When was the last time you laughed?
Not a polite chuckle, but a good ole’ belly laugh that leaves your belly hurting and tears in your eyes?
And what does this have to do with weight loss? – Turns out- a lot.
While laughing may not stack up toe-to-toe with other forms of exercise on a calorie burn level, it does amazing things for your physiology- that internal chemistry that dictates your hormone levels; which in turn affects hunger, mood and more.
Belly laughing also gives your core muscles an awesome workout! Right now, try busting out a few belly laughs- just fake ’em if you have to- notice your diaphragm gets going, and those muscles deep in your belly (the ones that are responsible for whether your belly wall pushes out or lays nice and flat) get activated.
How to try this?
Next time the level of ridiculous stress in your life has you wanting to tear your hair out, see if you can find a reason to laugh- even if it’s just because the only other option is to cry- you’ll get the same level of emotional and physical release, with the added benefit of endorphins and neurotransmitters that light up the pleasure centers in your brain. Notice the sensations in your body after your next good laugh.
And it lowers cortisol, which we looked at in part 1 and part 2 of this series (click those links to see the posts). One side-effect of cortisol is that it makes our body store fat in our belly- unhealthy and not so good for fitting into our jeans.
Now I’ve got nothing against a good cry š„ I just want to invite you to remember that laughing is an option. Here’s a link to a laughing meditation practice that might leave you chuckling
or check out this post – you can always search youtube for things that will make YOU laugh!
Laughter is a good addition to your life whether your goal is to lose weight, relieve stress, or just enjoy your life more.
What Cracks you up? And how do you feel afterwards? Tell me below, I’m so curious.
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