You shouldn’t worry if you believe that your weight increase is being caused by stress in your life. Stress increases appetite and encourages the body to store fat, both of which are scientifically proven to lead to weight gain.
Your body is telling you to eat because you’re anxious; stress instructs your body not to burn fat. Since living stress-free is not possible, we must learn to control the hunger and fat storage that stress causes. This post will go over how stress affects the body and what you can do to avoid gaining weight as a result.
What does stress weight mean?
Stress directly contributes to weight growth, according to scientific research. Stress causes our cortisol levels to increase. Our body responds to this surge in cortisol in two ways that affect weight: it makes our appetite worse and instructs our body to store fat.
So when we’re working through the night to achieve a deadline, the stress we experience motivates us to eat. At the same time, our bodies prevent us from burning fat. If we regularly experience stressful situations, there is a good chance that over time, this is contributing to weight gain.
How does the body react to stress?
Your body can suffer long-term consequences from excessive stress. Your brain may go into defense mode in response to a trigger as little as being stuck in traffic or being late for a meeting.
The “fight or flight” response is characterized by a pounding heart, fast breathing, and muscles that clench as though getting ready for combat. Even though it occasionally is a beneficial reaction, frequent instances might negatively affect your immune, digestive, and cardiovascular systems.
Why does stress make people gain weight?
For a number of reasons, stress can lead to weight gain.
Higher appetite
Although stress can reduce hunger temporarily, it has negative long-term repercussions. A hormone called leptin, which controls your hunger, is released when you are under a lot of stress, according to a study, which raises the levels of adrenaline and cortisol in your blood. Your body believes it is hungry even though it is not.
Uncontrollable hunger and sugar- and fat-filled food desires
The end outcome is weight increase due to short-term gratification, poor decisions, and consuming too many unneeded calories.
Being sleep deprived
Chronic stress can significantly affect our ability to sleep, making it harder to get to sleep and stay asleep all night. Our bodies react to stress in a manner similar to how it react to caffeine because stress raises cortisol and adrenaline levels. Our blood pressure rises, we become more alert, and our heart rate quickens.
As a result of this
- Changing hormones
- Slowed metabolism
- Enhanced appetite
- Unhealthy food selections
- Less energy
Increased stress has an impact on how your body stores fat. Despite not being a medical disease, “stress belly” is nevertheless extremely real and is bad for you. In Your body may accumulate fat if your cortisol levels are high, especially in your abdomen. Your chance of acquiring cardiac conditions including diabetes and heart disease rises as your belly fat increases.
Stress weight loss methods
Since stress is a natural part of life, it won’t be going away anytime soon. It’s crucial to learn how to handle difficult situations in a constructive way if you want to keep your physical and mental health. You can permanently eliminate the weight associated with your stress by implementing lasting solutions.
Take less coffee
Coffee and stress are a surefire recipe for weight gain. Caffeine increases already high cortisol levels while under stress, ruining your metabolism, causing additional hunger and anxiety, and causing chronic lethargy.
If you ever feel under pressure, use decaf or herbal tea instead for a healthier alternative. Although you won’t experience the same instant and fleeting caffeine spike, maintaining healthy cortisol levels will lead to an increase in natural energy.
Eat a diet low in inflammation
Even during stressful times, incorporating anti-inflammatory foods high in vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, and magnesium will help reduce inflammation and promote weight loss! Leafy greens, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, whole grains, and fibrous bread are all rich in vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. They provide you with the energy you require to stay motivated.
Avoid eating pastries, cereal, crackers, cookies, and doughnuts. These refined carbohydrates are high in sugar and are known to increase weight gain because they aggravate inflammation.
Think ahead
Planning nutrient-rich items in advance for breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks ensures a constant supply of these foods while reducing sugar cravings. Your body receives the food it needs to finish the day strong and your energy levels stabilize with good nourishment.
So the next time, choose a healthy food that you packed from home. By eliminating unhealthy temptations, you decrease the likelihood that you’ll make poor decisions and you’ll quickly address the cause of your hunger.
Have a cheat day every week, or at the very least, dessert
It is impossible to always eat healthfully. Allow yourself one cheat day per week if you really miss eating chocolate cake or ice cream but make sure you anticipate it and make plans for it. You’ll have something to look forward to without deviating from the routine you’re aiming to develop if you choose when to indulge.
Consume a lot of protein
Replace those carbohydrates and fats with protein if you want to reduce your stress level and gain weight. You may increase your metabolism, feel fuller longer, and burn more calories all the time—even while you sleep—by establishing a high-protein diet. All of these advantages make protein a fantastic supplement to any meal.
Get adequate rest
As crucial to health as nutrition and exercise is getting a good night’s sleep. Your emotions, health, and cognitive function all improve when you get adequate sleep. Your body is reset by sleep, which also gives you more energy and even speeds up your metabolism. The advantages of getting the advised 7-9 hours of sleep are a must.
Don’t restrict yourself excessively
According to research, restrictive diets can make you lose weight quickly while also making you gain weight more quickly. Adhering to rigid, severely restrictive diets with arbitrary rules is never useful. To achieve the best outcomes for a long-term, healthy lifestyle, gradually implement tiny modifications as you start your weight loss journey.
Eat gradually
Eating too rapidly can accidentally lead to belly fat accumulation. It is real. Even eating healthy food quickly and in huge quantities can cause your digestive system difficulty and cause you to gain weight. So the next time you take a lunch break, attempt to maximize the chance for a rest and a healthy meal by appreciating each bite.
Take a stroll
Stretch, perform pushups, or take a brief, vigorous stroll. Flexing your muscles and moving your body are both effective stress relievers. In addition to tricking your body into believing you are avoiding stress, it boosts blood flow and removes cortisol from your system, allowing you to reboot.
Give up worrying and move on to the next step
Making decisions that affect other people every day leaves us with little time to think about our own needs and well-being. The next time you’re running late for a meeting, grab your pre-packaged food. Slowly eat it and take in all its nutritional benefits; your body will thank you.
