Stress, often referred to as the silent killer, can be the source of your extra padding, particularly around the middle. Stress is a normal physiological response to a perceived threat. Acute stress, such as experienced when you avert a close collision on the road is easily resolved and does not usually result in long-term consequences. In contrast, chronic stress is a prolonged but persistent stress that lasts for long periods of time of such as living through a pandemic and if left unmanaged can lead to negative consequences! Beyond affecting our weight, stress affects our immune system and has been linked with every major modern-day disease, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Stress is also tightly linked with our perceived level of happiness and overall sense of well-being.

Simply put, stress does not stay in your head and through a cascade of hormonal triggers impacts how your body utilizes and stores energy. In response to stress, your body triggers the release of cortisol, considered the main stress hormone. Cortisol signals the body to increase the production of glucose by breaking down glycogen, the storage form of glucose, for immediate energy. Unfortunately, overtime continuous elevated levels of cortisol, can turn protein from your muscle into glucose using a process called gluconeogenesis. In an additional attempt to keep glucose in circulation, cortisol also inhibits the effect of insulin, increasing insulin resistance and associated weight gain. Cortisol also triggers the relocation of fat stores to visceral fat, such as found in your abdomen. This entire process of increasing weight and fat storage can occur while your diet and activity levels remain the same!

Of course, stress can also affect our food choices. As a direct result of elevated cortisol during stress, cravings are amplified for foods that can break down easily to glucose and momentarily may make us calmer and feel better. Cravings for treats such as cookies, ice cream or pizza are common. Ironically, these foods only provide a quick fix, depleting your reserves even more and leaving you wanting more.

Finally, stress induced cortisol can have a devastating impact on your sleep. Sleep deprivation only further increases stress, hunger hormones and inhibits your ability to build muscle or lose fat.

Here are action steps you can take today to help protect yourself from the insidious effects of chronic stress:

1. Diet: the best time to prevent an unwanted behavior is before it happens! Plan ahead and don’t give yourself a chance to make a bad decision. Start early in the day by packing your diet with adequate amounts of protein, healthy fats and a variety of vegetables. Most people don’t cave to stress at 9:00am, so use that to your advantage.
2. Exercise: schedule in activity. Ten minutes of physical activity especially in nature has demonstrated to significantly lower levels of stress, while increasing endorphins (the feel-good hormones).
3. Mindfulness: meditation continues to be recognized as a top tool for managing stress. In addition to meditation, diaphragmatic breathing techniques or EFT tapping are also strategies you can also implement to significantly decrease the release of stress related cortisol.
4. Sleep: make it a priority as it may be the MOST important, yet challenging strategy to combat stress. Stay on a schedule, use a sleep meditation and finish your last meal 4 hours before bed.

Final takeaway: stress can be a covert operator, altering food choices while increasing fat storage. You do have the power to fight back by adopting proven tactics that address your personal challenges!

If you want to know how a personalized plan could be the missing link in achieving your goals, please call now 941-685-8074 or click here to schedule a free 15 minute discovery call.