CAN YOU LOSE WEIGHT BY LAUGHING?
8 WAYS LAUGHTER CAN HELP YOU NATURALLY IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH AND LOSE WEIGHT!
Laughter is a sustainable way to lose weight, get happy and the only energy it costs is your own (or your friends who are getting you to laugh). Laughing is good for you and low-impact on the environment. Look at children and how their laughter explodes from their insides as they fall into uncontrollable hysterics that inevitably leads to streams of tears drenching their cheeks. Now look at adults who find something funny and give off a little giggle as they quickly place their hand on their mouth as if to hide their outward expression of positive emotion. What exactly morphed inside us that made us become so honestly boring? Do you even remember a time when you were literally incapable of stopping your snort-filled, tear-sopped laughter that worsened with every glance of your friend’s equally hysterical face to the point that the only way to regain composure was to physically remove yourself from the situation? The next time you feel a serious laugh coming on, open your mouth wide and let your laughter roar! If for no other reason, let it out so you don’t have to let out your pants. What I mean is—laughter is actually a calorie-burning exercise (not to mention a natural stress-reliever). Yes, when you laugh you burn calories, boost your immune system, calm your muscles, relax your mind, reduce physical pain, and lower blood sugar levels. And unlike pills, laughter has no negative side effects.
Here’s how laughter can help you naturally lose weight and be healthier!
1. Calorie Burn Add laughter to your workout regimen. Laughing provides a natural cardiovascular workout for your insides, increases your heart rate and circulation, and toning to your abdominal muscles. Dr. William Fry of Stanford University says, “Laughing heartily five times a day has the same beneficial effects as ten minutes on a rowing machine. 10-15 minutes of solid laughter can burn 50 calories.
2. Immune System Laughter can increase the release of infection-fighting antibodies while decreasing the creation of cortisol, therefore bolstering the immune system.
3. Blood Sugar A good bout of laughter has been shown to lower blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
4. Cholesterol A serious chuckle has been shown to increase “good” HDL cholesterol.
5. Pain Reliever For serious pain sufferers, it has been found that 10-minutes of laughter can translate into two-hours of less aching.
6. Creativity Researchers found that individuals with a sense of humor approach problem solving in a more creative way, as well as proving more productive and more profitable in a working environment. Especially in this competitive workplace climate, it’s time to up your game and put on a happy (if not hysterical) face.
7. Beauty Laughing improves skin tone and appearance by absorbing more air, therefore oxygenating the cells. An increase of oxygen invigorates the skin and brightens skin tone, reversing the external signs of aging.
8. Muscle Relaxation Laughter can act as a muscle relaxant. The physically calming effects can also minimize stress—a relaxation response that can last for as long as 45-minutes.
Now combine all this with Square Dancing and you can multiply the effects of laughter by 1,000! YES! You can gain these results just by getting out and square dancing because laughter is a byproduct of square dancing. What do you say? Let’s Dance!!
Source: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/diet-fitness/weight-loss/laughter-natural-weight-loss.htm
REASONS TO SQUARE DANCE
PART 1
- Social Aspects – Square Dancing is a great way to meet people in a non-threatening, relaxed social atmosphere. You never know who you are going to meet. Lifelong friendships are formed, and many have met the love of their life too. There are clubs for everyone and everybody is welcome at all clubs.
- Healthy Environment – Square Dance clubs are smoke and alcohol free.
- Cardiovascular Fitness – Dancing is a safe way to exercise. The level of exertion is up to each participant. You can rev it up for a high intensity workout or take it easy for a relaxing, yet beneficial workout. Dancing regularly can lead to a slower heart rate, lower blood pressure, and an improved cholesterol profile.
- Body & Brain Boost – Square dancers react to calls as they are given. This forces the body and brain to be tightly coordinated. A number of the calls are learned which keeps the brain sharp.
- Stress Relief – Since this dance form is led by a leader giving commands, you become so focused on the “task at hand” that your other mental worries are forgotten, at least for a couple of hours.
- Calorie Burn – Dancing burns between 200 and 400 calories every 30 minutes of dancing. That’s equivalent to walking or riding a bike.
- Distance – The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports recommends 10,000 steps per day to maintain physical fitness. It is estimated that a typical square dancer can clock in at 9,000 to 10,000 steps per dance.
- Sturdy Bones – The side to side movements of dancing strengthens weight-bearing bones, tibia, fibula, and femur, and helps prevent the slow loss of bone mass.
- Balance– Studies have shown that adults, who have a history of activities such as dance, tend to have less incidents of falling as they get older.
- Rehabilitation – Dancing is a way to get back in the swing of things if you are recovering from an injury. Dancing keeps your joints moving, and is a nice alternative to jogging or other high-intensity activities.
- Metal Health – Studies have shown that activities that involve both physical and mental activity at the same time help to slow the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.