Can Stress Prevent You From Losing Weight?
In your mind, you’ve got everything right.
You’ve cut out late-night suppers, gave your pantry a thorough overhaul, and committed to an exercise routine. And yet … despite sacrificing your favorite foods (and spare time to log hours on the elliptical), the number on the scale hasn’t budged. At all. What gives?
There might be one thing you’ve failed to account for: your stress levels.
Some experts have even gone so far as to liken the process of trying to lose weight while chronically stressed with running a marathon while giving someone a piggyback ride(imagine!)
But wait. How does stress impact your weight? Find out why you need to reduce your stress levels for optimal weight loss results below.
Every time you’re stressed (e.g. a dog suddenly charges toward you, an upcoming deadline), your adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol – and, as a result, glucose is released into your bloodstream.
This helps give you the energy needed to deal with the risky situation.
Under normal circumstances, your body’s stress-response system is self-limiting. Once the stressor event has passed (i.e. the dog is called back to the owner, you submit your client’s proposal), hormone levels return to baseline levels.
But this doesn’t hold when you’re chronically stressed. In this case, your fight-or-flight reaction remains switched on – all the time.
You're essentially flooding your body with cortisol 24/7, 7 days of the week. This causes a cascade of physiological reactions in the body that undermine your weight loss efforts.
Prolonged elevated cortisol levels blunt your metabolism.
In other words: you’re just not burning as many calories as you think you are. Although … just how much of an effect can stress have? A 2015 study published in Biological Psychiatry offers some answers.
In the study, researchers fed participants a meal containing 930 calories. They then measured the participants' metabolic rates.
The findings? Scientists found that in the7 hours after consuming the meal, those who’d reported being stressed out burned 104 fewer calories than those who weren’t! Now, admittedly, 104 calories might not sound like much to you. But it compounds over time (and over the foods you eat).
In fact, the researchers highlighted that this difference could amount to almost 11 pounds per year! So, if you want to boost your metabolism? You’ll need to lower your stress levels ASAP.
Disrupts sleep cycle
Think back to the last time you tried to sleep when stressed. Did you toss and turn?
That’s understandable; after all, multiple studies indicate that being in a heightened state of alertness (i.e.fight-or-flight response) can cause a loop of anxious thoughts to occur at night – delaying sleep onset.
Imaginably, this causes sleep deprivation.
You might be wondering … well, what does sleep deprivation have to do with my weight? Two words: exercise intensity.
Working out when you’re super tired means you probably won’t have the energy to go as hard (as stress can affect both reaction times and cognitive function), no matter if you're strength training or doing cardio.
And that means fewer calories burned.
By the way: if you’re struggling to fall asleep nightly, aromatherapy – a holistic healing treatment that uses essential oils – could be your solution.
How to better deal with stress
Bottom line?
If you're looking to lose weight in the most efficient manner possible, you're going to have to take care of your stress levels.
You can consider supplementing with adaptogens, try out anxiety-relieving herbs, or if you're looking for a simple, all-in-one solution for stress management: try our Pure Bliss supplement.
It’s formulated with 9 of the best stress-relieving herbs and vitamins possible (with a hint of BioPerine®, to boost your body’s absorption of all the chill) – so you feel calm, all the time.