Emotions hindering weight loss?
noah49822
Posts: 61 Member
I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been loseing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
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Replies
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Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.16 -
Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!4 -
Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!
I like to do yoga and deep breathing when I'm stressed. 10 minutes a day to just be and let your thoughts go where they may. Also make sure you get some sun light and plenty of water. Water flushes the salts from you and the sunlight gives you some vitamin D.
You can also message friends to vent to, if you don't have anyone you can vent to me. I hope you feel better.1 -
Stress can lead to water weight gain - but the inconsistent logging can also be a factor.
And keep in mind: the body is an imperfect machine. Two weeks stall is not necessarily reason for concern. Especially in light of said potential water weight.I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been loseing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
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Definitely not, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight in my life (I'm not really being facetious). I would look for ways to relax and also making sure that you're still doing things that bring you joy (or at least have the potential to bring you joy).1
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Physiologically this isn't stopping burning fat, but as mentioned, the stress may be causing an increase in water retention and masking weight loss. Hydrate, destress, and check again after 5-7 days.
Humans are ritual seeking, so make sure you implement rituals to destress and get focus over your life.
I take time to breathe and meditate over the day - clearing the mind.
As for work and life - I'm a huge fan of the Pareto principle in that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes, so I focus on those 20% with impact and forget about the rest.5 -
Our bodies need salt. As in, if you don't have enough of it and other electrolytes, you will die (or rather, your brain will swell and then you'll die). And no, I'm not saying that a little extra water every day will cause the OP (or most anyone) to be at risk for hyponatremia, but I also am confused as to why the need to flush out salts from one's body is being mentioned.cynthiabickham wrote: »Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!
I like to do yoga and deep breathing when I'm stressed. 10 minutes a day to just be and let your thoughts go where they may. Also make sure you get some sun light and plenty of water. Water flushes the salts from you and the sunlight gives you some vitamin D.
You can also message friends to vent to, if you don't have anyone you can vent to me. I hope you feel better.5 -
I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been losing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
How much weight do you have left to lose? Dieting is also stressful, and perhaps your goals are overly aggressive?
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kshama2001 wrote: »I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been losing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
How much weight do you have left to lose? Dieting is also stressful, and perhaps your goals are overly aggressive?
I am only about 10lbs away from my goal. I have lost 33lbs so far. I think being that close is infuriating!4 -
Definitely not, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight in my life (I'm not really being facetious). I would look for ways to relax and also making sure that you're still doing things that bring you joy (or at least have the potential to bring you joy).
I get plenty of time to relax, but with the work i do the stress never goes away. My employees are always calling with an issue or i know the stress if tomorrow woll still be there.1 -
yes I think there is something to that cortisol they talk about making us gain weight when stressed.0
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The practical advice is to stay the course. Weight and fat loss is not linear. It never will be. Instead of stressing why results have temporarily stopped, take the opportunity to view it as a practice in consistency. The leaner version of you in your mind already understands that lifelong changes are made to sustain a certain physique. You just need to catch up to it.2
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Try to work on on work/life balance. It is probably also worth consulting with a therapist for a handful of session. There should be plenty who have a lot of experience working with clients who are dealing with large amounts of work stress. Your emotional health is worth taking care of and there are loads of people who are trained to help you with that.Definitely not, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight in my life (I'm not really being facetious). I would look for ways to relax and also making sure that you're still doing things that bring you joy (or at least have the potential to bring you joy).
I get plenty of time to relax, but with the work i do the stress never goes away. My employees are always calling with an issue or i know the stress if tomorrow woll still be there.4 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been losing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
How much weight do you have left to lose? Dieting is also stressful, and perhaps your goals are overly aggressive?
I am only about 10lbs away from my goal. I have lost 33lbs so far. I think being that close is infuriating!
At this point, your weight loss is going to be very slow. It's normal to go up to 4-6 weeks without seeing the number on the scale go down. If you're retaining water, that may mask fat loss and keep the scale from going down.
You should absolutely not expect to lose 2 pounds per week in the last 10 pounds, nor is 2 weeks a plateau.
Additionally, within the last 10 pounds, many people find it necessary to log very consistently and accurately. Logging and staying within your calorie goal "almost" every day, as opposed to every day, can easily take you out of a deficit.9 -
I totally misread the title. I thought it said Emoticons hindering weight loss. I was just going to say the red faced angry one does it for me.5
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kshama2001 wrote: »I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been losing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
How much weight do you have left to lose? Dieting is also stressful, and perhaps your goals are overly aggressive?
I am only about 10lbs away from my goal. I have lost 33lbs so far. I think being that close is infuriating!
Ok, you are losing too fast for what you need to lose, which is stressful to the body, which can also increase cortisol in addition to all your other stresses, which can lead to water retention.
Do change your weekly weight loss goal to a half pound per week.9 -
For me, most recently emotional issues that kept from getting fitter and losing some weight were rooted in joint pain, discomfort and the poor gait and mobility it caused that kept me away from exercising, which no amount of calorie control could counteract. Then I finally had enough of that and got hip replacements done this year and once through rehab and PT it's been full steam ahead! As to other issues, being a retiree eliminates work related stress and resignation that I will never be anything but a single man has pretty much eliminated THAT particular emotional strain. I don't think about it anymore. All that remains is what is future and unknown. I am confident I will handle that ok when they happen. In meantime, I do my exercise focusing on maintaining & improving my mobility and overall. I will mind my diet and calories. If I lose weight great. If not. I can't dwell on it. My goal is health. I have no plans to stop this time. I've been given best "second chance" to date.7
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kshama2001 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »I feel like my recent emotional state is blocking my body from losing any more weight. I am still logging my calories almost every day and staying under my goal. I constantly had been losing about 2 lbs a week, but the last 2 weeks i have been fighting hard just to maintain. I feel completely emotionally drained, work and personal life is getting the better of me. So i wonder if the sheer stress of it is causing my body to resist addational weight loss.
How much weight do you have left to lose? Dieting is also stressful, and perhaps your goals are overly aggressive?
I am only about 10lbs away from my goal. I have lost 33lbs so far. I think being that close is infuriating!
Ok, you are losing too fast for what you need to lose, which is stressful to the body, which can also increase cortisol in addition to all your other stresses, which can lead to water retention.
Do change your weekly weight loss goal to a half pound per week.
Well said.
It might help to take a week to eat at maintenance and sort out your sleep first.
Sleeping better will help you feel less stressed, and could reduce water weight and your worries about it.
Here are some great tips on Sleep Hygiene (following such rules have been absolutely vital for me).
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/sleep-hygiene
‘Sleep hygiene’ means habits that help you to have a good night’s sleep. Common sleeping problems (such as insomnia) are often caused by bad habits reinforced over years or even decades. You can dramatically improve your sleep quality by making a few minor adjustments to lifestyle and attitude.
Obey your body clock
The body’s alternating sleep-wake cycle is controlled by an internal ‘clock’ within the brain. Most bodily processes (such as temperature and brain states) are synchronised to this 24-hour physiological clock. Getting a good sleep means working with your body clock, not against it. Suggestions include:
Get up at the same time every day. Soon this strict routine will help to ‘set’ your body clock and you’ll find yourself getting sleepy at about the same time every night.
Don’t ignore tiredness. Go to bed when your body tells you it’s ready.
Don’t go to bed if you don’t feel tired. You will only reinforce bad habits such as lying awake.
Get enough early morning sunshine. Exposure to light during early waking hours helps to set your body clock.
Improve your sleeping environment
Good sleep is more likely if your bedroom feels restful and comfortable. Suggestions include:
Invest in a mattress that is neither too hard nor too soft.
Make sure the room is at the right temperature.
Ensure the room is dark enough.
If you can’t control noise (such as barking dogs or loud neighbours), buy a pair of earplugs.
Use your bedroom only for sleeping and intimacy. If you treat your bed like a second lounge room – for watching television or talking to friends on the phone, for example – your mind will associate your bedroom with activity.
Avoid drugs
Some people resort to medications or ‘social drugs’ in the mistaken belief that sleep will be more likely. Common pitfalls include:
Cigarettes – many smokers claim that cigarettes help them relax, yet nicotine is a stimulant. The side effects, including accelerated heart rate and increased blood pressure, are likely to keep you awake for longer.
Alcohol – alcohol is a depressant drug, which means it slows the workings of the nervous system. Drinking before bed may help you doze off but, since alcohol disturbs the rhythm of sleep patterns, you won’t feel refreshed in the morning. Other drawbacks include waking frequently to go to the toilet and hangovers.
Sleeping pills – drawbacks include daytime sleepiness, failure to address the causes of sleeping problems, and the ‘rebound’ effect – after a stint of using sleeping pills, falling asleep without them tends to be even harder. These drugs should only be used as a temporary last resort and under strict medical advice.
Relax your mind
Insomnia is often caused by worrying. Suggestions include:
If you are a chronic bedtime worrier, try scheduling a half hour of ‘worry time’ well before bed. Once you retire, remind yourself that you’ve already done your worrying for the day.
Try relaxation exercises. You could consciously relax every part of your body, starting with your toes and working up to your scalp. Or you could think of a restful scene, concentrate on the rhythmic rise and fall of your breathing, or focus on a mantra (repeating a word or phrase constantly).
General suggestions
Other lifestyle adjustments that may help improve your sleep include:
Exercise every day, but not close to bedtime and try not to overheat yourself – your body needs time to wind down.
Try not to engage in mentally stimulating activities close to bedtime. Use the last hour or so before sleep to relax your mind.
Don’t take afternoon naps.
Avoid caffeinated drinks (like tea, coffee, cola or chocolate) close to bedtime. Instead, have a warm, milky drink, since milk contains a sleep-enhancing amino acid.
Take a warm bath.
Turn your alarm clock to the wall. Watching the minutes tick by is a sure way to keep yourself awake.
If you can’t fall asleep within a reasonable amount of time, get out of bed and do something else for half an hour or so, such as reading a book.
If you have tried and failed to improve your sleep, you may like to consider professional help. See your doctor for information and referral.
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I'd also add that while "deep breathing exercises" make me anxious, a 5 minute progressive muscle relaxation exercise helps me fall asleep.
Here are some relaxation recordings you can choose from from Australia's amazing "Beyond Blue" website:
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/staying-well/relaxation-exercises
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Hi Noah,
You've had some great advice here so I will just highlight the things that I think are the best. First off congratulations on losing 33 pounds! Well done. I lost alot of weight and for me the last 20% took a year to lose. So be patient and I agree that you should change to .5 lbs per week.
The next thing is the diet break. If you haven't had one take a couple weeks at maintenance calories to reset your body. Yes you will likely gain a couple of pounds of water. I did but then I went on to lose the rest of my weight (20 lbs.) after I had been stuck in a 3 MONTH plateau. Why this works is up for debate. Maybe it just removes the little snacks and cheats here and there or maybe it's hormonal, I don't know for sure but I know it worked for me.
Sleep is definately important and the other thing you haven't mentioned is exercise. I walk daily and it tends to reduce my stress level considerably. Music also for me is a stress reducer. Find what works for you.
Finally you may need to reconsider your job. If it is making you that miserable you might have to consider a change but keep in mind that can be really stressful and should only be done if economically possible and if you will get a better outcome eventually. Otherwise you need to find ways to handle the stress.
Good luck my friend. You will get there in the end.
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Our bodies need salt. As in, if you don't have enough of it and other electrolytes, you will die (or rather, your brain will swell and then you'll die). And no, I'm not saying that a little extra water every day will cause the OP (or most anyone) to be at risk for hyponatremia, but I also am confused as to why the need to flush out salts from one's body is being mentioned.cynthiabickham wrote: »Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!
I like to do yoga and deep breathing when I'm stressed. 10 minutes a day to just be and let your thoughts go where they may. Also make sure you get some sun light and plenty of water. Water flushes the salts from you and the sunlight gives you some vitamin D.
You can also message friends to vent to, if you don't have anyone you can vent to me. I hope you feel better.
I’m not saying flush all salt from your system. But water weight is mainly a build up of salt. A little extra water actually makes people feel better.0 -
You might look into Ashwagandha. It's an herb that has been proven to reduce Cortisol levels with no side affects. Obviously, consult with your doc if you're on any medications.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-proven-ashwagandha-benefits
I'm also a high-level "headhunter". I tell people all the time, money isn't the most important thing in life. It's more about if you're happy, feel appreciated and are compensated fairly for what you do for a living. It sounds like your work is putting too much on your shoulders. Perhaps have a talk with them directly about it. I'm not telling you to switch jobs, but many are hesitant to have honest dialogues with their employers about the stresses that their jobs create. Some can't say no or "I need help". When you dread work, it's an issue. Sounds to me like you're starting to dread your work.
Also, those last 10 lbs are incredibly hard to lose. It takes really buckling up your diet.2 -
cynthiabickham wrote: »
Our bodies need salt. As in, if you don't have enough of it and other electrolytes, you will die (or rather, your brain will swell and then you'll die). And no, I'm not saying that a little extra water every day will cause the OP (or most anyone) to be at risk for hyponatremia, but I also am confused as to why the need to flush out salts from one's body is being mentioned.cynthiabickham wrote: »Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!
I like to do yoga and deep breathing when I'm stressed. 10 minutes a day to just be and let your thoughts go where they may. Also make sure you get some sun light and plenty of water. Water flushes the salts from you and the sunlight gives you some vitamin D.
You can also message friends to vent to, if you don't have anyone you can vent to me. I hope you feel better.
I’m not saying flush all salt from your system. But water weight is mainly a build up of salt. A little extra water actually makes people feel better.
Or slightly higher carb intake, or mild inflammation, or hormonal fluctuation, or having traveled via plane recently, or any number of other things. Water fluctuation is caused by a lot of different factors, not just sodium.6 -
all i have to offer is to look to the 5 senses. try to circumvent thinking for short periods by: deep breathing a smell you enjoy like fabric softener in your clothing or cologne on your shirt, hugging a loved one and (im not kidding here) taking deep breaths of their "smell" especially a parent figure you love if available, looking at things you think are beautiful (cars, puppies, art, batman fan art or whatever, listening to music that makes you happy (not amped up), petting a dog/cat/etc or getting a massage, tasting and enjoying things you you enjoy (within your goals (like the first cup of coffee in the am or a beer after work or a favorite recipe.
the thing is, you have stress that is essentially routine for you. chronic stress. you obviously would benefit from changing jobs or dealing holistically with the issues. yeah, but, in the meantime for relief? make your limbic system relax in small moments. hopefully by making these pleasures more regularly occurring each day you'll be in a spot where you can figure out how to fix the larger issues.
sending you good vibes!2 -
Thank you all for the support! I still have not lost any more weight but I'm pretty sure I have been allowing myself to make some less than perfect food choices. I guess at least I have been maintaining!0
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cynthiabickham wrote: »
Our bodies need salt. As in, if you don't have enough of it and other electrolytes, you will die (or rather, your brain will swell and then you'll die). And no, I'm not saying that a little extra water every day will cause the OP (or most anyone) to be at risk for hyponatremia, but I also am confused as to why the need to flush out salts from one's body is being mentioned.cynthiabickham wrote: »Nope. But, stress and lack of sleep frequently lead to a lower NEAT, and a higher rate of water retention.
So you may be burning a bit less and also masking the fat burn with water. I really wouldn't be worried about it. If anything I'd maybe take a little diet break and focus on relaxing and reducing sources of stress.
I certainly wish i knew how to reduce the stress right now!
I like to do yoga and deep breathing when I'm stressed. 10 minutes a day to just be and let your thoughts go where they may. Also make sure you get some sun light and plenty of water. Water flushes the salts from you and the sunlight gives you some vitamin D.
You can also message friends to vent to, if you don't have anyone you can vent to me. I hope you feel better.
I’m not saying flush all salt from your system. But water weight is mainly a build up of salt. A little extra water actually makes people feel better.
This is untrue and not helpful. Water retention happens for many reasons and unless it is causing a specific medical problem like edema it is not something that a person should try and fix. Water levels are supposed to rise and fall. That is how we are designed to work.0 -
I realize I'm a little late to the posts here, and if you've seen any of my other posts then you realize I'm pretty much saying the exact same thing in every post
If you're having problems with continuous stress, then my recommendation (aside from the recommendations everybody else has provided, all of which are great - reconsidering your work & work/life balance, taking a maintenance week from dieting, sleep hygiene) would be picking up a meditation practice, even if its just sneaking in fifteen minutes once or twice a day. Phone on silent, not taking any calls from anybody. And learning to deepen your concentration and focus on your breath.
Unlike other stress-reduction methods suggested here, this has much deeper and continuous benefits. Much of your stress sounds like it originates from worry and the associated patterns of thought. Learning to concentrate extremely intensely on any one, simple stimulus (such as the breath, or a candle, or a mark on the wall) will help train you to observe the origination of thought in general, and to discard them. When your worries arise, you can learn how to 'kill' the trains of thought that would otherwise cause you to worry.1 -
Thank you all for the support! I still have not lost any more weight but I'm pretty sure I have been allowing myself to make some less than perfect food choices. I guess at least I have been maintaining!
Somehow, you've got to bring some fun back into your life and workplace. It may be a pressure cooker but practice some delegation skill subsets so you can roll with it for the rest of your life. Are you taking on too much and do you need to delegate, delegate, delegate. A loosening of control can bring some ease into the workplace.0 -
Definitely not, otherwise I wouldn't have lost any weight in my life (I'm not really being facetious). I would look for ways to relax and also making sure that you're still doing things that bring you joy (or at least have the potential to bring you joy).
I get plenty of time to relax, but with the work i do the stress never goes away. My employees are always calling with an issue or i know the stress if tomorrow woll still be there.
Not sure if this will help but there's a thing I started doing years ago when I was losing my mind with stress at work.
There was this big tree right out the front of where I lived that I'd walk past each morning on the way to work and then again on the way home and I designated this tree as my 'Worry Tree'.
Then each day when I got home from work I'd stop for a second at the tree and mentally hang all the things that were stressing me on the branches and leave them there before I walked in the front door. Then the next morning on my way out I'd stop by the tree and pick up all the work stuff that I'd left behind. This helped me stop thinking/worrying about work stuff while I was at home.
I was able to leave it all in the tree and stop thinking about it while at home, knowing it was all there ready to be picked up again the next morning when it mattered and I could do something about it.
Eventually this became habit and the separation between work and home became an automatic, subconscious thing and I didn't need to stop at my 'Worry Tree' deliberately anymore. Just the act of arriving home became an automatic trigger to forget the work stuff.
Might be worth giving it a try. I'm not usually one for hippy-dippy things like this but, hey whatever works huh.5
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