nutrition, exercise and sleep strategies to incorporate in to your lifestyle right away and gain new insight on how to make stress work for you!