stress VS. weight gain! how do U relieve IT!?!?!
LOVEthyself_
Posts: 47
Here is something interesting I learned about how STRESS contributes to WEIGHT GAIN!
AFTER READING, SHARE WITH US WHAT YOU GUYS DO TO RELIEVE STRESS!
I , myself, am currently looking for new/fun ways to relieve stress and burn calories at the same time!!
Any good suggestions?!
There are several ways in which stress can contribute to weight gain. One has to do with cortisol, a stress hormone. When we’re under stress, the fight or flight response is triggered in our bodies, leading to the release of various hormones.
Whether we're stressed because of constant, crazy demands at work or we're really in danger, our bodies respond like we're about to be harmed and need to fight for our lives (or run like heck). To answer this need, we experience a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, and other changes.
If you remain in this state for a prolonged amount of time due to chronic stress, your health becomes at risk. Aside from a host of other dangers, chronic stress can also cause weight gain -- which is why some products like Cortislim are marketed as diet aids.
Chronic stress and cortisol can contribute to weight gain in the following ways:
Metabolism -- Do you feel like you're prone to putting on more weight when you're stressed, even if you're eating the same amount of food as you always have? Too much cortisol can slow your metabolism, causing more weight gain than you would normally experience. This also makes dieting more difficult.
Cravings -- OK, you're stressed. Do you reach for a nice salad or a pint of Ben & Jerry's? I'll bet on the latter. People experiencing chronic stress tend to crave more fatty, salty and sugary foods. This includes sweets, processed food and other things that aren’t as good for you. These foods are typically less healthy and lead to increased weight gain.
Blood Sugar -- Prolonged stress can alter your blood sugar levels, causing mood swings, fatigue, and conditions like hyperglycemia. Too much stress has even been linked to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health concerns that can lead to greater health problems, like heart attacks and diabetes.
Fat Storage -- Excessive stress even affects where we tend to store fat. Higher levels of stress are linked to greater levels of abdominal fat. Unfortunately, abdominal fat is not only aesthetically undesirable, it’s linked with greater health risks than fat stored in other areas of the body.
Stress and weight gain are connected in other ways:
Emotional Eating -- Increased levels of cortisol can not only make you crave unhealthy food, but excess nervous energy can often cause you to eat more than you normally would. How many times have you found yourself scouring the kitchen for a snack, or absently munching on junk food when you’re stressed, but not really hungry? More on what causes emotional eating.
Fast Food -- Experts believe that one of the big reasons we’re seeing more obesity in our society these days is that people are too stressed and busy to make healthy dinners at home, often opting to get fast food a the nearest drive-thru instead.
Too Busy to Exercise -- With all the demands on your schedule, exercise may be one of the last things on your to-do list. If so, you’re not alone. Americans live a more sedentary lifestyle than we have in past generations, yet our minds seem to be racing from everything we have to do. Unfortunately, from sitting in traffic, clocking hours at our desks, and plopping in front of the TV in exhaustion at the end of the day, exercise often goes by the wayside.
AFTER READING, SHARE WITH US WHAT YOU GUYS DO TO RELIEVE STRESS!
I , myself, am currently looking for new/fun ways to relieve stress and burn calories at the same time!!
Any good suggestions?!
There are several ways in which stress can contribute to weight gain. One has to do with cortisol, a stress hormone. When we’re under stress, the fight or flight response is triggered in our bodies, leading to the release of various hormones.
Whether we're stressed because of constant, crazy demands at work or we're really in danger, our bodies respond like we're about to be harmed and need to fight for our lives (or run like heck). To answer this need, we experience a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, and other changes.
If you remain in this state for a prolonged amount of time due to chronic stress, your health becomes at risk. Aside from a host of other dangers, chronic stress can also cause weight gain -- which is why some products like Cortislim are marketed as diet aids.
Chronic stress and cortisol can contribute to weight gain in the following ways:
Metabolism -- Do you feel like you're prone to putting on more weight when you're stressed, even if you're eating the same amount of food as you always have? Too much cortisol can slow your metabolism, causing more weight gain than you would normally experience. This also makes dieting more difficult.
Cravings -- OK, you're stressed. Do you reach for a nice salad or a pint of Ben & Jerry's? I'll bet on the latter. People experiencing chronic stress tend to crave more fatty, salty and sugary foods. This includes sweets, processed food and other things that aren’t as good for you. These foods are typically less healthy and lead to increased weight gain.
Blood Sugar -- Prolonged stress can alter your blood sugar levels, causing mood swings, fatigue, and conditions like hyperglycemia. Too much stress has even been linked to metabolic syndrome, a cluster of health concerns that can lead to greater health problems, like heart attacks and diabetes.
Fat Storage -- Excessive stress even affects where we tend to store fat. Higher levels of stress are linked to greater levels of abdominal fat. Unfortunately, abdominal fat is not only aesthetically undesirable, it’s linked with greater health risks than fat stored in other areas of the body.
Stress and weight gain are connected in other ways:
Emotional Eating -- Increased levels of cortisol can not only make you crave unhealthy food, but excess nervous energy can often cause you to eat more than you normally would. How many times have you found yourself scouring the kitchen for a snack, or absently munching on junk food when you’re stressed, but not really hungry? More on what causes emotional eating.
Fast Food -- Experts believe that one of the big reasons we’re seeing more obesity in our society these days is that people are too stressed and busy to make healthy dinners at home, often opting to get fast food a the nearest drive-thru instead.
Too Busy to Exercise -- With all the demands on your schedule, exercise may be one of the last things on your to-do list. If so, you’re not alone. Americans live a more sedentary lifestyle than we have in past generations, yet our minds seem to be racing from everything we have to do. Unfortunately, from sitting in traffic, clocking hours at our desks, and plopping in front of the TV in exhaustion at the end of the day, exercise often goes by the wayside.
0
Replies
-
Hm. I'd say the gym definitely helps me relieve stress. After gaining a lot of weight due to stress, I think I noticed that I was just giving up and thought that I 'deserved' junk food for all the stress I was under. So wrong! Now I try to get up from my desk, move around, hit the gym 3 times a week minimum and talk things out with friends and family if I can. I feel a lot better, now just for all the weight to come off! :P0
-
You relieve it by burning more calories than you consume.
i get THAT i was looking more in the way of suggestions such as
ZUMBA or YOGA or what everyone else does to relieve theirs0 -
Hm. I'd say the gym definitely helps me relieve stress. After gaining a lot of weight due to stress, I think I noticed that I was just giving up and thought that I 'deserved' junk food for all the stress I was under. So wrong! Now I try to get up from my desk, move around, hit the gym 3 times a week minimum and talk things out with friends and family if I can. I feel a lot better, now just for all the weight to come off! :P
yea! i have tried talking about thing more! it has helped a lot! now i wnna try a STEADY activity that i will love that will help me burn that physical stress! you know? i also try my hardest to do thing at my desk or get up as much a i can! its hard when i am attached to a headset all day! generally i will do leg lifts or just stand up and stretch!
0 -
I just kill everyone who gets on my nerves. Burying the bodies is great exercise, too! :laugh:
Honestly, I don't have good tools for stress release. I actually have gotten stressed to the point where I lost weight, but that's because I stopped eating and sleeping, which is a very good way to end up in a padded room. Fortunately I never have ended up in one, because I always realized how bad things were going and fled the situation. Not without costs, however.0 -
exercise creates endorphins, endorphins make you happy.
I have had several doctors tell me to make sure to get my cardio in, I have high stress levels due to having a special needs child.0 -
sex, and more sex, and sex.0
-
sex, and more sex, and sex.
Now that sounds like a plan.0 -
Dance. I never thought I would be a dancer, but ballroom dance was the only thing I could look forward to after a hard, physical day at work. If I didn't have dance class to go to I would plop down on the couch with an entire pizza and a bottle of wine.0
-
I have a friend whose cat licked itself bald, and they gave him something to plug into the wall that released pheromones and made his cat calm again. Belly hair growing in.
I cant' get plug in valium so the next best thing for me is spin class. It's the only exercise I've ever done that released endorphins in a way I found noticeable. I also love certain kinds of yoga classes, the difference is amazing in the course of an hour.
And being out somewhere that feels like wilderness, with trees and water and mountains (if I'm lucky) makes me feel like a new person.0 -
I don't blame you, it's hard with a headset, but I'm sure u got it!0
-
It's insane what stress can do to your body...
Maybe you can take some vitamins... They help me. And I'm not one to meditate, but I've talked to people who said it did wonders for them. Maybe something like autogenic training. You never know until you try
0 -
Soothing music can relieve stress.. smooth jazz is wonderful. Also teach yourself to play the ukulele. They are inexpensive, relativley easy to learn and just a lot of fun! Check out youtube for ukulele. And most importantly-- work at keeping a positive attitude1
-
I have major anxiety... meds help relieve it for me.
But sometimes even that doesn't work .. cuddling my cat, going for a run, lifting weights.0 -
sex, and more sex, and sex.
Now to just find me a husband!! Hahahahahahahaha0 -
Dance. I never thought I would be a dancer, but ballroom dance was the only thing I could look forward to after a hard, physical day at work. If I didn't have dance class to go to I would plop down on the couch with an entire pizza and a bottle of wine.
Your right!! I love to dance and I always feel amazing after! Maybes it's the minute of dance and upbeat music! I have been wanting to try ZUMBA for a while! Now is my chance0 -
It's insane what stress can do to your body...
Maybe you can take some vitamins... They help me. And I'm not one to meditate, but I've talked to people who said it did wonders for them. Maybe something like autogenic training. You never know until you try
Great idea!0 -
Yoga helps me a lot. Not because of the meditation or spiritual aspects (although for some people that helps) but because you are stretching out your entire body in various directions with various amounts of weight. Also, I need to concentrate very closely on my form, so for the entire class I completely forget about everything except what the instructor is telling me to do.
I go in with my shoulders up to my ears, I walk out with them several inches lower. If I am consistent about going, the knots don't get to form very much before they are being worked out in another class. SO good.0 -
I used to do and read research in this area and there is actually only one scientifically proven (and legal *g*) way to get rid of a bad mood and relieve stress: exercise. It has been compared to sex, eating, chocolate, venting etc... And nothing was as successful as exercise.
That being said, I definitely need to be better at this. I teach this stuff to college kids and still I don't follow my own advice. When I'm REALLY stressed I just use the stress as an excuse to NOT eat right and NOT exercise. I'm terrible...0 -
Go ice or roller skating!!! It's such a good work out. The worse you are at it the better the workout. It's fun. You laugh as you try to stand with out clinging to the wall0
-
I have boxing gloves and hand pads..if I'm stressed I punch the hell out of something.
Or smoke0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions