What You Need To Know About Stress And Weight Gain

When it comes to your weight and fitness goals, maybe you’re crushing it in the kitchen and the gym. Your healthy plates of food are beautifully made, your cardio and strength mix is consistent and individualized — but when it comes to results, you’re not getting the traction you want. What gives?

There could be many factors at play, but one big culprit might be stress. Here are some reasons this happens — along with suggestions for how to lower your stress levels — and possibly your scale’s numbers, too.

Feeling frazzled or overwhelmed triggers the release of cortisol, a hormone designed to assist with our “fight or flight” response when we’re in danger. Cortisol gives the body the energy it needs to cope with threats, and it certainly plays an important role in keeping us motivated and energized.

When cortisol is elevated for too long — all too easy in our always-on culture — it’s associated with higher levels of obesity, and particularly with weight gain in the midsection. That may be in part because cortisol makes us crave high-sugar carbohydrates, since they provide the fastest source of energy.

Simple carbs might do the trick if you’re in the middle of a marathon, but if you’re struggling with work deadlines and grabbing those options for a boost, the risk of gaining weight from those snacks increases.

You don’t even need to overeat for cortisol to affect your waistline. The chronic secretion of the hormone itself can become a problem, adds Eliza Kingsford, psychotherapist and author of “Brain-Powered Weight Loss.”

That’s because one of the functions of cortisol is to shuttle glucose out of storage so your brain and body can use it for the expected battle ahead. Under chronic stress, the body doesn’t need all that extra glucose, so it releases insulin to deal with it. More insulin can lead to weight gain, and it becomes an ongoing cycle.

There are also internal stressors that you may not be recognizing. These stressors may include food sensitivities, not eating enough to nourish your body, over exercising, parasites, inflammation, viruses and other internal factors that are not as obvious. Coach Dee recommends a whole health evaluation of these stressors if you suspect an issue.

Getting stuck in this cycle can be very frustrating, especially if you’re ramping up on calorie tracking to control your weight and still not seeing results — or potentially gaining more weight when you don’t want to.

“Once there is a chronic level of cortisol secreted, no amount of exercise or calorie restriction will budge someone’s weight,” says Kingsford. “Imagine eating well, exercising and doing everything you can to stay healthy, only to find you’re gaining weight. This, in turn, leads to feelings of distress and the cycle continues.”

With stress on top of your existing stress, that might lead to overeating, but it could also have the opposite effect. Some people lose their appetite during stressful periods, which is due to a different hormone, corticotropin, which suppresses appetite.

This temporary decrease in caloric intake may cause short-term weight release in some. It’s not a good strategy for the long-term health of your body, because the deficit in calories can slow your metabolism and reprogram it to cause future weight gain. This can lead to some major metabolic chaos.

The good news is you can actually turn it around and get back on track.

“Being aware that you’re stressed is the first step. Once you recognize when you are stressed, and the behaviors that may happen due to it, such as overeating, you can then start to find ways to implement mechanisms to manage and lower the stress. If you do not feel stressed, you may want to be evaluated for those internal stressors.

Instead of guessing and feeling frustrated, connect with Coach Dee for a plan. Balancing hormones can be achieved through diet, rest, proper exercise, sleep, stress reduction techniques. Using certain supplements may help balance hormones too. Coach Dee recommends an evaluation before starting supplements. Every BODY is different.

Coach Dee specializes and is certified in hormone health. Do you have a question? Join her free community.