Ways in which stress can affect weight?

wendy0210

Hi all,

I'm wondering if I'm on the right track here. The last few months of my life have been VERY stressful - new job, new move, in process of selling house in other state (thank God!), settling into a new routine, you get the idea.

At first, I continued to lose - yay!! - and am determined not to fall into eating as a way to cope with stress. This past month, however, my period cycle is messed up and I gained a lot of PMS weight (talking nearly 7 pounds in less than 5 days) - ugh! Some of those have gone away but I'm still holding onto bloat and my cycle is still off. I track this so I know the trends and I'm having all the symptoms of PMS, just for a longer period of time.

My appetite has been coming and going and I'm trying to be mindful of that, realizing that some days I'll be famished and others barely hungry at all. On top of it all, I haven't been sleeping well at all, which I think also contributes to this.

FInally last night I got a great night's sleep, a good workout in this morning, and feel more relaxed. Does it make sense that my body will eventually work itself back into a normal rhythm and weight loss will pick back up again? I've been trying to sleep and workout regularly to avoid some of this, but I couldn't avoid all of it.

Even good stress and excitement is still stress and I'm trying to cope. Anyone have any advice to reduce the stress or just make it through this rollercoaster?

Thanks!

pennyllayne

Irregular periods can be a sign of hormonal imbalance, just to put that out there. Not saying it's anything to be worried about but something to think about if you continue having problems.

Appetite is definitely affected by sleep. Ghrelin is increased in people who don't get enough sleep - this is the hormone that is elevated to let you know you are hungry (that rumbling you get in your tummy). This can make it really difficult to stay within your allowed calories for the day.

Your body will start getting back on track. Even people who are constantly stressed can't hold onto fat forever if they are eating at a deficit, but stress does make it an awful lot more difficult as when you are stressed cortisol becomes raised and this signals the body to store fat. There are many ways to try handling stress; meditation, yoga, exercise, laughing, doing something enjoyable, spending time with people or animals you love, deep breathing...out of those, pick a few you can try every day. Exercise that raises your heart rate is excellent at helping with stress. I am one of those people who gets overwhelmed by stress too but some cycling and sweating it out is a huge help!

wendy0210

Thank you for the suggestions. I've been trying to incorporate more mindful activities (deep breathing, relaxation at least a little bit daily, regular exercise - definitely notice a difference there!, etc.). I do notice when I don't get good or enough sleep, I want snacky/carby things...probably having to do with the cortisol connection you mentioned.

Also, my hands and toes have been very cold lately, and while they eventually warm up, I do plan to mention it to my doctor when I go for a checkup. I'll still happily take being cold all the time over hot and hot flashes though, which I had years ago as a side effect of medication, and that medication also made me fat so I have no intention of going back on meds now that I've lost all that weight if not absolutely necessary.

pennyllayne

Cold hands and feet can be a sign of thyroid problems so definitely get that checked out.

Your carb cravings could also be related to low blood sugar so maybe look at what you are eating and try to get enough protein at each meal to keep blood sugar stable. Lack of sleep does tend to induce carb cravings though so it's probably that.

It's hard to reduce stress most definitely. The reality is that life is stressful but do your best, that is all you can do

wendy0210

Yes, life is stressful and I've (believe it or not) dealt with this major life change in much healthier ways than I would have in the past. I'm a work in progress!

I've also begun mindfully incorporating more protein into my meals, especially into breakfasts, and have noticed a very positive difference.

Again, thank you for the suggestions and helpful tips; I really appreciate it

deksgrl

I agree, get checked out for the cold hands and feet. What is your calorie intake level like? I see you have lost a lot of weight, have you ever taken a "diet break" by eating at maintenance for a time and then taking a modest cut to try to kickstart things? The reason I am asking is because your calorie intake and exercise can also produce excess Cortisol if you are eating at too much of a deficit. That coupled with the other stresses in your life and possibly hormonal issues could cause the weight loss to stop. If you give your body a break and relieve the diet stress it may reset things and allow you to continue to lose after the break.

wendy0210

Regarding calories, it's actually very hard for me to adhere to MFP's sugggestion. Some days I eat way over, once in a great while under 1200 calories, but I probably average 1700-2000 per day. I've been, until recently, losing slowly. My weight gain was due to medication, and it took me nearly 5 years to lose over 100 pounds and get my body relatively healthy again. Hence my frustration now; I don't feel that I'm done yet weight-wise and yes, I may have an unhealthy fixation on that elusive number on the scale, but do also appreciate that my cardioendurance is coming back, my body looks stronger, and I'm getting healthy again; the meds really screwed me up.

I'm afraid of "maintenance", as I feel I already eat at a maintenance level and my body will stop losing when it reaches that point. Plus I'm afraid to purposely eat more, as I already eat quite a bit. I'm trying to look at overall nutrition now and overall fitness/physical changes as additional measures of progress/success.

I'm a bit afraid of the cold fingers/toes thing though, and do intend to have a full check up soon.

Thank you for the questions/thoughts!

deksgrl

Regarding calories, it's actually very hard for me to adhere to MFP's sugggestion. Some days I eat way over, once in a great while under 1200 calories, but I probably average 1700-2000 per day. I've been, until recently, losing slowly. My weight gain was due to medication, and it took me nearly 5 years to lose over 100 pounds and get my body relatively healthy again. Hence my frustration now; I don't feel that I'm done yet weight-wise and yes, I may have an unhealthy fixation on that elusive number on the scale, but do also appreciate that my cardioendurance is coming back, my body looks stronger, and I'm getting healthy again; the meds really screwed me up.

I'm afraid of "maintenance", as I feel I already eat at a maintenance level and my body will stop losing when it reaches that point. Plus I'm afraid to purposely eat more, as I already eat quite a bit. I'm trying to look at overall nutrition now and overall fitness/physical changes as additional measures of progress/success.

I'm a bit afraid of the cold fingers/toes thing though, and do intend to have a full check up soon.

Thank you for the questions/thoughts!

Well, the purpose of eating at maintenance is to get your body and hormones to normalize and to reduce the stress created by diet/exercise. You won't gain weight at maintenance. Then after awhile, when you reduce calories again to a reasonable deficit (not too much), you will successfully begin to lose again because your hormones will be more in balance and the cortisol won't be preventing weight loss. 6 weeks is generally suggested for a metabolism reset, however some people are successful with shorter resets and some need longer, depending on how out of whack their hormones are. If you are at a plateau and nothing else is working, it is worth a try, and far healthier with this approach than cutting calories too much.