5 easy ways to stop stressing, getting fat, and stressing over getting fat

No one said life was easy. Being a single mom, divorced, widowed, unemployed, or just in a rut causes a great deal of stress. I get stressed over the dumbest things. Driving in big towns, going new places, and even vacation is stressful for me. I know I forgot something and if I don’t check to make sure I still have my keys and cell phone every 5 minutes, I’m losing my mind.

My weight fluctuates badly. I have always been concerned with gained weight although I’m not concerned with what or how much I eat. Some days I think I’ve gained sooo much weight and I feel crappy while other days I feel great.

Why do some people lose weight under stress when others blow up like a balloon? Is it depression, laziness, overindulgence? What is causing this weight problem for women? Let’s face it, the weight never comes off as easy as it goes on, especially under stress.

Understanding how we look at stress and how our bodies react to stress, can provide women some insight to preventing the weight fluctuations that come with our stressful every day lives. You know… those fluctuations that make us have that daily visit with the bathroom scale that either builds or shoots down our confidence.

A look at Stress and Body Changes –

My whole life I have wondered if I would suffer the same fate as my mother. Genetically speaking, everyone in my family is grossly overweight and suffered from Diabetes or heart problems. My mother was married and very skinny until her divorce from my father when I was 4 years old. She skyrocketed from a mere one-hundred pounds to a whopping four-hundred pounds in a matter of just a few years. I never remember my mother as a skinny woman, only from what I saw in pictures, but I do remember her constantly saying that she was unhappy raising two children on her own, whining that she was stressed all of the time, constantly complaining about her weight, and once even stated that my father made her fat. Growing up I always thought being lazy would make you fat, but now I found that not to be necessarily true.

Stress eaters look to food for comfort.

My mother was a stress eater. She constantly referred to food psychologically for comfort. I myself find that at times I resort to the same ill-fated habit. I have been as heavy as two-hundred pounds but recently after going through a marital separation, I have lost fifty pounds in less than one year. I thought I must have gotten my genes from my father…or have I?

During stress our hypothalamus releases hormones to suppress our appetites… it’s our “fight or flight” response.

When we feel stressed our hypothalamus releases Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) which can suppress our appetites. This fast acting hormone allows us to deal effectively with immediate stress without also having to worry about grabbing a cheeseburger in the process. The sympathetic nervous system concurrently shuts down our digestive system to save energy for our ‘fight or flight’ response and increases our other senses and physical mobility for self-perseverance.  We need this reaction to effectively deal with the shocking news that we are now faced (as my mother was) to solely provide for two-children. Immediate questions arise that need to be answered quickly such as “Where will we live…”, “How will we eat…”, and “Will we be alright?”. Our first reaction is not to go buy a McDonald’s Happy Meal, however, when the shock wears off and our parasympathetic nervous system comes back into play (returning of the body to homeostasis), less CRH is being produced and our appetite returns. The problem is that although CRH initially suppress our appetites, the glucocorticoids we additionally produce remain longer term in our bloodstream and have the opposite effect making us increasingly hungry to replace the energy stores we utilized to overcome the stressful event (Sapolsky, 2004).

The CRH produced during the stress event causes a simultaneous release of hormones that eventually creates the adrenal glands to produce glucocorticoids into the bloodstream to enhance the stress response (via the HPA axis). Glucocorticoids achieve this by inhibiting immune function, increase cognitive abilities (essentially the ability to come up with answers to those immediate questions), and break down fat for energy consumption in this ‘flight or fight’ response. Whereas CRH is quickly removed from the body, glucocorticoids last longer in order to regulate energy consumption and to rebuild fat stores in the body to prepare for the next time we experience a stress response.  The reason some people overeat during a stressful event (hyperphagic) and some don’t eat at all (hypophagic) relates to the rising and falling levels of CRH and glucocorticoids in the body and our attitudes toward how we eat (Sapolsky, 2004).

On-going stress tends to suppress our appetites longer, whereas spasmodic stress tends to increase our appetites

Frequent on-going stress (constant high levels of CRH and glucorticoids) tends to suppress appetites, whereas frequent spasmodic stress (bombardments of CRH which dissipate but constant high levels of glucocorticoids remain) tends to increase appetites. This makes sense chemically but my mother was heavy for years and I am skinny now, this is converse to this hypothesis. Therefore, it also depends of attitudes toward eating.

We view stress psychologically so attitudes affect how we react physiologically.

I asked ten people at random their beliefs about eating and stress and received mixed results. Those who did not want to become obese and that belief maintained a stronger advantage over the stressors, tended to view increased fatty food consumption as a mere reward and became hypophagic when dealing with stress. Those who were less concerned with their weight tended to view these types of fattening foods as less of a reward and more so as a daily way of life and thusly became hyperphagic when stressed. One respondent stated that they become hyper-vigilant when stressed because they know the ability to go overboard and in turn, devour more celery. Conversely one respondent stated that chocolate is their comfort food of choice but they hate how they feel after eating an entire chocolate Easter bunny. It has also been shown that increased stress affects how we digest that cheeseburger or that chocolate bunny, and our lower-GI bacteria can further influence the stress response into HPA hyper-reactivity (Foster, 2013). We could go on for days relating insulin levels to the predominance of glucocorticoids that remain in the system and how one craves sweets, carbs, and fatty food, however my point is attitudes are more psychological than physiological because we view stress initially psychologically.

Stress relating to marital events and genetic disposition appear to be running divergent in my family and the reason for my inquiry. Those who view stress chronically to the point where their bodies keep a level of glucocorticoids in their system coupled with their preferred eating habits for comfort stay heavier and unhappier longer than those who just move from one stressful challenge to the next and psychologically deal with stress without maintaining high glucocorticoid levels within the body (and without the food crutch to increase fat stores). Where one person restrains from eating another finds comfort and possibly increases stress from the mere act of overeating in itself. I would then therefore have to conclude that this is not entirely genetics, but rather physiological disposition coupled with one’s personal psychological disposition, social, and cultural beliefs towards eating, self-esteem, and identity. Therefore, obesity is not about being lazy, but rather it has much to do with how we deal with stress.

How to manage stress and weight for women-

There are several things women can do to effectively deal with stress and avoid the even greater added stress of weight gain.

Exercise – instead of sitting and dwelling on those things that are stressing, take a walk around the block, down the lane, take the dog, go get the mail, or go somewhere you don’t usually go. Look at the trees, their bark, their leaves, look at the grass, the greeness, stop to literally “smell the flowers”. Look at the sky and the shape of the clouds, feel the rain, how the snow lays on the ground. Sometimes beauty is that which is closest and we miss every day. Not only will your walk redirect your psychological attitude toward stress, it will redirect your physiological response to mobilization of energy and hormones that react within the brain for a “feel good” response.

Talk to a friend – Be open and talk to a friend. Sometimes we have to step outside ourselves to see our stressful situations for what they are instead of how we perceive them. Since viewing stress is psychological, what we see as stressful has a lot to do with our view on life, our life experiences in relation to what is normal vs stressful, our attitudes toward our life and the world around us, and our amount of self-confidence. Those with low self-esteem tend to view more situations as stressful (viewpoint that life is dealing them a bad hand and they have no control) where those with high self-esteem find fewer situations as stressful because they have inner control over their reactions to stress and their environment.

Eat in moderation – Pay greater attention to what, when, and how much you eat when you are under stress. Do you find you eat out more when you are stressed? This can be a greater financial drain leading to more stress. Do you crave sweets? Do you snack more? Do you find yourself having seconds, thirds or bigger portions? Cook yourself a healthy meal. Start by doing some research on a healthy meal you are interested in and even though you might not feel like it, go to the store and gather your supplies and cook. This will redirect your attention away from your problems and give you some time to treat yourself to a healthy meal your body needs during this time of crisis.

Give yourself a makeover – This could be something as simple as getting your nails done, a pedicure, or a massage. These are inexpensive treats (instead of food) that you can do to increase the “feel good” chemicals in your body during times of stress. When your mind starts taking over positively psychologically during stress, those chemicals that affect weight loss/gain start to wain. Self-confidence increases and stress perception decreases. Even though you were beautiful before your makeover, sometimes we just have to be reminded how much beauty we have and treating ourselves accomplishes this attitude change.

Buy yourself something nice – As mothers, wives, grandmothers, and partners we seem to spend more time taking care of others. Our children and grandchildren get the most from us when we are out shopping. We have bills, spouses, partners, and pets we also dote with our finances. Think of that one thing that you would buy for yourself that you have been putting off buying because you were buying for everyone else. It may not be your birthday, Christmas, or Mother’s Day, but today is YOUR DAY – gift yourself.

You are Beautiful, Strong, and Amazing.

Women bear the brunt of many family issues. It is hard being us. You can do it. Take a few moments for you because you deserve it. And…. If no one has told you lately that you are beautiful, strong, and an amazing woman…. I just did. 🙂

~Sue 🙂

References:

Foster, J.A., McVey-Neufeld, K. (2013). Gut-brain axis: how the microbiome influences anxiety and depression. Trends in Neurosciences (36) pg 305-312.

Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why zebras don’t get ulcers. New York: St. Martin’s Press.