Yes, stress can increase your waistline. The truth is that in the high-paced world we live in today, we put our mind, body, and spirit under tremendous strains to cope with our daily routines. The stress response innately built within all of us is designed to protect us against physical danger and is actually a fine-tuned machine. When you are about to be attacked by a bear, for example, your body slows less important functions (like digestion) and increases more important ones (like alertness) to help you fight or run for your life.
The problem is that our bodies respond to emotional stress in the same way that they respond to physical stress. If you are chronically stressed, hormones like cortisol are consistently released and can wreak havoc on the body. Cortisol is a fat storing hormone and therefore people who are chronically stressed tend to have trouble losing weight, even when a healthier diet is followed. Cortisol that is always high in the body can also lead to blood-sugar dysregulation, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity.
The good news is that stress is something that is very manageable if you learn to make small, consistent changes to your daily habits. Here are some tips to help you decrease stress in order to optimize your metabolism (and your sanity):
- Get a good night’s rest. Sleep is a time the body uses to reboot and repair. Make sure to get 8 hours of solid sleep a night in order to be relaxed enough to face the next day.
- Practice meditation or pray. Science has proven the effects of meditation and prayer on decreasing stress levels. If you cannot switch off your brain, don’t worry, there are apps that you can download to ease you into guided meditation practices.
- Eat more protein for breakfast and more carbohydrate for dinner. High protein meals increase cortisol levels (which helps cortisol stay high and keep us alert in the morning) whereas high carbohydrate meals help to decrease them (allowing us to decompress before bed). Do not misunderstand, a huge plate of pasta before bedtime is not the aim. Instead, for dinner, try to eat more carbohydrate-rich vegetables like sweet potatoes, courgettes, pumpkin, or spaghetti squash.
- Go for a walk after dinner. A ten minute walk after dinner helps to deplete cortisol so that you are ready for bedtime. An exercise regime, in general, is a great way to combat stress.
- Decrease inflammation-causing foods. Our bodies crave sugar when stressed. Unfortunately, if you eat too much sugar, you increase stress, and when you are stressed, you reach for more sugar. The way to break this cycle is to focus on eating real, whole foods instead of the processed stuff. Eat pasture-raised meats and poultry, wild-caught fish, healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, nuts and seeds, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Not only will you see your waistline shrink, but you will be better able to face the day’s adventures.
Everyone in modern-day society is chronically stressed. Take baby steps to help your body to relax and reap the benefits of a healthier you.
Tina Christoudias