Stress & Weight Gain

A busy work life and successful career unfortunately comes with its downsides. Namely; stress.

Stress may well be making you fat and you probably don’t even know it. Often referred to as the ‘silent killer’ for its many negative effects on general health and well-being, stress also has a number of implications for your body composition.

Cortisol = Fat Storage

Cortisol is the primary stress hormone. It is released in response to a stressor and it has a number of effects, including raising blood pressure and setting off a hormonal cascade that raises blood sugar and encourages the body to store fat. This evolved as a response to ward off starvation; which was all well and good, thousands of years ago, when there wasn’t a fast food joint next door. Nowadays, what was once a life-saving benefit is making you store more fat and actually diminishing your health.

Cortisol = Cravings

When blood sugar drops, cortisol rises and it triggers your appetite; it’s telling you to eat something, and quickly.

Of course, the quickest energy foods are generally the worse foods for your physique. You crave sugar and other processed foods that deliver a quick boost of energy. Unfortunately, they do not offer much actual nutrition, so you are often still hungry for nutrients afterwards and your blood sugar has spiked sharply. It will drop just as sharply after it peaks and throw you back in to cortisol release and more cravings. Once you’re on the sugar rollercoaster, it can be hard to get off.

Cortisol = Low Testosterone

Chronically high cortisol lowers your testosterone. Low testosterone is associated with:

·         Low libido

·         Fatigue

·         Infertility

·         Loss of focus & drive

·         Fat gain

·         Difficulty gaining muscle

·         Decreased strength

·         Depression

Cortisol and testosterone oppose each other. Both are necessary for good health and cortisol is not the enemy; chronically high cortisol is the enemy. To maintain a high testosterone level and give yourself the best possible circumstances to build a great body, you must manage your stress levels.

Stress is Stress, is Stress

Your body cannot tell the difference between mental, emotional or physical stress. The deadline at work, argument with your spouse and bad diet will all have the same outcome. Again, stress is not bad itself, it is essential for life. It is dose dependant.

Working out is a stressor, but it is a good stress. It is short lived and leads to an overall decline in stress levels, as well as all of the other benefits for health and body. Without a stress input, you would never adapt to anything. In moderate doses, stress maintains homeostasis by leading your body to adapt to a stimulus. You need to avoid chronic stress.

Bad Food, Lack of Food or Lack of Exercise = Stress

Your body is an extremely complex piece of machinery that runs off a variety of fuels, but it has its specific needs. Namely, it needs enough calories to maintain energy and keep the metabolism high, it needs essential fats and proteins to build itself and it needs vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to thrive. It needs to move; the muscles and joints need to remain active in their natural function to maintain good health and ward off age related decline.

Insufficiency in any of these areas is stressful for the body. That means if you are not exercising, eating a poor diet, or not eating enough food, you are piling physical stress on top of the existing mental and emotional stress that we all go through in life.

How to Manage Stress Levels

That leads to the obvious answer of eating a healthy diet and maintaining an exercise regime, to minimise physical stress, coupled with things like meditation and relaxation techniques to manage mental stress.

This is an essential part of looking after your health and achieving a great physique. Sometimes it is not about the latest and greatest training plan or supplements, but about the holistic approach to your health and life.

Keep stress in check and you will have a better body, lose weight and gain muscle easier, be more productive and successful at work and flat out just be happier!