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Can Stress Keep You From Losing Weight?

It may sound surprising, but stress actually plays a large role in your waistline and how easily you can lose weight. For example, multiple studies show how stress and lack of sleep can lead to an increase in your cortisol levels (the stress hormone). Having higher levels of cortisol in your body can cause you to:

• feel hungrier; and
• crave foods that have a lot of sugar, calories, and fat.

Higher cortisol levels can also cause people to build up fat around their bellies.

Learning to reduce stress through exercise and meditation—while also being more mindful about food—can have a large impact on your well-being and help you keep weight off in the long-term.

Stress Management Services

We offer mindfulness-based stress management classes to help you:

• respond to stress and food cravings by using healthier, more effective strategies; and
• recommit to healthy living after experiencing a setback or challenge.

Classes last eight—12 weeks. These classes are offered through Wellness & Integrative Health. 

Where Are Classes Held?

Stress management classes are held at the L.S. Skaggs Patient Wellness Center.

What Will I Learn In Class?

You will learn to:

• stop unhelpful behaviors and patterns that cause you to gain weight,
• use simple mindfulness strategies in your day-to-day life,
• learn how to manage the stress and discomfort that comes with change, and
• approach life with more flexibility, openness, and self-compassion. 

We’ll encourage you to experiment with different mindfulness strategies to relieve stress, like mindful eating, brief meditation, or connecting with others in a meaningful way.

How Does Managing Stress Help Me Lose Weight?

When you’re stressed, your body releases a hormone called cortisol. Increased amounts of cortisol can:

• raise your blood pressure,
• raise your blood sugar, and
• make you crave fatty and sugary foods.

All of these things can make it harder for you to lose weight.

Learning how to respond to life’s ups and downs with stress reduction activities (like mindfulness exercises) helps you manage stress in a thoughtful, healthy way. This can make it easier for you to lose weight and stay healthy.

Make an Appointment

To schedule an appointment for stress management services, please call 801-447-1195.

Our weight loss team will help you determine what services you need and the best classes for you.

Find a Location

L.S. Skaggs Patient Wellness Center

530 Wakara Way
Salt Lake City, UT 84108

Sugar House Health Center

1280 E. Stringham Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84106

University of Utah Hospital

50 N. Medical Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84132

Food As a Stress Reliever

There are strong connections between the brain and stomach. Many times, people overeat because they’re stressed, anxious, or depressed. To make things worse, we learn from a very young age that food brings us comfort. Because of this, some people mindlessly eat to relieve stress—even when they’re not hungry.

Our stress management classes will help you reflect on whether you have an emotional relationship with food and then learn how to turn to other activities besides eating to handle stressful situations.

Resources for Our Patients

What to Expect During Your Appointment

During your first appointment, your weight loss doctor will talk with you about your goals and help you find the best treatment so you can keep weight off in the long-term.

Why Is It So Hard to Lose Weight?

How much you weigh is controlled by complex interactions between hormones and neurons in your hypothalamus. For most overweight people, their body tries to prevent permanent weight loss. This means your body is actually working against you to lose weight.

Meet the Team

Our bariatric surgery team is here to help you successfully lose weight and support you in your weight loss journey. We can provide all the care you need, from surgeons and physician assistants to dietitians and even financial advocates.

How Many Meals Should I Be Eating Each Day to Lose Weight?

Looking to lose some weight? You’ve probably heard that eating five small meals a day is the secret. What does the research suggest? A registered dietitian clears up the confusion about how many meals you should eat.

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How Stress Can Lead to Weight Gain, and How to Fight It

What’s the deal with stress and weight gain? Would you weigh less if you felt less frazzled?

“There are several ways stress can lead to weight gain,” says Ariana M. Chao, PhD, RN, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia. “People may eat as a way to cope with stress and as a way to make themselves feel better. ” Prolonged, chronic stress can also lead to hormonal changes that may increase your appetite and cause cravings for higher-calorie comfort foods, such as ice cream, chips, and pizza.

By contrast, acute stress, which is of short duration, tends to make people lose their appetite as the brain directs resources away from normal body functions, such as eating, to the organ systems needed to survive an immediate challenge. “In the short term, adrenaline usually makes people feel less hungry,” says Dr. Chao. “However, with chronic stress, adrenaline’s effects on appetite wear off and cortisol starts to urge the body to replenish your energy stores. For some people, this tends to result in weight gain.”

That’s not to say acute stress can’t lead to overeating. In one study, overweight volunteers exposed to stressful situations desired more desserts and snacks, and ate more carbohydrates and fat, compared with normal-weight subjects exposed to the same stressful situations. “We believe that stress adds to the need for reward, and a person needs more food to get the same reward” during a stressful situation, says Femke Rutters, PhD, coauthor of the study and researcher at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam. “Overweight people are more often those with high restraint and high disinhibition.” In other words, she explains that being overweight may predispose you to want to restrain calorie intake and to cave in stressful situations or when unexpectedly presented with food.

RELATED: 9 Foods That Help or Hurt Anxiety

Why You Crave Comfort Food When You’re Stressed

Chronic stress has an almost diabolical effect on the metabolism. “Chronic stress may influence our brain’s reward system in areas such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which may promote food cravings,” says Chao.

The secretion of cortisol in response to a stressor also tells your body to store belly fat, says Shawn Talbott, PhD, an exercise physiologist and nutritional biochemist in Salt Lake City, and author of The Cortisol Connection. One review found that belly fat not only adds pounds but increases your risk for heart attack.

In addition, another study revealed a connection between belly fat and ischemic stroke in women. At the same time, hormones released in response to chronic stress can prompt the loss of skeletal muscle, according to other research. “Muscle tissue is the largest calorie burner in the body, so overall metabolism drops,” Dr. Talbott says.

Research has repeatedly found that social support can help decrease stress levels and thus lower the likelihood of weight gain. In one study, researchers found that while most first-year college students gained weight, students with lower levels of social support at the beginning of college had greater increases in body mass index (BMI).

BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight and can be an indicator of disease risk associated with a higher amount of body fat, per the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Male students in the previously mentioned study with stronger social support were less likely to “stress eat” and gain weight. Stressful eating encompasses consuming extra calories to compensate for increased appetite during stressful experiences, as well as the likelihood to eat more high-calorie foods during high-stress times. More research is needed to see if this same connection is observed in women as well, although this study did not identify one.

You don’t need those carbs and fats to make you feel better. Another study found that eating relatively healthier comfort foods, such as air-popped popcorn or almonds, was just as likely to boost a negative mood as more caloric comfort food, such as ice cream, or a food that subjects considered “neutral,” such as a granola bar, in terms of how much they liked the food and how much comfort they thought it provided.

RELATED: 5 Fall and Winter Foods With Mood-Boosting Benefits

The Importance of Sleep and Exercise for Stress Management

In several experimental studies, short-term sleep deprivation led to increased calorie intake and weight gain.

This may be because of changes in the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, and a greater intake of high-calorie foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Most adults should aim to get seven hours or more of sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Exercise helps lower stress levels and may help decrease symptoms of anxiety, according to a systematic review.

But the benefits of moving regularly don’t end there. “Exercise can have direct effects on weight by helping burn calories and increasing lean muscle mass, which helps with weight control,” says Chao. “Regular exercise can help improve your physiological toughness when facing stress. Exercise can lead to beneficial adaptations in the stress response system that improve how your body reacts to future physiological stressors, which may result in the body being more efficient at coping with psychological stressors.”

Exercising regularly can also help you more rapidly recover from stressors and decrease negative feelings following a stressor. “This lessens the overall wear and tear that the stressors have on the body,” says Chao.

Plus, regular physical activity can stimulate the production of endorphins. These are brain chemicals that can elevate mood and produce feelings of relaxation, explains Chao.

As for how hormones, sleep deprivation, stress, and eating habits are linked, the connections are many. “Stress and sleep can interact in a cyclical manner,” says Chao. “High stress has negative effects on sleep quality and duration, and poor sleep can negatively affect stress levels. Sleep deprivation is often thought of as a chronic stressor that can contribute to stress dysregulation and hyperactivation of the stress systems, including higher levels of cortisol.”

“Cortisol is one of the main hormones involved in stress responses and prepares you for fight or flight,” says Chao. “It can increase your appetite and trigger cravings for high-calorie comfort foods. Stress hormones can also impact your metabolism and promote fat storage, particularly around the abdomen. ” Higher cortisol levels resulting from insufficient sleep can furthermore influence areas in the brain that may further enhance the impact of stress, says Chao.

RELATED: A Science-Backed Plan to Fix Your Sleep Schedule

Science-Backed Tips for Preventing Stress-Fueled Weight Gain

“Too many people tend to view stress as something that they just have to deal with,” says Talbott. “But they really need to think about managing stress as something that is as important as their diet or their exercise program.”

Here are some tips for breaking the chronic stress-weight gain feedback loop:

Set priorities. “Make a record of how you spend your time each day for a week,” suggests Chao. “Decide which tasks and activities are most important to you and prioritize them.” Don’t forget to incorporate time for adequate sleep and exercise into your schedule. “Sleep and joyful physical movement are important parts of self-care,” says Alexis Conason, PsyD, a private-practice psychologist in New York City who counsels her patients on body image and acceptance, as well as mindful eating.

Sleep lays the foundation for mental well-being — when you feel well rested, you’re more likely to have more resilience and be better able to handle the changes that are bound to come up in your life. “In contrast, when you don’t get enough sleep, every little obstacle that comes up in your day-to-day life feels more difficult to cope with,” says Dr. Conason.

Become efficient. “Streamline healthy eating and physical activity to make them easier to fit into a busy lifestyle,” says Chao. Chop vegetables for the week to eat as snacks or to throw into stir-fries or salads, and prepack several days of lunch over the weekend. Keep a set of exercise clothes and shoes at the office so working out after you wrap up at your desk becomes a no-brainer.

RELATED: 10 Tricks for Getting Enough Fruit and Veggies

Love your body. “Poor body image, internalized weight bias, and body shame are major sources of stress,” says Conason. “Research suggests that internalized weight bias increases stress, as well as contributes to other poor medical and mental health outcomes.”

Improve your body image by focusing on being healthy. When eating, for example, fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables, take walks several times a week, and begin other healthful habits, rather than putting all your mental energy into the number on the scale.

“Mindfulness meditation is a great tool to decrease stress and improve our capacity for self-acceptance and self-compassion, which have been shown to reduce body image dissatisfaction, body shame, and associated stress,” says Conason. Mindfulness meditation is the act of being fully aware and present in the current moment, with a sense of nonjudgmental awareness and acceptance, explains Conason.

Recognize what you can appreciate in your life. At the same time that you acknowledge whatever is stressing you out, recognize what you can appreciate in life.   “As simplistic as it sounds, the fact that you can look to what is improving in a given situation can help to psychologically buffer the stress in other areas of your life,” says Talbott.

RELATED: How Stress Affects Your Body, From Your Brain to Your Digestive System

Think before you snack. Stop before you eat other than at mealtimes, and consider whether you are actually hungry or if you’re reaching for food for another reason. “Food is not the best match for the emotional need of stress,” says Conason. “It may alleviate stress for a moment, but the stress will almost always return. It’s important to find a way to more authentically meet our emotional needs.”

Conason recommends focusing on noticing when you’re eating in response to stress, versus when you’re eating in response to physiological hunger. “From there, you can think about how to best care for your needs, whether that is with food or another coping mechanism, such as a stress-reduction or relaxation technique,” she says. Do some yoga or deep breathing, call a friend, read a book, or even take a nap. Don’t be afraid to seek professional support if you need it.

Take a walk. Instead of taking out your stress on a bag of chips, take it outside or walk around the house. It can do wonders for helping to calm you down.

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

• Lemmens SG, Rutters F, Born JM, Westerterp-Plantenga MS. Stress Augments Food ‘Wanting’ and Energy Intake in Visceral Overweight Subjects in the Absence of Hunger. Physiology & Behavior. May 3, 2011.
• Cao Q, Yu S, Xiong W, et al. Waist-Hip Ratio as a Predictor of Myocardial Infarction Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Medicine. July 2018.
• Rodríguez-Campello A, Jiménez-Conde J, Ois Á, et al. Sex-Related Differences in Abdominal Obesity Impact on Ischemic Stroke Risk. European Journal of Neurology. February 2017.
• Poornima KN, Karthick N, Sitalakshmi R. Study of the Effect of Stress on Skeletal Muscle Function in Geriatrics. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. January 2014.
• Darling KE, Fahrenkamp AJ, Wilson SM, et al. Does Social Support Buffer the Association Between Stress Eating and Weight Gain During the Transition to College? Differences by Gender. Behavior Modification. May 2017.
• Assessing Your Weight and Health Risk. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
• Wagner HS, Ahlstrom B, Redden JP, et al. The Myth of Comfort Food. Health Psychology. December 2014.
• How Much Sleep Do I Need? Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. September 14, 2022.
• Stonerock GL, Hoffman BM, Smith PJ, Blumenthal JA. Exercise as Treatment for Anxiety: Systematic Review and Analysis. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. August 2015.

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Losing weight due to stress: is it possible to lose weight due to stress and why is this happening?

Losing weight due to stress: is it possible to lose weight due to stress and why is this happening?

Emotional state can affect health in general. Stressful situations can lead to malfunctions of individual organs and systems. Stress is a response to physical overstrain, monotonous bustle, psychological pressure, etc. It can increase anxiety and lead to loss of appetite and weight loss.

Causes and consequences of weight loss due to stress

Stress is more likely to lose weight than gain weight. This is due to the fact that a significant amount of cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline is released into the blood. These are the hormones that are responsible for our emotions, as well as for the functioning of the nervous system, brain and metabolism.

Thus, adrenaline is responsible for the production of fatty acids and metabolism in tissues. It is able to enhance the breakdown of fats into simple components. Arterial pressure can change under the influence of norepinephrine. The same hormone activates the work of all internal organs. Cortisol, in turn, controls carbohydrate metabolism, which is directly related to the balance of the body’s energy reserves. During stress, the concentration of these hormones rises sharply, which means that nutrients begin to be consumed with a vengeance to bring the body into a state of “full combat readiness”. Temporary mobilization of forces is important and necessary to solve the problem. But if such a state is permanent, the reserves are depleted, sleep and appetite disappear. The person begins to lose weight.

Malnutrition affects not only the digestive organs, it can cause a breakdown, drowsiness, menstrual irregularities in women, hair loss, deterioration of the skin and nails, and disorders in the musculoskeletal system.

How to get back to normal

You can cope with stress and return to normal body weight on your own, if there are no other dangerous conditions. To do this, you must adhere to the following recommendations.

Provide adequate rest and sleep. Go to bed earlier, try to think about something pleasant before going to bed, leave a few minutes in the morning to soak a little in bed. If you can’t get enough sleep on your own, you should consult a specialist. He may prescribe sedatives.

Give up (at least temporarily) caffeine. This substance is able to increase the level of cortisol, which is already increased.

Eat well. The diet should be balanced, do not skip meals due to being busy at work or not wanting to eat. Eat fruits, vegetables, enough protein, fish, dairy products, nuts.

Walk more. Walking outdoors is good for both physical health and your mood.

Find a hobby. Favorite activity can be anything: embroidery, reading books, even watching TV shows. The main thing is that this activity distracts from unnecessary worries and brings joy.

Leave time for fun. Among working days it is so important to find an outlet. Go to a concert of your favorite band, visit a spa, meet friends.

When You Need Specialist Help

Constant stress and rapid weight loss are not normal. You can’t do without the help of a specialist. He will diagnose and, if necessary, prescribe treatment. Often, patients are recommended herbal sedatives, such as Corvalol PHYTO.

Why you can’t lose weight if you don’t get rid of stress

Health

March 17

Often a person struggles with excess weight without noticing the real reason – constant stress and dissatisfaction with life.

Iya Zorina

Author of Lifehacker, athlete, CCM

You can listen to the article. If you feel more comfortable, tune in to the podcast:

How Stress Increases Body Fat

Psychologist Melanie Greenberg, in her article on stress addiction and overeating, claims that stressful situations trigger the release of several hormones: adrenaline, corticoliberin and cortisol. Thus, the brain and body are preparing for the fight.

In the short term, adrenaline reduces hunger. The blood is redirected from the internal organs to the broad muscles: the body prepares to fight or flee. Surely you have experienced this during times of great stress, for example, before an exam, when you could not even think about food.

However, this does not last long. When the effect of adrenaline disappears, the main role is assigned to cortisol, the stress hormone.

University of California, San Francisco psychologist Eliza Epel claims that elevated cortisol levels in response to prolonged stress increase appetite and make us crave fatty foods.

Eliza Epel

Psychologist. In an interview with Beet.TV

Stress is a double-edged sword. It may make you feel better at first, but in the long run, stress can cause problems like visceral fat, diabetes, and heart disease.

Under the influence of cortisol, visceral fat begins to accumulate in the body, surrounding the internal organs.

Stress increases the risk of metabolic syndrome and, as a result, obesity and problems with the cardiovascular system.

Metabolic syndrome – an increase in the mass of visceral fat, a decrease in the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin and hyperinsulinemia, which disrupt carbohydrate, lipid, purine metabolism, as well as arterial hypertension.

A review by the New York Institute of Obesity Research has confirmed a link between chronic stress, changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (hormonal regulatory network activated in response to stress) and obesity in animals.

For example, a study of monkeys has shown that stress directly affects fat storage. Monkeys on an atherogenic diet (low in animal fats and easily digestible carbohydrates) placed in packs with a high risk of aggression had more visceral fat than those living in more relaxed conditions on the same diet.

As far as humans are concerned, their study proved to be quite a challenge due to the modern way of life: overeating, lack of mobility and lack of sleep. However, earlier research by scientists showed a relationship between stress and the amount of visceral fat.

Thus, chronic stress not only affects your appetite, due to which you acquire extra pounds, but also directly increases the amount of body fat.

How can you tell if you have such an addiction? Several factors need to be assessed.

How to understand that excess weight does not disappear precisely because of stress

First of all, excess weight is a wrong eating behavior. It is equally likely to be caused by both stress and poor eating habits.

If you are used to exceeding your daily calorie intake and lead a sedentary lifestyle, stress may not have anything to do with it. To be clear, use this formula to calculate your daily calorie intake and estimate the cost of activity during the day. If you consume more than you spend, then the reason for the extra pounds is in the diet.

But if you fit into the norm, but you still have excess weight, or it is psychologically difficult for you to refuse to consume such an amount of food, then you should think about how often stress factors appear in your life. This does not only mean strong shocks. Here is a sample list of such factors:

• Lack of respect, acceptance, normal communication in the family or work team.
• Constant fear or tension caused by work, family quarrels, other factors.
• Self-destructive patterns of behavior – constant internal discomfort caused by low self-esteem, guilt or other psychological attitudes.
• Constant lack of sleep, heavy physical labor, emotional burnout.

If these factors are present in your life, it will be much easier to gain weight, and it will be more difficult to lose weight.

How to get rid of stress, and can it be done by changing the diet, not the environment?

How to get rid of stress

If you eat too many calories and lead a sedentary lifestyle, the first thing you need to do is change your eating habits. However, to do this without eliminating stressful situations will be extremely difficult. Moreover, you risk earning an eating disorder.