Need to Lose Weight But You’re Stressed Out?

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 1:54 pm

Overweight boy and his mother

If you need to lose weight but you’re stressed out and know that stress usually makes you gain weight, then what you need to discover is how to get your stress level under control so that you can focus on whatever weight loss you are aiming for whether it be to lose a pound a day, or to lose love handles, or lose 10 pounds. Your life will be made much easier, in so many ways, by learning how to relieve stress. Here we will examine some of the effects that stress has on your mind and body that impede your efforts to lose weight.

It is not surprising at all that you need to lose weight, as the statistics today here in the United States are staggering. Reports state that two thirds of Americans today are either obese or overweight. That is just mind blowing to me. Do you think this doesn’t factor into the issues our healthcare system has? Think again. What is so shocking to me though is that we have a booming fitness industry and especially have no end of weight loss programs available to us. So what is the problem? Why aren’t we, as a population, at our ideal weights?

I believe that a big part of the problem is that we are over stressed in our lives today and this has certain effects on us that prevent us from attaining our ideal weight.

Tell me if you do cannot relate to this; When you feel stressed you tend to not find time for exercise, you tend to eat a lot more and a lot less healthily, as in junk foods. You might also be having trouble sleeping so you’re constantly feeling fatigued and this has been linked to weight gain.

Our bodies produce the hormone “Cortisol” when we are stressed and this is a good, healthy practice. Unfortunately, it is only good in small doses. When we are continuously stressed out we continuously produce this hormone and it then has negative effects on our body. Cortisol is known to cause increased appetite which leads us to put on weight. Keep in mind that a good rule of thumb is to “eat less and exercise more” if you are trying to lose weight, but getting your stress under control is also as important.

When your cortisol levels are elevated due to stress here are some of the effects;

1. Increased food cravings
2. Increased appetite overall
3. Increased body fat
4. Depression
5. Anxiety
6. Decrease in muscle mass
7. Decrease in bone density
8. Impaired memory
9. Mood swings
10. Reduced Libido
11. Exaggerated menopausal side effects and PMS symptoms

Not many people think of stress management as a weight loss tool but it really can be very beneficial to your body in your struggle to drop some pounds. Many people find that even though they think they’re eating right and exercising enough that they’re still gaining weight. This could be due to being stressed. being in a permanent state of stress is extremely dangerous, not only for your weight, but also for your overall health.

Working in opposition to your need to lose weight, the additional cortisol in your body causes you to gain weight. Over a period of time the stress compounds and can also lead to serious health conditions such as heart attacks, severe depression and a decrease in you general well being. So it is key that you learn how to handle stress so that it does not get the better of you.

So in your need to lose weight you want to make handling stress a large part of your focus, while ensuring that you eat a healthy, balanced diet filled with fresh fruit and vegetables and make the time to exercise regularly. If you find that you need help or motivation to get those pounds off then look below for one program that has helped thousands of people, like you, lose weight in a healthy manner and keep it off.