5 ways stress can slow down fat loss

Life can be stressful, but we can't just ignore it! 🤷‍♀️

Our bodies do not respond well to chronic stress. And if you're trying to reach your fat loss goals, it's going to be TOUGH if you're overly stressed.

5 ways stress can slow down fat loss:

1️⃣ Stress tends to lead to over-eating or even binge eating.

When your body is under acute stress, the hunger hormone ghrelin is secreted. Cue the sudden urge to eat, even if you're not physically hungry! Plus, studies show that ghrelin has also "been found to elevate the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal gland through ACTH release" (MR van Loenen, 2020). So, it actually works BOTH ways: the more stress, the more ghrelin. The more ghrelin, the more stress.

2️⃣ Stress is also associated with specific cravings.

High cortisol levels from stress can also increase cravings specifically for sugary and fatty foods. There's nothing wrong with sugar or fat — BUT, sugary and fatty foods tend to be more calorically dense. And simply put: eating an excess of calories for our bodies but not burning those calories off leads to fat storage.

3️⃣ Stress gets in the way of your sleep.

Stress and sleep don't mix well. It's ideal to get 7-9 hours of high quality sleep per night, but when we're under stress, not only do we struggle to fall asleep — but the quality and duration of our sleep takes a hit too.

4️⃣ Cortisol (our stress hormone) causes the body to hold onto fat.

When we want to burn fat, we definitely don't want cortisol putting up a fight to hold onto as much fat as it can. It specifically likes to hold onto abdominal and visceral fat. Visceral fat is the most dangerous type of fat, and we don't want it surrounding our vital organs!

5️⃣ Stress can lead to skipping meals and exercising less.

While stress sometimes causes us to feel hungry 24/7, the opposite effect is also common. Some experience a non-existent appetite when under high stress. It's also common for people to want to skip the gym when under stress as it may not be their top priority when their schedule is packed. This is fair to feel...but exercise may be one of the best things you could push yourself to do when your body is stressed out!

Next steps:

I'm here to help you manage your stress while chasing your health goals...and make sure fat loss isn't adding to that list of stressors in life!

I'm all about working with what we've got — NOT adding more to our to-do list to reach our goals.

Need some strategies to help de-stress so you can get back to reaching new goals? You can always contact me directly through my website, or shoot me a DM on Instagram @madeline_grace or @madstrengthcoaching.

Keep those stress levels LOW, friends!