Stress and Weight Loss

Are you someone trying to lose weight and continue to feel that like you are doing all the right things yet the scale is not changing?

Let’s talk about something that can have a direct effect on weight loss: it's called stress. Ever heard of it?

I know this word is not new for people but let me explain to you how it can actually be a reason you are not losing weight. 

I am sure you know that when we are stressed our body gets into fight or flight mode. If we are in this state our body releases cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal glands. The reason for this is to increase heart rate, increase blood flow to the brain and muscles and increase blood sugar. All of these things are important when you are in a dyer situation aka you came across a bear on a hike in the woods. You would need more blood to your brain and muscles to run away. Your heart rate needs to increase to then pump that blood and you need to have an increase in blood sugar so you don’t run out of energy trying to get away. 

An important thing to note: your body does not know the difference between different types of stress. Aka physical, mental, spiritual and emotional stress is all perceived the same way within your body. So when you need to meet a deadline at work and you have 1 hour to finish 3 hours of work...yeah cortisol is being released and these same processes are happening.

But why is this a problem?

When you see a bear in the woods and you get away - that stressful situation has an end. It may take time for your body to relax but the bear is no longer there. This becomes a problem when it becomes an everyday occurrence. It then turns into a chronic stress situation and it can do some serious damage over time.

How does this relate to weight gain?

As mentioned, one of the things that cortisol does is it raises blood sugar levels. If we are in chronic fight or flight mode that means that blood sugar is consistently being raised and therefore we need insulin to bring it down. Insulin helps convert food energy into fat. Don’t get me wrong we NEED fat (and insulin) to live- but if we have a constant state of stress aka high blood sugar aka high insulin levels we then create high fat within the body. This then leads to weight gain. 

Of course there can be other reasons that you are gaining weight but if you have chronic stress in your life and you are not addressing it - there is no diet or exercise that will fix that.

If this is something that you are struggling with, set up a free consultation with me to see if coaching can help you. Click here to apply!