Any stressful situation leads to a malfunction of the body. The problem of critical weight loss worries many people who have suffered the influence of negative factors. In some cases, weight loss occurs to a critical norm. It is worth understanding why people lose weight from stress and how to deal with this phenomenon.
There are many reasons for the appearance of stress, they include high workload at work and domestic troubles in the family, the appearance of diseases and financial difficulties. In most cases These factors can explain the dramatic weight loss.. This is noted by people who have experienced weight loss personally.
Angelina, 28 years old
“It turned out such a situation when there were problems with work. I was looking for a new place for a long time, I was very nervous that I even forgot to eat. She became irritable, there was misunderstanding at home. I still have such a character, when I'm nervous, I don't get a piece in my throat. So in two weeks it took almost 7 kg, a lot.
What causes weight loss from stress? Physiologically, this process can be described as follows. With short-term stress, the body spends a large amount of energy at a time. With prolonged exposure to stressors occurs in the work of metabolism.
Since the state of stress is unnatural for the body, it perceives it as a disease. This reduces appetite. Nature has arranged a person in such a way that enhanced nutrition during periods of stress is not provided. Forces go to eliminate the consequences of stress, to fight it. This is a completely normal reaction to experiences.
If a person has health problems, adding emotional experiences to them provokes a loss of appetite. This is another reason why people lose weight from stress. In these cases, a complete refusal to eat is possible, and in case of eating, nausea and vomiting may occur. The risk group includes people with an asthenic physique. The nutrition system instilled in childhood has an influence.
Weight loss is an important signal of the body that asks for help, requires getting rid of experiences.
What to do
There is a certain category of people who experience a decrease in appetite against the background of stress. It seems to many that this situation is even beneficial, because you don’t have to severely restrict food and go on strict diets to keep fit. Stress surrounds people everywhere, it is enough just to get nervous, and the weight will return to normal.
This is very dangerous delusion , because such weight loss does not bring any benefit. On the contrary, it causes irreparable harm to health. Some people are well aware of this, and are trying to solve the problem of stressful weight loss.
Vasily, 40 years old
“Many argue that losing weight from stress is nothing more than a myth. This is a huge misconception, it all depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. I had a dream - to buy a new car. I realized it, got into a loan, but completely lost my peace. I was even afraid to drive a car so as not to get into even more debt. As a result, I lost 12 kg until I decided that health is more expensive. Now I also notice that strong nerves affect weight, because you constantly experience some kind of tension, at work I worry about new projects, at home there is an endless renovation. But I try to work on myself so as not to allow such a sharp decline again.
The consequences of stress should be dealt with in two directions: to increase stress resistance and to improve proper nutrition. An increased danger is the situation when a person is not aware of the detrimental effect of stress on weight, and does not seek to cope with depression on his own. Here you will need the help of a specialist and the support of loved ones.
Methods for increasing stress resistance
It is necessary to increase stress resistance in a complex, and at the same time, it is necessary to do this not only for those who are faced with the problem of weight loss from stress. Being engaged in self-improvement, a person comes to realize his role in the ongoing events, and can take responsibility for relationships at work, in the family, change his own attitude. This will greatly reduce the impact of stress on his life.
The most important thing is to love yourself, learn to listen to the inner self, understand what the body wants to say. To do this, you need to bring your life in accordance with biorhythms, and during periods of high psychological stress, help yourself cope with them. Many stresses are created by the person himself., when he cherishes past grievances, he accumulates negativity, scrolling through unpleasant situations again and again. It is important to learn to let go of everything bad. It is not necessary to drink mountains.
There are many methods for this. The most popular and effective advice given by experts is as follows:
- Walks in the fresh air and at least minimal physical exercise will significantly reduce the effect of stress on the body and support appetite. It is enough to devote at least half an hour a day to communication with nature;
- Interests and hobbies. Embroidery, knitting, music lessons, drawing, singing help relieve stress, distract from sad thoughts and get great aesthetic pleasure;
- Breathing exercises help to cope with stress. There are a lot of practices, any sport complexes contain a prerequisite - proper breathing;
- Complete rest and sleep. Compliance with sleep and wakefulness will help the body to endure life's hardships more easily and reduce the harmful effects of stress.
Plenty of options for things to do. Everyone can choose something to their liking. There are also not quite standard ways that people share on forums on the Internet.
Veronica, 32 years old
“No matter how strange my way of relieving stress may seem, it really works. A simple elastic band on the wrist helps, which, when I feel overstrained, I just tighten it slightly. A few moves and the tension goes away. Maybe it has something to do with the way you hold your hands. It saves the way in public, when there is no way to relax, and the nerves fail. At home, I like to just make a small rearrangement, the option of shifting 27 things in an apartment works interestingly. At the same time I put things in order and get rid of unnecessary things. A great way to organize the space and give the opportunity for positive energy to come!”
How to gain back weight
The answer to the question of whether people lose weight from stress is obvious. After getting rid of tension, another, no less important task arises - how to return weight. Critical weight loss is very dangerous, and the main thing in this case is to establish a nutrition process. It is not worth blindly following the advice of some leaders to eat more and more often, since such a change in nutrition will lead to other problems.
Establishing nutrition is about returning to the natural process of eating, natural. There must be a hearty breakfast before 9 am, a hearty lunch and a light dinner, no later than 2 hours before bedtime. Weight gain contributes to a complete and high-quality food.
To develop appetite, you can follow the recommendations:
- Indulge in your favorite foods
- Beautiful serving;
- Increases appetite sour food;
- You should try to eat at the same time;
- Excitement of appetite is facilitated by walking and having sex, these methods should not be neglected either.
Weight gain under stress requires not only the elimination of stress factors, but also the normalization of sleep. Good rest helps to remove the stress hormone, which provokes rapid fat burning. Anyone who wants to gain weight correctly, and not just get better, sports are recommended. Exactly physical activity will distribute energy and increase muscle mass and not get fat.
Another important point. In a situation where there is a sharp weight loss, you should make sure that there are no diseases. Quite often, this process accompanies the onset of such unpleasant diseases as diabetes and oncology. If you can’t solve the problem with stress weight loss on your own, you should contact a specialist.
Consequences of malnutrition under stress
Anorexia scourge of models
Nervous exhaustion and weight loss due to stress are most often triggered by malnutrition. This can lead to such negative consequences for the body as:
- Deterioration of the brain;
- Increased drowsiness, lethargy;
- sleep problems;
- Muscle spasms;
- Violation of the functions of the musculoskeletal system;
- Weakness, headaches, dizziness;
- Failures in the work of the heart.
The main danger of sudden weight loss on nervous ground women are at risk of developing anorexia. It is difficult to get rid of this disease, and it is extremely difficult to gain lost kilograms, it is difficult to treat. Pathology often has a psychological background, and progresses against the background of constant stress.
It is worth remembering that the negative accumulated inside is destructive. Getting rid of irritation will prevent severe exhaustion of the body, and maintaining a positive attitude in any situation will help you always stay healthy and beautiful!
Remember, I wanted to start exercising again on the ellipsoid and go on a diet to lose 4 kilos? I dropped them in a week.
Just on the nerves - how burned out. It scares me a little, to be honest. I hardly eat, I wake up in the middle of the night, I feel a high tone, fever and a strong heartbeat.
I know my body, it can do this. But this is only under severe stress.
Moreover, I have heard many times that it is often ... JUST. I was always amazed - how can you eat if you're nervous? After all, the stomach seems to stray into a lump and you don’t want to cram anything into yourself, except to drink.
You know, I was so interested in this question that I went online to look for the answer.
And I found it!
Very interesting. Look - here's the thing, it turns out!
It is hormones that are of great importance in weight gain (or vice versa - in losing weight), in what our appetite, metabolic rate, how fat mass is deposited, in a sharp desire to eat a cake, etc.
Leptin- a tricky hormone that is responsible for appetite (and in general for the feeling of satiety). It sends information to the brain whether our body has enough fat "in case nuclear war", or exhaustion begins and this very organism must be" saved "- in the latter case, we wake up with a wolfish appetite.
It seems that everything is simple - you can inject leptin if you are overweight and your appetite will go away, but ... fig! The funny thing is that it turns out that obese people have ten times more of this hormone than a person with an average weight, that is, the body, as it were, "gets used" to its doses, becomes insensitive.
By the way, if you sleep less than 7 hours a day, the level of leptin will fall. And the less you sleep, the more you want to eat. Nature! Nothing personal.)))
Cortisol- "stress hormone", part of the protective function of the body, is produced, respectively, precisely during this very stress. Here for me at first there were only riddles and questions, since losing weight at the same time ... is almost impossible.
Why? This hormone is an integral part of the body's biological defense mechanism, it does everything to save us - it starts some defense processes and stops others. So that you have the strength to fight the problem, it awakens a brutal appetite, and a person begins to throw everything that is not nailed. At the same time, it reduces the metabolic rate so that fat accumulates faster and does not lose energy once again.
In general, do not want to get fat - take care of your nerves.
Adrenalin is the cousin of cortisol. As I understand it, it is he who is working for me now, because, as I said above, I am “burning out” before my eyes.
Imagine, it turns out that cortisol is released in response to ... fear, danger or stress, and adrenaline begins to be produced in moments of excitement. It turns out there is a difference. For example, I'm driving for the first time, I get in my car, and I have fear and a release of cortisol. And now for the tenth driving, I'm excited in anticipation, I'm emotionally excited and my body is pounding adrenaline.
Unlike cortisol, adrenaline incredibly speeds up the metabolism and splits the metabolism by one or two. By the way, at the same time suppresses appetite. I have it almost completely.
Like this! Now you know everything and you can not get fat under stress, but lose weight. =) The main thing is to perceive it correctly! But how ... This is another question.))))))))))))
Tell us about yourself - how do you react to nerves? Run to the refrigerator? Or from the fridge?
If you are in a bad mood, try not to lean on fatty foods. And the point is not only that it is initially harmful to health from the figure.
Stress and excess weight: what is the relationship?
Researchers from Ohio State University came to an interesting conclusion: stress contributes to the accumulation of subcutaneous fat. They conducted a study by inviting several dozen women aged 31-70 to eat the same portion of junk food (hamburger + french fries). The energy value of a serving is 930 calories. Then each of the women's metabolic rate was measured for seven hours.
Some of these women experienced a stressful situation the day before the experiment: a quarrel with a husband, friend, colleague. The results of the experiment were surprising: Stressed women burned 104 fewer calories per day on average. An additional factor was an increased level of insulin in the blood.
From this study, we can conclude that when stressed, high-calorie foods are more likely to add extra pounds to your weight and increase the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis and diabetes.
The inhibition of fat metabolism occurs regardless of what fats you consume during stress. And the fact that many people "seize" stress junk food exacerbates this fact.
However, the dependence of stress and excess weight has been talked about for a very long time, and this is not a secret. But it was the Ohio researchers who were able to demonstrate this relationship in the form of specific indicators, such as the rate of burning calories.
It should be noted that not only stress, but also depression can aggravate the situation. In women suffering from depression, calorie burning rates were even worse as a result of the experiment. So far, there have been no similar studies involving men, but it is unlikely that their results will be opposite or very different.
What is the reason?
The results of the study are clear, but what is the reason that we spend calories more slowly after stress? There is no exact answer to this question, but there is evidence that one of the culprits of the problem is hormone cortisol. It is produced by the body in a stressful situation and is responsible for the maximum conservation of the body's resources. Adipose tissue with an increased level of cortisol will also not go anywhere - this is a "depot", a vital reserve.This mechanism, unpleasant for us, is inherent in a person by nature itself, it has remained from the time when our ancestors were threatened by a much more serious danger than a quarrel with the boss. In those days, stress most often entailed hunger, and the body adapted to save "resources" for survival.
Drawing conclusions
If, after a stressful situation, you catch yourself thinking about a greasy burger, a cake, or a big pack of chips, remember: health is more expensive. If you don’t want stress to spoil your figure and lead to a metabolic failure, try to eat after quarrels and troubles. dietary products such as vegetables and fish.
Do you eat your stress or deal with it in other ways? Share in the comments!
Psychologist Melanie Greenberg, in her article on stress addiction and overeating, argues that stressful situations provoke the release of several hormones: adrenaline, corticoliberin and cortisol. Thus, the brain and body are preparing for the fight.
In the short term, adrenaline reduces hunger. Blood is redirected from internal organs to wide muscles: the body is preparing to fight or flee. Surely you have experienced this during times of great stress, for example, before an exam, when you could not even think about food.
However, this does not last long. When the effect of adrenaline disappears, the main role is assigned to cortisol - the stress hormone.
Eliza Epel, a psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, argues that the rise in cortisol levels in response to prolonged stress increases appetite and causes us to crave fatty foods.
Stress is a double-edged sword. It may make you feel better at first, but in the long run, stress can cause problems like visceral fat, diabetes, and heart disease.
Psychologist Eliza Epel in an interview with Beet.TV
Under the influence of cortisol, visceral fat begins to accumulate in the body, surrounding the internal organs.
Stress increases the risk of metabolic syndrome Chronic stress at work and the metabolic syndrome: a prospective study and, as a result, obesity and problems with the cardiovascular system.
Metabolic syndrome - an increase in the mass of visceral fat, a decrease in the sensitivity of peripheral tissues to insulin and hyperinsulinemia, which disrupt carbohydrate, lipid, purine metabolism, as well as arterial hypertension.
Review Stress and obesity: the role of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis in metabolic disease The New York Institute for Obesity Research has confirmed a link between chronic stress, changes in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (a network of hormonal regulation that occurs in response to stress) and obesity in animals.
For example, a study of monkeys showed that stress directly affects fat deposition. Monkeys on an atherogenic diet (with low content animal fats and digestible carbohydrates) housed in packs with a high risk of aggression had more visceral fat than those living in more relaxed conditions on the same diet.
As for humans, their study turned out to be quite a challenge due to modern look life: overeating, low mobility and lack of sleep. However, earlier research Melancholic depression and abdominal fat distribution: a mini-review. showed the relationship between stress and the amount of visceral fat.
Thus, chronic stress not only affects the appetite, due to which you acquire extra pounds, but also directly increases the amount of body fat.
How to determine if you have such an addiction? Several factors need to be assessed.
How to understand that excess weight does not go away precisely because of stress
First of all, excess weight is a wrong eating behavior. It is equally likely to be caused by both stress and poor eating habits.
If you are accustomed to exceed your daily allowance calories and lead a sedentary lifestyle, stress, maybe nothing to do with it. To be clear, calculate your daily calorie intake using and estimate the cost of activity during the day. If you consume more than you spend, then the reason for the extra pounds is in the diet.
But if you fit into the norm, but you still have excess weight or it is psychologically difficult for you to refuse to consume such an amount of food, then you should think about how often stress factors appear in your life. This does not only mean strong shocks. Here is a sample list of such factors:
- Lack of respect, acceptance, normal communication in the family or work team.
- Constant fear or tension caused by work, family quarrels, other factors.
- Self-destructive behavior patterns are constant internal discomfort caused by low self-esteem, guilt, or other psychological attitudes.
- Constant lack of sleep, hard physical labor, emotional burnout.
If these factors are present in your life, it will be much easier to gain weight, and it will be more difficult to lose weight.
How to get rid of stress and is it possible to do this by changing the diet, and not environment?
If you consume too many calories and lead a sedentary lifestyle, first of all you need to change. However, to do this without eliminating stressful situations will be extremely difficult. Moreover, you risk earning an eating disorder. Overeating will be replaced by fanatical calorie counting or serious problems such as bulimia and anorexia.
Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to deal with stress - to change the environment in which stress factors are present. For example, a job that makes you very nervous about deadlines.
If there is no way to act radically - to change jobs or leave the family - you can start small. For example, ask for remote work or transfer to another department, try to be at home less - sign up for a gym or find another one.
There are also simple effective ways fight stress: physical activity, reading, meditation, communication with people you like.
Remember: constant stress is a problem that not only prevents you from losing weight, but also provokes the occurrence of diseases and shortens your life.
Write your stories of dealing with stress in the comments. Do you think stress affects being overweight?
From time to time we hear that someone has lost weight from stress by several kilograms. And no, no, but the thought that “I would have such stress” slips through. However, we miss the fact that both stress and the reaction to it are different for all people.
Have you ever wondered why one person sleeps great even after a can of an energy drink, while another cannot fall asleep because of a single cup of natural green tea? The whole point is that nervous system reacts differently to stress, some experience shock and lose their appetite, while others, on the contrary, begin to absorb everything.
Losing weight due to severe stress is a completely physiological process. The fact is that stress mechanisms themselves "take" a lot of calories. So, if a person jumps with a parachute for the first time, his body during and several hours after the buckle spends almost 200 times more calories than during normal life, doctors at the University of California calculated. But these results were only for a one-time major shock. A day later, the metabolism returns to normal. If we are talking about constant mild stress, such as, for example, the need to get enough sleep due to night work or doing routine chores in the absence of the opportunity to change activity, the reaction of the body depends on the type of nervous reactions in general. Consider the example of the cup of tea. If you can’t fall asleep even after a small dose of caffeine, your body is most likely taking all these minor troubles to heart too “closely” and reacting powerfully to stress, increasing the level of metabolism. Along with the latter, your appetite also grows, and you begin to snack on fatty and sweet foods, because this is what your subconscious mind prescribes to your body, or the law of self-preservation, if you like.
R. Gould, an American psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, notes that it is not possible to “bypass” this mechanism with the help of diet or willpower. The body will still “deceive” the powerful owner and take its toll. Therefore, dieting during a period of mental stress is not recommended.
If you sleep well even after a cup of coffee, even after a whole pot of coffee, most likely your reaction to stress of a different type. You lose appetite and weight due to the fact that the body, relatively speaking, perceives stress as a disease, and in the process of its exacerbation, food is not provided for by nature, Gould writes. True, with this type of reaction, any stress can develop into chronic fatigue syndrome and depression, which in the long term leads to weight gain, because a person begins to compensate for lost positive emotions through food.
Thus, scientists believe that any stress is not a means of losing weight, but its detrimental effect on health and the body should be reduced. It is difficult to completely eliminate stress, being a modern city dweller, but simple tips will help to “unhook” it from weight gain:
1. Get enough sleep, it reduces the level of cortisol, the stress hormone;
2. Try not to drink more than 3 cups of coffee per day, too much coffee - Right way to increase cortisol levels by at least 25 percent;
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