At this point in this article series, you should be roughly 8 weeks into any plans to lose weight with a pole dancing workout at home that you might have made.  Or – maybe you didn’t do a New Year’s Resolution, but you did make some decisions to get back into shape for the summer time – we all want to look our best in that bikini! It’s right about now where you're are seeing the results of your hard work OR you are suffering from unexpected setbacks from things like a busy work schedule, family issues, fitness plateau and more. Whatever the case, don’t worry – life throws curve balls – we all know this, that’s why I like to view pole fitness dancing as a lifestyle change and a gradual process – not a goal you hopefully complete and then ditch in 12 weeks. Setbacks and “failures” are normal and it’s ok.  If you think that these things will never happen to you then – please don’t take this badly – you’re living in a fantasy world and potentially setting yourself for endless failure. Accepting your setback and loving yourself through it all (no matter what happened) is key to getting your bikini body back and losing weight.  Hating yourself or the situation won’t help.  Think about it – Does kicking your car when it won’t start actually help anything?  Does it change anything?  Does your car even care?   NO – so don’t kick yourself when your motor just won’t run right some days, It doesn’t help. Here is what you can do: Adapt and Overcome. Stress is the primary root reason that our hard work, slaving in the gym, and running our asses off doesn’t work very well.  And when our fitness process fails, what do we do?  Work Harder or Give UP!  Staying motivated gets challenging. Working harder creates MORE stress in the body and can actually prevent you from losing any weight at all. Stress is something we hear about all the time but greatly underestimate.  Stress comes from a lot of things like relationships and family drama, jobs, physical exertions during exercise, negative thinking and much more.  Once a stress is in your body (by physical or emotional means) then your body will produce cortisol to help you deal with the stress.  Cortisol is a nasty little hormone that tells your body to store fat – especially fat on your belly.  Ever notice how you belly fat gets harder and harder to get rid of as you grow older?  It’s because your hormones have changed due to the increase of stress as you age. HORMONES can actually prevent you from losing weight no matter how much you workout! The key to balancing your hormones (including your stress hormone cortisol) is by detoxing the liver, reducing gut inflammation, and reducing an enzyme called 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 or HSD. This enzyme converts inactive cortisone into the fat storing compound cortisol.  Read about how to balance your hormones and stop cortisol from sabotaging your weight loss goals here ==> So it’s KEY that you calm down and love yourself through your setbacks, or plateau – or whatever you are experiencing because “kicking” yourself (emotionally I mean) truly is working against your highest good. My favorite way to get through a setback is to workout LESS and focus on better eating choices!  Yes, you heard me right!  And when I do, my stress levels drop and I actually lose MORE FAT.  Plus it’s just plain easier to stay on track during hard times when you aren’t trying to get through an hour workout. Here is how I enjoy a “low stress” 20 minute pole fitness workout and still get great results ==> Read the full article