Exercise and Weight Loss

About a week ago Gluten Free Girl wrote a touching essay about some of her personal challenges during the past year.

She mentioned two things I want to cite here since they relate to a few Math 25 topics about health, exercise, and nutrition.

Sleep deprivation produces more cortisol, which makes more hunger and anxiety both.

I also noticed during weeks when Smiley does not sleep well that I replace sleep with food. I appreciate that by body allows me to make the substitution, but it does have its own problems.

I once told a friend of mine: "I've realized that happiness is movement in the body and stillness in the mind." I'm learning it once again.

Personally, I would extend this slightly: The body is fit when exercise produces more energy and the mind is fit when trying to quiet it produces more stillness.

But I'll also note that weight loss is discriminatory against women. Research clearly shows that most men can lose desired weight simply by exercising more, but most women also need to monitor their eating.

UPDATE: I realized that I had mentioned cortisol before: it is also the chemical that causes extended aerobic exercise to start burning muscle instead of fat.