January 3, 2023

Painting Pottery Can Help You Lose Weight

Let’s face it, stress is part of our lives. Unfortunately, it can also contribute to poor eating and other habits that keep us from feeling our best. “Even if you usually eat well and exercise, chronic high stress can prevent you from losing weight—or even add pounds,” explains Dr. Pamela Peeke, author of Body for Life for Women. As it turns out, our bodies respond to all types of stress in exactly the same way.  Every time we have a stressful day, our brain instructs our cells to release potent hormones. We then get a burst of adrenaline, which taps stored energy so we can fight or flee. At the same time, we get a surge of cortisol, which tells our body to replenish that energy even though we haven’t burned many calories.  This makes us hungry, and we eat.  Typical stress-eating choices such as sweet, salty and high-fat foods stimulate our brains, which releases pleasure chemicals and reduces our tension. We continue to repeat this cycle over time, increasing the production of cortisol. This interferes with our muscle building hormones, and we burn even fewer calories. It doesn’t take long for our bodies to start storing fat. Even worse, it loves to store visceral fat. (You do NOT want visceral fat. Yuck!) Now, for the good news! There are many ways to reduce the stress in our lives. While we encourage you to try them all, we recommend art therapy. Our favorite form of art therapy, of course, is pottery painting! Creating and painting pottery encourages creativity and self-expression. This is a perfect way to reduce stress. While most forms of therapy require dialogue to express feelings and overcome personal obstacles, painting pottery allows for a more abstract form of expression. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be an artist to get the benefit.  The final product doesn’t matter anywhere near as much as the “process” does. Still, you may surprise yourself with what you are able to create on your very first visit! As a bonus benefit to you and your body, painting pottery is calorie free! You can spend time with friends and family, doing one of the very few social activities that is NOT centered around food. And what's better, being creative helps reduce stress - yup, we said it - BYE-BYE STRESS! But don't take our word for it, check out this fantastic article written by PsyPost.org! Come visit You’re Fired to relax, breathe, and create. Oh yeah, and lose some weight in the process!

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