It can be annoying when you’ve been working hard for months on trying to lose weight and tone up without seeing any results. You could be doing all the right things – eating the right amounts for your body and working out hard – yet still not seeing the results you desire. The missing link? It could be stress.

The Link Between Stress and Weight Gain

While it may seem weird that there is a connection between stress and weight gain, you’d best believe that there is one! Because stress essentially freaks your body out and puts it in a state out of the norm, your body quickly tries to reestablish a sense of normalcy in the body by releasing a bunch of hormones. One of those hormones, cortisol, works by increasing sugars in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose (sugar) and helps to increase the substances needed to repair tissues. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Well, cortisol also suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and your growth processes. Uh-oh.

So, what does this all mean? Well, there have been various studies which have shown that chronic stress can contribute to an increased chance of having more belly fat as well as weight gain. 

An Easy Way To Get Rid of Stress

While it may seem weird, and unnerving, that stress can bring on such negative side-effects, luckily there are lots of ways to combat this. Meditation (literally just 10 minutes a day), yoga and going for short walks are all great ways to calm our bodies down and relax when stressed. 

Another smart way to relieve our stress, is by getting enough sleep! It’s been shown that there is a connection between not getting enough sleep and weight gain, because we increase our stress levels when we do not get enough sleep. Napping is a great way to combat this and get in the sleep we need to reduce our stress levels, as well as a ton of other reasons, as shown in this infographic by Casper below – these sleep experts are about much more than their new mattress!

I hope this was a useful post for you! While there may be a whole variety of reasons as to why you are not losing weight and/or toning up, stress could be one of them. If you think it is, I urge you to try and do some of the things I suggested and to see if that helps make a difference. Can’t hurt to give it a try, right?

As always, feel free to leave me any comments or questions below 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

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