How Stress Makes You Gain Weight

Over the past few decades a ton of research has been done on the connection between stress and various health conditions. One of the areas of focus is weight gain because obesity is such an epidemic in the US. 

What those in the know have discovered is that, quite simply, stress makes you fat. In some cases, you can work out and you can eat well, but if you're stressed you're going to have a tough time losing those extra pounds. 

Stress Disrupts Cortisol Rhythms
Stress causes the release of cortisol, a hormone that wreaks havoc on your body. Typically, cortisol levels are high in the mornings and decrease throughout the day so that you get sleepy at night. Stress messes with the release of cortisol by causing your body to release more of it when it shouldn't. 

We were built to handle acute stress; the kind that causes the fight or flight response to danger. As a matter of fact, that type of stress may actually be good for you. 

Chronic stress is a completely different animal. It can cause depression and hopelessness; a condition doctors call a defeat response. Your body stores fat around the abdomen and breaks down muscle tissue. 

Increased cortisol levels can also cause sugar cravings and make you hungry.

Stress Affects Sleep
When you just can't shut down at night, you're not going to get the rest that you need for your body to repair and reboot. When you don't get enough quality sleep, both your cortisol levels and your insulin sensitivity are negatively affected. Losing just 3 hours of sleep a night on a regular basis can cause a weight gain of 4-5%. Not good.

What Causes Stress?
This may surprise you because when we think of stress, we think of psychological triggers such as work stress or stress caused by money shortage or personal problems. Though those are certainly causes, there are a few stressors that you may not have considered. 

-Food stress caused by restrictive diets increases cortisol levels.

-Over-training can cause physical stress that negatively affects your training program.

-Chronic infections cause physical stress because your body is constantly fighting to restore health.

-Environmental toxins effect the way that your liver eliminates waste and can cause excess free radicals that cause inflammation.

-A compromised immune system causes physical stress as your body strives to regain health.

See how many factors can cause stress? 

An effective and efficient approach to weight loss consists of eating right without "stressful dieting", plenty of sleep and strategic exercise. 

It's also important not to ignore health issues that can compromise your immune system and find ways to alleviate psychological stress. Meditation, Yoga, recreational time with family and friends, and just taking a "me" day are all great strategies to avoid weight gain caused by stress.

To your results,
Kyle