Stress can cause you to store fat right where you want it the least – in the belly. And what fights stress better than a luxurious massage? It may be the single most enjoyable way to keep the weight off.

If you think adding massage to your lifestyle sounds too good to be true, let’s look at how and why it works:

High Anxiety = Heavy Anxiety

Tension and stress lead directly to weight gain. Stress produces the cortisol hormone. Cortisol, besides causing major damage to tissue and nerves when stored up, also signals the production of insulin. Some extra insulin sounds harmless enough, except that it tells your body to store fat in the abdomen, as more and more studies are showing.

To fight this, you can either burn off the cortisol through exercise (still recommended by the way), or keep it from producing in the first place by staying relaxed. Like, say, through a massage.

Why butt fat beats belly fat

Junk Food Is No Accident

Storing more fat isn’t the only outcome of needless insulin production. It also causes you to crave sugary, high carb foods and snacks. So maybe those traumatic urges to binge aren’t just in your head. They’re biological reactions to stress.

You get hit with a double whammy. While stress is promoting fat storage, it’s also getting you to eat more food that can easily turn into fat. More massage means fewer munching binges.



Courtesy of www.hellobeautiful.com



Now this is something I didn't know.  As much as I love a good massage every now and then, I never associated it's usage to relieve stress with weight loss in the belly area.  Hmmm, interesting.