Health & Fitness
Stress really does get in the way of weight loss
“This was one of the best 90 minutes I've spent in ages! Packed with information to help de-stress on a physical & mental level, quickly with easy exercises that can be done anywhere.” JD, 2013
Stressed is the new normal. Everyone feels it, talks about it and can’t seem to dislodge it from their daily life, unless of course, they have perfected the” meditative state” or mastered their life as a devout Yogi. Most of us though, don’t exactly fit into those categories. We are more likely to be the stressed out worriers, caffeine addicts, over-exercisers, sweet -tooth Sallies and stressaholics that can’t seem to control stress (or lose weight) no matter how hard we try. But just what exactly is this thing we call stress? How in the world can feeling stressed actually make you fat or unable to lose weight?
Let’s take a look at it. Some stress is good. It gets us going, keeps us motivated towards a goal and able to rise to certain physical and emotional challenges. This is called “Eustress”. Most of us don’t seem to have difficulty with that kind of stress. We are more likely to stumble around in a constant state of ‘Distress” which is the bad kind of stress and that’s what gets us in trouble and keeps the scale moving up or stuck. We tend to always think of stress as a ‘feeling’ or a kind of nervous condition that we experience, but it’s actually a real physiological reaction that occurs inside our body. Stress is a physiological adaptive SURVIVAL response in our bodies that gave our ancestors a means of running away from saber tooth tigers and back to the safety of our cozy caves. Run fast, don’t get eaten, survive. The thing is, we aren't running away from tigers these days, but our bodies still are programmed to react this way when we are threatened. If we are constantly stressed by our daily circumstances or if we tend to ruminate, remember, or dredge up old bad memories and arguments, or worry about the future in any way, this response kicks in- immediately flooding our bodies with enough excess energy reserves and stimulation to high tail it back to our non-existent caves! But we aren’t usually sprinting away from something, so those excess energy reserves need to get stored; somewhere. That ‘somewhere’ is typically right on our bellies.
Stress begins in the Brain with incoming messages of an actual threat or dangerous event or the psychological memories of anger/trauma/upset or the WORRY about future events. Stress is the activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This ‘stress response’ can be called into play when we experience anything that threatens us in any way- either real or imagined. These could be emotional stressors, physical, nutritional or environmental stressors (think toxins and processed foods) or even the pangs of spiritual disconnection and loneliness. It sets off an orchestration of both hormonal and chemical messengers which cause our heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, blood fats, cholesterol and triglycerides to increase and your immune and digestive systems shut down.
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This orchestration of physiological responses affects every cell in the human body.
So, how exactly does stress make you fat?
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OK, let me gather up you worriers, caffeine addicts, over-exercisers, sweet tooth Sallies and stress-aholics that can’t seem to lose weight no matter what you do. This is how the stress response overwhelms all of your efforts to lose weight.
1. When activated, the stress response keeps a continually high level of blood sugar coursing through you veins. Think about it. The survival mechanism that prepares your muscles to be able to sprint and make it to your cave is what’s at work here. With chronic stress you are constantly elevating your blood sugar and it rides high all the time. So tons of glucose (sugar) are being shuttled around by insulin, knocking on those muscle cell doors screaming ‘Let me in!”. But often times, the muscle cells become overstuffed- so full they can’t take any more glucose in. Blood glucose levels remain elevated- even without food. This is known as pre-diabetes or ‘insulin resistance”. Since the muscles refuse to open their doors to the glucose- guess where insulin is forced to ‘take’ it? Yup, you guessed it- right over to your fat cells in your belly to stuff them up.
2. Then, of course, there’s the cortisol connection. The stress response activates cortisol production. Think of cortisol as the commander in chief of the stress response in your body. Acting like any good military chief, cortisol wants your body to always be prepared in these emergency situations. (He has no clue you are just sitting in traffic and stressing about being late.) Captain C needs a good storage area and strategically targets your belly. It has all the makings for a great point of reserve with lots of blood vessels to shuttle fats in and out and deep abdominal fat cells that just LOVE cortisol; there are more receptors for cortisol in the belly than anywhere else! Location, location, location…….it makes sense that Commander Cortisol orders our bodies to store fat in the abdominal area. (toxic fat)
3. Lastly, there is the emotional eating connection. We aren't designed to live 24/7 lives filled with constant stress. The body will attempt to counter stress with feel good chemical messengers like serotonin. Serotonin is our natural calm, feel good neurotransmitter that balances the nervous system- attempting to regulate and maintain homeostasis while the chaos of stress runs rampant. It tries to put the brakes on. But it simply cannot keep up with chronic stress. If Stress persists, serotonin levels drain and deplete. When serotonin levels crash we feel awful- sad, depressed, in need of something to make us feel better. The work of Judith Wurtman (MIT) revealed that eating sugary sweets will cause a quick spike in serotonin levels. That’s why we naturally gravitate towards sweets when we are feeling blue or when we are feeling stressed. The problem is sugary sweets create a temporary fix. We feel good for a bit, and then we crash and seek out more sugar or carbs to satisfy our body’s need for a ‘lift’. This becomes a cycle of emotional eating- a soothing technique. It may come as a surprise, but 95% of our serotonin is made in our gut; and we need to fuel serotonin production with a MIX of healthy real foods to provide a steady supply of it. This is why things like processed foods, low-fat or extremely low calorie dieting and even over exercising (a stressor) can lead to low levels of serotonin with subsequent depression, moodiness and weight gain.
(See note below on my free gift to you: “Emotional Eating: Your Guide to Freedom”
So if you’re stewing about that last email from your boss or worrying about that report due tomorrow, kids, aging parents or financial preparedness or even just sitting in traffic or some other infuriating episode, think about what’s happening. It is typically the emotional residue of past episodes of stress that has rewired our brains and systems to store fat. No amount of dieting or exercise will fix that.
The good news here is that you can remedy all this. Have hope; there are lots of ways to manage your stress besides the typical yoga and meditation paths but you need to fill your toolbox with easy quick strategies that WORK for you. Join me Monday May 5th for a fun, interactive and informative session on easy ways to make stress relief a part of your crazy busy life.
Register now for my upcoming workshop “Stress Relief: The Missing Link in Preventative Health” Monday May 5th, at 7:15 being held at the Sand Hills Community Wellness Center at 57 Sand Hills Road, Kendall Park, NJ.
It’s just $12.00 to pre-register ($15.00 at the door) and it could truly be one of the best gifts you give to yourself.
Here is just one of many testimonials from previous attendees:
“This was one of the best 90 minutes I’ve spent in ages! Packed with information to help de-stress on a physical & mental level, quickly with easy exercises that can be done anywhere.” JD, 2013
Save money by pre-registering (PS- there’s a great free gift waiting for you there too- “Emotional Eating: Your Guide to Freedom” )
Using evidenced based EDUCATION and introducing you to various modalities will help return you to your natural state of calm and balance so that dieting and exercise CAN work to create your BEST you.
If you think of losing weight as simply a math problem (calories in-calories out) you will be continually disappointed with your results. Stress Management is crucial to the battle of the bulge.
Can’t wait to see you May 5th- hurry, space is limited! Put it on that busy stressed out calendar of yours- Pre-Register Now.
Cindy Luisi-Napolitano is a Certified Whole Health Educator, Coach and Holistic Life Coach. She is a health professional trained to teach how your lifestyle (how you eat, think and move) can create either health & wellness or illness & disease. She specializes in nutrition, stress management and lifestyle behavior change. A graduate of the acclaimed National Institute of Whole Health in Wellesley, Mass and the Bark Institute of Coaching, Cindy is also a member of the Institute of Functional Medicine, the American Counseling Association and is a professional Whole Health Advocate with Healthways WholeHealth Network Inc. She is the owner of iCan Thrive 360 and offers Whole Health Education, Coaching, Patient Education and Stress Management programs to individuals and groups as well as workshops and seminars. She lives in South Brunswick with her husband, Art Napolitano and 2 children.
Visit her website: www.icanthrive360.com