When we think about getting healthy, we often focus on what's in our food. It's true that eating well can help you lose weight and prevent disease. But another important factor is how your body reacts to stress. Stress causes changes in your brain chemistry that can lead you to make unhealthy decisions when it comes to food and exercise—decisions that can sabotage your weight-loss efforts and leave you feeling frustrated with yourself
Stress can cause your brain to crave high calorie foods.
Stress can cause your brain to release a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is known for its ability to increase appetite, which means that it's not uncommon for people who are stressed out to crave high calorie foods.
When you're under stress, it's important not only what you eat but also when and how much of it you consume. If your diet consists mainly or entirely of junk food during times of high stress (e.g., after an argument with your significant other), then chances are good that this will contribute significantly toward weight gain over time.
Stress can make you lose interest in exercise.
Stress can make you feel tired and lethargic, which can make exercise seem like a chore. It's important to remember that exercising is not only good for your body but also for your mind. Exercising regularly helps lower stress levels, improve sleep and decrease depression symptoms.
If you're feeling stressed out about fitting in time for exercise, try these tips:
- Schedule your workouts before or after work so they don't take away from other responsibilities (like family time).
- Find an activity that doesn't require much thinking--like walking or cycling--and concentrate on the movement instead of thinking about anything else that might be stressing you out at the moment!
Stress can make you feel like eating more, even when you're not hungry.
Stress can make you feel as though you're starving, even when your body doesn't need food. This is called "stress eating" and it's a common response to stress. When we're stressed out, our stomachs start to produce more ghrelin--a hormone that tells our brain we're hungry--and less leptin (the hormone that signals fullness). The result: We go from feeling satisfied with what we've eaten to wanting more food!
In addition to making us crave high calorie foods like ice cream and chips, stress also makes us lose interest in exercise. When we don't get enough exercise every day (for example by taking the stairs instead of an elevator), our bodies store more fat than usual because there's not enough energy coming in through food alone.
If you eat when you're stressed out, your body will store the excess calories as fat and may even develop insulin resistance.
When you're stressed, your body prepares for a fight-or-flight response. This involves releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that help you deal with the situation at hand. Unfortunately, these hormones also make it harder for your brain to process information about food and hunger levels. So if you eat when you're stressed out--even if it's just an unhealthy snack--your body will store the excess calories as fat and may even develop insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes).
So what can we do about this? Well for starters: don't skip meals! If anything, try eating smaller portions throughout the day so that hunger doesn't sneak up on you while studying or working late into the night. And remember that sometimes reaching out is better than reaching into the fridge; talking with friends or family members can help take away some of that edge off those stressful moments before they turn into full-blown meltdowns later on in life!
Too much stress can cause inflammation, which makes it harder to lose weight and increases risk of disease.
When you're under stress, your body reacts by producing hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones help to regulate blood sugar levels and boost energy when you need it most. However, when these levels get too high for too long (which is often the case with chronic stress), they can cause inflammation throughout your entire body. Inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection but can also be triggered by stress chemicals like cortisol and adrenaline.
Inflammation occurs when white blood cells rush into injured tissue to protect against further damage--and while this might sound like a good thing at first glance, it's actually not so great for weight loss efforts! Inflammation can cause pain and swelling in joints as well as skin irritation; it may also contribute to heart disease and diabetes risk factors such as high cholesterol levels
Stress can lead to unhealthy habits that make it harder to lose weight
Stresses can lead to unhealthy habits that make it harder to lose weight. For example, when we're stressed out and feeling overwhelmed, we may turn to food for comfort--and then eat more than we should.
In addition to eating too much when you're stressed out, your body may also respond by slowing down its metabolism (the process by which food is converted into energy). This makes it harder for your body to burn calories and maintain a healthy weight.
Stress can also affect how much physical activity you do each day by making exercise seem less appealing or even impossible at times. And if you do manage to get some exercise while under pressure from work or other sources of stress in life, chances are good that this will only be enough exercise for basic health benefits but not enough for weight loss purposes
Conclusion
If you find yourself struggling with stress and weight loss, there are many things that you can do to help ease the burden. First, make sure that you're managing your stress levels as best as possible. Try meditation or yoga for relaxation, getting enough sleep every night so that you don't feel tired all day long (which makes everything harder!), etc. Next, try setting small goals for yourself and working towards them slowly but surely over time - this will help keep things from feeling overwhelming! Finally: keep eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables; exercise regularly even if it's just walking around outside every few days; don't skip meals because they won't make up for eating later in the day anyway (and could even cause overeating later on); drink plenty of water throughout each day.
