Are you struggling to lose weight especially that lower belly fat?

Are you focusing on your food and exercising daily but still not seeing the results?

Have you considered that stress might be slowing down your success?

Weight loss and weight gain are complex things and for many people are more than just calories in versus calories out.

Today I am only going to look at the impact of stress and if that could be the missing puzzle piece.

Weight and Stress: what stress does to the body

Stress is a leftover response from our caveman days when if we where in any danger we either had to run like mad, hide or be eaten!!

It is a perfectly natural and needed response.

Nowadays our stress is less physical and more mental but the same interplay between a number of chemical reactions in the body happens - we like to think we have evolved from our caveman relatives but how our bodies read the stress chemicals is the same, they don’t know the danger is different.

The chemicals produced when stressed are not a bad thing it gives us that ‘get up and go’. But it is having stress for long periods of time that our bodies find difficult and this can lead to a number of health problems including obesity.

How stress can lead to belly fat

Stress hormones drive up the need for readily available energy to power us away from danger, to fight danger or to repair after the danger has passed. We get our energy sources from the foods we eat and any excess energy is stored as fat. Our belly is usually the first place it is stored.

Having high levels of abdominal fat means you are more likely to have high levels of cortisol in the body. Fat becomes an endocrine organ meaning that it then stores and produces hormones as well as its role in storing energy for later. Cortisol acts to control both food intake and energy expenditure - increasing the desire to consume foods high in fat and sugar.

The fat tissue produces adipokines that help regulate food intake. One of these is leptin which is involved in our feeling of fullness. Having high levels of leptin can lead to leptin-resistance meaning that our feeling of being full is distorted and we need to eat more food before we feel full. The other hunger hormone ghrelin is found to be altered leading to problems with body weight regulation.

So, being stressed can lead to higher levels of circulating chemicals in the body that can predispose us to lay down more abdominal fat, alter our appetites and make us crave certain foods- we are now in a vicious cycle.

Stress and Exercise

Some stress is a good thing. We are hotwired to deal with stress (fight or flight), exercise helps with this as we are predisposed to be active to reduce stress hormones.

Exercise can both alleviate stress and add stress to the body - think about what you are doing when you exercise, you are breaking down tissue and creating oxidative stress.

Over time exercise can reduce the stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) and reduce inflammation BUT over exercise can increase both inflammation and stress. You need to find your sweet spot. If you are feeling exhausted or moody after exercise and not making the gains you are expecting from your workouts it maybe time to look at mixing your workouts up and add some restorative workouts or build more rest into your weekly exercise routine.

Stress and extreme dieting

It can be very tempting to go all in when starting a new weight loss diet in the hope of seeing results quicker. Slashing of calories can lead to increased levels of cortisol and more psychological stress, just the things you are trying to avoid.

Extreme dieting can also have damaging effects on all parts of the body plus you are more likely to put all your weight back on and more.

To get to a healthy weight for you and to maintain this weight we need to find a way of eating that suits you and that you can maintain for life.

What can you do straight away?

As unattractive as it might seem the best approach to losing weight is time, reducing stress, adding in exercise and finding a nutritionally balanced way of eating that you can maintain.

Exercise

listen to your body
build in rest days
mix it up
find something you enjoy/love
seek support of a trainer/group of people
find your sweet spot

Stress

build relaxation into your day
create good sleep patterns
talk about it
be active every day
have a good laught/cry
get outside

Diet

Find a way of eating that you can do for life.

This included eating a nutritious, well balanced and colourful plates of food.

Include:

natural sources of protein
fats and oils including omega 3
a wide variety of colourful vegetables and fruit
some starchy foods
water

How can I help?

Don’t struggle on your own, help is at hand.

If you are ready to make your menopause weight gain a thing of the past I have the perfect 1 to 1 program to support you to do just that. 12 weeks of me supporting you every inch of the way to reduce that menopause belly, target menopause symptoms that have been dragging you down and helping you to feel like a more vibrant version of yourself. Find out more HERE

Lesley x

Why I am not losing belly fat: Is stress the answer?