There is a definite correlation between stress and weight gain. I'm currently thinking of an old episode of The Biggest Loser (I'm a sucker for reality TV, it's trashy, I know, deal with it) where Nicole from the red team lost a lot of weight at home on her own, and then was given the opportunity to come back to the ranch, where she gained 5 pounds in a week. Everyone had expected Nicole to lose even more weight since she now had all the great resources at the Biggest Loser ranch. However, Nicole was also introduced to the stress of "the game," which Bob Harper concluded made her gain the weight.

I never thought about this much until spring break this year. I went home to see my family, had no gym, and ate nice, big homecooked meals at my grannys. Nonetheless, I came back to school two pounds lighter. What gives? I have to conclude that perhaps the stress that I felt the week beforehand (you know how professors love to lay it on thick the week before spring break) was preventing me from losing weight.

So why does stress prevent you from losing weight? Whenever you're stressed, your body releases a hormone called cortisol. If you have too much cortisol in your body, your metabolism will slow. This can explain why you can gain weight without even eating more than you usually do.

How can we fight stress? Well we're in college, that's probably not going to happen. Nonetheless, we can keep it at bay by doing two things. One is getting a decent amount of sleep. The second is exercise. An article on stress in Fitness Magazine says that exercise can "can help stabilize our bodies' stress-related hormonal imbalance by increasing anabolic hormones, such as growth hormone, and possbily reduce the effects of cortisol."

Also, do whatever it takes to help you destress. Yoga, videogames, even (cough) really bad reality TV. Fight stress, fight fat.

During midterm week I had as much time to update Back to the Point as you probably had time to read it. Now that it’s break, though, it’s time to catch up on everything hockey.

I learned a couple things from the Olympics:

1. Mats Zuccarello Aasen should be in the NHL
Aasen was the lone star on an otherwise-forgettable Norwegian Olympic team. As a result, several NHL teams are interested in signing the tiny forward (and I mean tiny—he’s listed as 5-foot-7). Teams probably shied away from Aasen before the Olympics because of his size, but now that they’ve seen him play against NHLers, North America awaits him—assuming he wants to move on from the Swedish Elite League.

2. Jaroslav Halak should start in Montreal
I try not to judge NHLers based on two weeks of Olympic play. If I did, Phil Kessel, who did nothing in Vancouver, wouldn’t still be on my fantasy team. Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore Halak’s play in goal for Slovakia. The Slovaks don’t finish fourth (and almost knock off Canada) without him.

So why Halak still splits time with Carey Price in Montreal is a mystery to me. Price (13-19-4, .911 sv%) has struggled to be half the goalie fans hoped they were getting when he debuted three years ago to Patrick Roy comparisons. Meanwhile, Halak’s play in goal (20-10-2, .924 sv%) has quietly kept Montreal afloat in the Eastern Conference. He’s a starting goalie, and a better one than Price. Montreal needs to shelve Price already and give Halak the green light if the team wants to stay in the playoff picture.

3. The NHL might not go to Sochi
Commissioner Gary Bettman hesitated on the great Sochi question when Bob Costas interviewed him at the Olympics. Before Nagano ’98, amateurs stocked Olympic rosters, and amateurs might stock them once again in 2014. Although most of the population probably shouted something like, “Are you crazy? Don’t you see how awesome the Olympics are with NHLers? Send them to Sochi!” when Costas interviewed him, Bettman does have reasons not to renew the current agreement.

First, Sochi runs on Moscow Standard Time. Yeah, Moscow Standard Time. That means instead of a USA-Canada preliminary in prime time, you get USA-Canada at 4:45 am. Second, odds are that the medal game won’t be a ratings bonanza. The Vancouver gold medal game recorded a 17.6 rating, about equal to this year’s Texas-Alabama BCS Championship Game, but the Torino gold medal game between Finland and Sweden was a television dud. Taking a two-week break for the Vancouver scenario is well worth it for Bettman, but taking one for the more-likely Torino scenario is not.

4. Ryan Miller should be the face of his league
Sidney Crosby is the obvious ambassador for the NHL—except that most Americans have a strong dislike for him after (or maybe before) his game-winning goal to beat the US. That might have been why he turned down David Letterman last week. Miller, meanwhile, went on NBC’s Today Show when the Sabres visited New York to play the Rangers. He’s a little introverted, but he already has one good commercial under his belt, which beats out Crosby's cheese. Plus he plays a mean guitar. The NHL should do itself a favor and tone down its Crosby love in favor of a little Ryan Miller publicity.

That’s all from me for now. Next time up: a look back at the trade deadline.