Stress: Is Keeping You Fat

Stress is keeping you fat!  Yep, let me say that again, your stress levels might be keeping YOU fat.  We’ve heard it so many times, “I’m doing all the right things – eating healthy, avoiding all the foods I should be, exercising and I AM still not losing any weight”.  The reason – it could be too much stress.

“More stress = more cortisol = higher appetite for junk food = more belly fat,” says Shawn M. Talbott, PhD, a nutritional biochemist

Here is one classic example:  Have you ever gone on vacation and when you came back you realized that you actually lost weight?  Why?  You probably were able to catch up on sleep, reduced your overall stress levels and you didn’t keep worrying about losing weight.

Cortisol is key!

“Lowering cortisol is one of the single most important things you can do for your weight goals” (WebMd). When your body is stressed out, your cortisol levels rise, which cause a chain reaction:

1. Higher cortisol = an increase in blood sugar levels, which is almost always followed by a high insulin response.
2. As we discuss at length in our 21 Day Detox program, insulin resistance almost always leads to weight gain,
3. With the fight or flight, your body thinks that it is hungry, due to the increased hormone response, and thus you eat more. 
4. Cortisol can cause inflammation in your digestive system.  Chronic inflammation leads to excess water weight and swelling.  Inflammation also effects other hormone receptors, one specifically, Leptin. Leptin is responsible for telling us when we’ve had enough to eat. When it is unbalanced we keep eating and eating.
5. Why all the weight gain in the mid-section? This is where our body has the most cortisol receptors – in our adipose tissue.  When our cortisol levels are elevated, these receptors open up like tiny little doorways to store the excess.
6. Elevated cortisol levels can lead too: anxiety, depression, memory problems, headaches and heart disease.

Giving up your Caffeine…

Yes, this is a hard one to digest, but giving up your “upper” for just a bit might be exactly what you need. See the problem with caffeine is that people drink too much of it and then become dependent on it. When we give it up for 3, or 11 days, like in our 21 day detox, we give our body a chance to reset our cortisol receptors and put our body back in balance. This reset doesn’t mean your caffeine is gone, but it might be; give it a shot and see how you feel.

Sleep and Rest is Necessary

One or the hardest, yet most necessary things, when our stress levels are elevated, is to ensure we are getting the proper rest we need.  Our stress is usually due to looming work deadlines, financial hardship, and/or problems with people (family, boss, kids, etc).  Getting your mind to decompress can be hard.  Try one of these solutions to help you get the rest you need.

• Remove your phone from your bedroom.  This way you aren’t’ tempted to read texts or emails while you should be sleeping.  It also allows you to wake up without doing the same thing.
• Listen to relaxing music or meditation to unwind and distract your mind
• Pick a good book that isn’t related to self-help or improving your work skills, something that lets your mind drift away.
• Keep a notebook by your bed!  Got something that pops up in your head that you need to do right now, or if not you risk forgetting it in the morning, write it down.
• Try as much as possible to stick to the same bedtime routine and time – every day!
• Still can’t sleep – try something else that will relax your body – get a massage or take a yoga class.  Heck- you might even try running!

Supplements

Thankfully, there are a few supplements that help with reducing stress levels that keep us fat. They also aide with sleep.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids from fish may aid in the decreasing the amount of cortisol released during stressful times. EPA/DHA found in fish oil help to regulate insulin sensitivity.

Magnesium helps our body control blood sugar, reduce anxiety, promote sleep and allow our muscles to relax.

Vitamin D – “In addition to its well-known role in calcium absorption, vitamin D activates genes that regulate the immune system and release neurotransmitters that affect brain function and development”. James Greenblatt M.D. “Vitamin D is also the only vitamin that is a hormone. After it is consumed in the diet or absorbed (synthesized) in the skin, vitamin D is transported to the liver and kidneys where it is converted to its active hormone form”.

Looking for the complete stress reducing supplement stack – try this one from USANA.

Unfortunately, stress is keeping you fat, but now you have some powerful tools to get your stress in check and begin making progress again. Looking for some additional help, we would love to have a conversation with us. Schedule a complimentary call with us.