Can stress stop you from losing weight?

You might think that stress helps you to lose weight but there are many reasons why it can do quite the opposite.

When stressed, you probably go one of three ways:

• You stick your head in the sand. After all, you’ve got too much to do and thinking about stress just makes you more stressed! 

• You convince yourself that it’s normal. Everybody’s stressed, right?! 

• You acknowledge you’re stressed and either tell yourself: “I’ll sort it out some day”, or you try temporary fixes such as an occasional spa day or holiday. 

These techniques might work in the short term but there’s no getting away from the fact that physiologically, your body is still undergoing stress.

Why stress makes you fat and keeps you fat 

Cortisol – Stress leads to excessive levels of cortisol which can encourage fat retention and muscle loss. Cortisol’s primary function is to raise blood sugar. Therefore, even though you may be on a low carb diet, your insulin levels will spike if you are stressed.

Hormones – Chronic stress and high amounts of cortisol suppress the sex hormones, testosterone, and oestrogen. Not only does this affect your sex life, it also plays havoc with your body’s composition because fat loss and muscle repair depend heavily on your hormones. 

Insulin – Stress can lead to insulin resistance. In short, more of the food you eat gets stored in your fat cells, instead of in your muscle and liver cells. 

Poor management of stress

Over the years, most of us have developed coping mechanisms to handle stress by giving ourselves some temporary relief or distraction. For many women, these coping mechanisms involve excessive indulgence in food or alcohol, arch enemies of any fat loss programme. 

Many people find that they can’t stay motivated when they’re stressed. They find that doing ordinary things such as meal prep or going to the gym suddenly seems overwhelming. Everything feels like a huge ordeal, including sticking to a weight loss programme.

Getting “real”

Stress can linger for years. It’s a cycle that you continue to dig yourself deeper into, hoping that one day it will change. I have news for you – it won’t! Life gets busier! I am a former stress addict and I can assure you, it just gets worse unless you face the reality and ask for help. 

First, you MUST acknowledge where you are at – honestly, this is sometimes the hardest part!

Until you have done so and are willing to take a look at the bigger picture, a new diet and training programme is pointless right now.

If this post resonates with you and you want help to manage your stress levels RIGHT NOW, please contact me for a free initial chat. My private consultations have helped many people just like you, so let’s get real and fix this together. 😊