Stress and Body Fat

There's a hot topic being tossed around a lot lately; stress makes you fat. You may have read this somewhere, but more than likely, you heard it in a tv ad for some sort of diet pill. The key point these ads seem to make is that "it's not your fault you're fat, it's the stress, so buy our pills!" Interestingly, that's not entirely untrue. Stress can certainly add pounds to your frame, but it is still your fault and no pill is going to fix it.

Stress inflates your spare tire in a number of ways. The tv ads play off of one of these, cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone that, among other things, causes your body to store excess fat around the midsection. The idea of these pills is that they reduce cortisol, and thereby your belly as well. The major flaw with this thinking, however, is that you've only addressed a symptom, and not the larger problem- STRESS!

Another way stress affects your body fat levels is by wreaking havoc on your sleep cycle. Sleep is important for your health. It's a time for your brain and the rest of your body to repair and recharge. It's essential for muscle growth, but also for burning calories. That's right, you're burning calories while doing nothing. Well, not nothing. Like I said, your body is hard at work undoing the damage you caused to it that day. A man my size burns over 700 calories during 8 hours of sleep. Lack of sleep equals poor muscle growth and missing out on the easiest calories you'll ever burn.

One of the biggest ways stress puts on the pounds is the same way we put them on when we're not stressed- eating! Many of us stress-eat. When work is hellish, the family is falling apart, money is tight, or whatever is stressing you out, little in the world seems more comforting than fried stuff with cheese. Dropping a fat bomb on your belly makes us feel good initially, but it's not long before we feel terrible again. Once we hit that low, we're likely to eat more to regain that brief comfort, and so the cycle continues.

So how do you fight the fattening of stress?

The answer is infuriatingly simple.

Reduce your stress level.

Do what you can to remove from your life whatever or whoever stressing you out. If that isn't possible, work on some stress management techniques. A good workout is great for killing stress. You get to vent some aggression, zone out while doing something repetitive, and ride an endorphine high when you finish. Best of all, you're not only fighting stress with a workout, but the fat that comes with it.

So stop stressing and get moving!

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