Are your clothes not fitting like they should? Maybe you've been under too much stress. Studies over the past few years have found that stress can cause weight gain in two main ways:
Overeating
Many people respond to stress by eating. If this is you, try to determine if your hunger is real or imagined. Real hunger clues include:
- Slight uncomfortable feeling in your stomach
- Growling in the stomach
- Fatigue
If you just want to eat because you're stressed, it's time to retrain your body to relieve stress in a healthful way. Instead of eating, tell a joke, do something fun, exercise, or go out with friends. You might be tempted to have a beer or two to relax. Don't. You'll just be trading one vice (overeating) for another.
When you're really hungry, just eat a small meal. Many people do well eating four to six small meals throughout the day.
Fat Cell Retention
While lifestyle, genetics, and age all play a role in how much abdominal fat a person has, stress also appears to be a contributing factor. Abdominal fat is related to poorer health, including greater risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Even thin women are vulnerable to fat build up in their abdomen, according to a study conducted at Yale University. The study looked at pre-menopausal women – both overweight and non-overweight women. Typically, women store excess fat at the hips. But researchers found that when exposed to more stress than they could easily handle, they carried fat centrally – around vital organs. The more life stress a woman is exposed to, the greater her chance of having abdominal fat.
A healthy lifestyle, including not smoking, avoiding alcohol, and getting enough sleep, exercise, and relaxation, can reduce the affects of stress on body fat, according to Elissa Epel, lead investigator on the study.
The Yale study did not include men, but some researchers believe men are affected similarly. According to Pamela Peeke, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, stress prompts the body to intentionally store fat, regardless of gender.
The Bottom Line
You might not be overweight, based on BMI charts. But if you carry weight in your abdomen, your health is at risk. Relaxation and other stress management techniques will likely not be enough. You need to get up and move, and lift weights too. Exercise can diffuse stress energy, as well as burn off a few calories. |
