You will not lose weight until you get rid of stress

As stress increases the amount of fat in the body

Psychologist Melanie Greenberg in his article Depending on the stress and overeating claims that stressful situations provoke the release of several hormones: adrenaline, cortisol and corticotropin. Thus, the brain and the body is ready to fight.

In the short term adrenaline reduces the feeling of 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 severe stress, such as before the exam, and when thinking about food can not.

However, this does not last long. When the effect of adrenaline disappears, the main role for cortisol - a stress hormone.

A psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco Elisa Epel claimsThat increased levels of cortisol in response to prolonged stress increases appetite and leads us to prefer fatty foods.

Stress - a double-edged sword. First, it can improve your health, but in the long-term stress can cause problems: visceral fat, diabetes and heart disease.

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Psychologist Eliza Epel in an interview with Beet. TV

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

Stress increases the risk of metabolic syndromeChronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: prospective study and, as a consequence, obesity and problems with the cardiovascular system.

Metabolic syndrome - increased visceral fat mass, decrease in peripheral tissue sensitivity to insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, which violate carbohydrate, lipid, purine metabolism and arterial hypertension.

OverviewStress and obesity: the role of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in metabolic disease New York Institute for the Study of Obesity has confirmed the link between chronic stress, changes in work hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (network of hormonal regulation, which the activation occurs in response to stress) and obesity in animals.

For example, a study of monkeys shows that stress directly affects the deposition of fat. Monkeys on atherogenic diet (low fat animals and carbohydrate), is placed in a high pack risk of aggression, had more visceral fat than those who lived in more peaceful conditions on the same diet.

As for the people, their study was quite challenging due to the modern way of life: eating, low mobility and lack of sleep. However, earlier research scientistsMelancholic depression and abdominal fat distribution: a mini-review. shows the relationship between stress and the amount of visceral fat.

Thus, chronic stress not only affects the appetite, due to which you and gain extra weight, but also directly increases the amount of fat deposits.

How to determine whether you have such a relationship? Several factors should be evaluated.

How do you know that being overweight does not go away because of stress

First of all the extra weight - this is the wrong eating behavior. It is equally likely to be caused by stress, and irregular eating habits.

If you are used to exceed your daily requirement of calories and leads a sedentary lifestyle, stress, maybe to do with it. To clarify, calculate your daily requirement of calories using this formula and vote Activity costs during the day. If you eat more than you expend, the cause extra kilos in the diet.

But if you are out of standards, and the weight still there or you psychologically difficult to refuse use of such amount of food, it is worth considering how often in your life there are stressful factors. By this is meant not only to strong shocks. Here is a sample list of such factors:

• Lack of respect, acceptance, normal communication in the family or working team.
• Permanent fear or stress caused by work, family disputes, and other factors.
• Self-destructive behavioral patterns - permanent internal discomfort caused by low self-esteem, guilt or other psychological settings.
• The constant lack of sleep, heavy physical work, emotional burnout.

If there are these factors to gain weight will be much easier, but lose in your life - is more complicated.

How to get rid of stress and can it be done by changing the diet, rather than the environment?

How to get rid of stress

If you consume too many calories and leads a sedentary lifestyle, you must first change eating habits. However, to do this without removing the stress, it will be extremely difficult. Moreover, you risk to make an eating disorder. In place of overeating come fanatical counting calories or serious problems such as bulimia and anorexia.

So the first thing you need to deal with stress - to change the environment in which there are stressors. For example, a job that makes you very nervous because of the deadlines.

If you can not act radically - to change jobs or leave the family - you can start small. For example, ask about remote work or transfer to another department, try less to be at home - to enroll in a gym or find another hobby.

Also, there are simple and effective ways to deal with stress: physical activity, reading, meditation, socializing with pleasing you people.

Remember that chronic stress - a problem that not only prevents you lose weight, but also stimulates the emergence of diseases and shortens life.

Write your comments in the history of combat stress. Do you think that stress affects overweight?