Stress can either work with or against us: While some stress helps increase alertness and motivation to reach our goals, too much can completely derail them.
Moreover, stress can promote weight gain and inhibit weight loss in countless ways. And the cycle can be vicious, feel inescapable, and start to control our lives.
Fortunately, you can find a balance of stress that works to your advantage. Dr. Cederquist and Nicole RD break down how stress affects weight and health and how to free yourself from this relentless cycle once and for all.
Nicole: So you're following your plan to a T, you're getting in all your meals and snacks, you're ensuring adequate protein each day, you're staying active and you're getting good sleep. But, you still find your weight loss slow and stubborn. So what else could be interfering with your progress and creating a barrier? Today we are going to talk about stress because stress is another source of weight loss resistance.
Dr. Cederquist: Stress is how we react when we feel threatened or under pressure. And it's not always provoked by real circumstances because even our own thoughts and perceptions can create a real stress response within the body.
Dr. Cederquist: The body and brain is always looking out for threats, wanting to look good, avoiding looking bad, projecting into the future and we can have worry and fears which are real stressors and also more significant stress just from life.
Nicole: Yes, I recall my mother used to always say like, “Shh… Be careful what you say to yourself, your brain is always listening.”
Dr. Cederquist: Your mother is wise, it's so true! And that goes back to our mindset lesson. Even telling ourselves something negative or judging ourselves such as “I am never going to be able to lose weight and keep it off!” and then stressing and beating ourselves up during the whole process can actually increase stress hormones and make fat loss more difficult.
Nicole: Yes, other stressors, just to name a few, include things like over-exercising, under-eating, living through pandemics or natural disasters, being unhappy in a marriage or relationship, caring for your elderly parents maybe, or unhappiness in a job. Or, you may have a great job but parts of it still provoke stress like deadlines, maybe dealing with people who are upset or worried or in pain, or you just have so much to do and too little time to get it done, or physical injuries is another stressor.
Dr. Cederquist: Yes, so true. Being a doctor is a wonderful profession, but you're dealing with people who have issues and things going on, and that in and of itself is stressful. Yes, we all have them, and temporary stressors are one thing but dealing with stressful situations that don't have a positive end in sight is something else. We can get through things if we know it's like for a specified period of time sometimes even if the time is long, but sometimes there isn't a good outcome.
Dr. Cederquist: Chronic stress creates hormonal responses that can cause weight gain, especially an increase in belly weight, inflammation, and insulin resistance. Stress increases cortisol levels, a stress hormone, and an increase in cortisol can result in blood glucose elevations and an increase in insulin levels. And, again, repeating that more insulin equates to more fat storage.
Dr. Cederquist: Just think of the vicious cycle we get stuck in. We are stressed in fight or flight mode, and the body is pumping out more cortisol and insulin which makes weight loss more difficult, and we see weight gain creating even more frustration and stress.
Nicole: Yes, cortisol also increases our appetite and can increase our cravings for comfort food, such as foods that are higher in simple carbohydrates and sugar and higher fat foods or salty foods. So we tend to gravitate towards the exact foods that could possibly create more weight gain. Stress can also result in unhealthy habits such as emotional eating, skipping meals or snacks, exercising less, or sleeping less.
Dr. Cederquist: Now we cannot make stress just go away because life is stressful in many many ways but it's how we manage the stress that's important. And sometimes we really have to address that sometimes there's going to be really difficult decisions that we have to make about our lives.
Dr. Cederquist: Some things we can manage and some things we might need to really look at our lives and do I need a different job? Do I need to do something with my relationship? Again, these aren't easy things but we have to really look at how it may be impacting us, and not being able to lose weight can just be a symptom of that that really causes you to dig a little deeper.
Dr. Cederquist: So in terms of tapping into some of the things that help manage stress, we can get back to the breath work again, right Nicole?
Nicole: Yes. So we talked about that the breath work like the 4-7-8 breathing technique or the five-finger breathing. All of these things really activate your parasympathetic nervous system which controls your body's response to stress and fight or flight. There's also meditation. So I find apps—like the Calm app or the Headspace app—is a really great place to start if someone's wanting to tap into a little bit of meditation.
Dr. Cederquist: That's great! Of course, I'm always big on exercise primarily to increase those feel-good endorphins and also increasing that parasympathetic tone, which is the calming down of the fight or flight response.
Dr. Cederquist: And what's so interesting is though exercise is definitely you are fleeing if you're running and getting ready to fight and lifting things that's fight or flight. But the aftermath is what causes this increased parasympathetic tone that lets your body rest and relax and brings our stressors down. So it's kind of this paradoxical how can doing something that requires movement and stress on the body because it is a stress. It actually helps us really long term.
Dr. Cederquist: Another important thing as we've discussed in previous lessons, getting adequate sleep. Of course, maintaining proper nutrition for when we are stressed, we can deplete certain vitamins such as the B vitamins or magnesium. And get this! Low magnesium can intensify stress creating a vicious cycle.
Nicole: Yes. I also find what's really important is to connect with others as well that sense of community and friendship. And lastly, taking breaks too is really important and making time for hobbies and fun. I know I have to be really intentional with scheduling things like that sometimes.
Dr. Cederquist: Oh, I'm so happy to do that, Nicole, it's so easy for working moms to not. We also need to mention that some causes of stress are very serious and may require professional counseling, legal advice, or even law enforcement. Reaching out to trusted professionals may be needed.
Nicole: Yes, the truth of it is that we all experience stress from time to time in our lives and it's important to be intentional with managing it. As you can see, it has such a huge impact on our overall health as well as weight loss progress.
Nicole: So, if you feel stuck in your weight loss journey, don't forget to address the stress in your life. Thanks for joining us, everyone. Until next time, have a great week!