Is Stress Making You Gain Weight?
STRESS
Stress. Stress. Stress.
It's a HUGE problem for so many of us and chronic stress, which means
dealing with stressful situations day after day can be seriously contributing to weight gain and ill health.
Stress is linked to Cortisol the “stress” hormone.
Cortisol is a fat storing hormone but we need a little Cortisol to get us out of bed in a morning but if high levels of Cortisol are constantly flooding the body then fat around the mid-section will increase.
Fat around the mid-section is very difficult to lose
if Cortisol levels remain high.
You might be dealing with personal problems, family issues, or helping a loved one through an illness, there are a multitude of stressful situations.
These "stresses" don't go away overnight and they become chronic.
It can be hard to reduce stress when you are working, managing family life and other commitments but this is when it's crucial to look after your
health.
Reducing Cortisol is key to managing stress and therefore weight gain.
Excessive cortisol can also stimulate your appetite therefore causing over eating and cravings.
What should you be eating?
Good fats such as avocados, coconut oil, Kerrygold Butter, nuts and seeds, eat plenty of green vegetables with every meal.
Fats and Veggies have very
little impact on blood sugar levels and they keep you satisfied for so much longer so you don't need to keep snacking through the day.
Every time you eat you raise your blood sugar levels so make sure you eat plenty of veggies and fats with every meal.
What shouldn't I be eating?
When we are stressed we often want to comfort eat.
We reach for sugary and carb laden food because for a
short time its makes us feel good.
Serotonin and Dopamine in the brain go up and temporarily we feel better, but then the brain craves more and more meaning it's so difficult to stop at one chocolate or one biscuit...we keep going and going to try and satisfy an insatiable craving for more and more sugar. More Cortisol is then released. A ton of extra calories are consumed. Feelings of "being bad" and negativity add to the stress so the
cycle continues.
What else can I do?
Exercise is great to reduce stress, try getting up and walking throughout the day when you have been sitting for a long time, a 10 minute HIIT workout is great too.
Simply, keep moving through the day.
Plan your diet and plan your food for the week.
Batch cook lots of healthy meals and don't buy sugary
foods.
Bake some healthy sweet treats and snacks.
Be kind to yourself and treat yourself like you would your best friend.
