Stress Is The #1 Cause of Weight Gain

We have been conditioned to think that excess food and not enough exercise is the cause of weight gain, but it's not. It's a factor but it's not the underlying cause.

Stress is. 

A little bit of stress, sometimes is beneficial but long term, chronic stress wreaks havoc on the body. For example:

• Stress eating - a literal stressed based behaviour that causes us to eat (even when not hungry) as it temporarily distracts us from what ever the 'problem' is. 
• Stress and junk food - stressed depletes us of our happy hormone (serotonin), and we get small boosts of this happy hormone when we eat junk food, ergo the body craves junk food. Plus junk food is made of toxic fats that are more easily stored as weight. 
• Stress & fat storage - when we are stressed the brain sends messages to the body "we need to store fat as fuel to survive this stressful time". 
• Stress & sleep - stress impairs our ability to have good quality and quantity of sleep, and sleep is essential to regulate our hunger hormones eg have a poor nights sleep > hunger hormones fall out of balance > eat 'more' than the body needs.  

Then instead of working through what is causing us stress, we look at food as the problem "oh, I must be eating too many calories" which is a useless and exhausting exercise. Or excessively exercising, which is just another form of stress on the body. 

So if you want to lose weight my two suggestions are:

1. Connect with a professional to reduce psychological stress and improve mental and emotional health 
2. Use a technique called Extend Your Exhale to relax your mind and body daily. This action alone decreases stress for improved sleep, increased energy levels, improved digestion and so, so much more (sign up via the FREE Anxiety Support at the top of this page)

Just using these two avenues you can dramatically improve your physical, emotional and mental health. 

If you struggle with weight and dieting, the Healthy Habits Calmer You program is available now

xo