Stress and Weight Loss
Stress Reduction and Weight Loss Go Together
Weight loss is difficult when everything is going well. Even if you have plenty of time to exercise, prepare healthy meals and get plenty of sleep, your chances of long-term success are low. According to a 2005 study, only about 20% of overweight individuals can lose 10% of their body weight and keep it off for at least a year.
One of the lesser-known causes of weight gain is stress. Researchers found stressful events can alter the chemistry in our bodies. Stress hormones such as cortisol are released that cause a cascading list of issues. Cortisol suppresses the immune system, forces our bodies to hold onto fat and triggers muscle wasting. That leads to weight gain, fatigue and higher blood pressure.
In the past, lack of food was a significant stressor. If you don’t have enough food, you die. But that’s not a problem for most Americans because cheap, high-calorie foods surround us. The difference today is in the levels and types of stresses we experience.
We face stress during work, dealing with healthcare or being able to afford a home. Instead of short-term stress like a wild animal that suddenly appears, we’re constantly bombarded with stressors that never stop. What’s worse is that most people have never been taught how to mentally deal with the stress those situations present.
In one rather remarkable study, participants were given a high fat meal. Then researchers assessed the stresses those subjects had experienced the day before.
The more stress someone experienced the day before, the fewer calories their body burned. If the day before was stressful, subjects held onto an additional 104 calories. That’s almost 11 extra pounds in just one year.
To learn more about the relationship between weight and stress, a study was set up at the outpatient Obesity Clinic of the Laiko General Hospital in Athens, Greece.
Researchers implemented “an integrated program of stress management relaxation techniques, that included diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and guided visualization, for eight weeks to overweight and obese adults.”
At the end of the study, the subjects experienced “significant decreases in their levels of perceived stress and depression [and] their adoption of healthier dietary patterns.”
Stress reduction helped with weight loss, but there’s a problem.
People who don’t earn as much are also more likely to put on weight. The heavier you are, the more likely you'll develop costly and debilitating obesity-related health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. A person who has to work 10-12 hours a day to pay their bills will have a tough time attending in-person stress reduction sessions with a therapist, especially if they have to add transportation and childcare on top of the other costs.
Online stress management and behavioral programs can help. A 2020 study enrolled 260 people in an online behavioral weight loss program.
The researchers found that “lower income individuals logged into the platform less often, viewed fewer multimedia lessons, and submitted fewer days of weight, diet, and activity information into the platform.” That’s bad.
Lower income individuals also lost less weight (3.4%) than their higher income counterparts (4.9%). BUT, those lower income individuals DID still lose weight. More studies are needed to figure out ways to improve the outcome, but researchers point out a few things you can try.
Engage in a relaxation practice, even for just 10 minutes a day. You could try progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, guided imagery or yoga. There are many apps available on smartphones to get you started.
Examine your relationship with food. Try mindful eating. It’s a series of steps designed to help you pay closer attention to the food and beverages you’re putting in your mouth. Ultimately by recognizing empty, flavor-enhanced calories for what they are, you’ll be able to eat less junk food and more of the muscle-building good stuff.
Do something you enjoy that requires active engagement. Don’t just collapse on the couch and binge-watch TV. Pick up a book, put together a puzzle, practice drawing, coloring or writing a letter to a family or friend. Your goal is to use activities to decompress.
Spend 10 minutes outside. Take a walk, play in a park, or sit somewhere and soak up the sun. The fresh air can help clear your mind, and sunlight can help improve your mood.
Look online for support groups and programs. Overeaters Anonymous has hundreds of online programs that meet at all hours of the day and night.
Talk to a pro if you can afford it or have an insurance plan that covers it. Because of the pandemic, many mental health professionals can help you online, so you don’t have to drive somewhere or hire a babysitter.
Reference Links:
Central adiposity and cortisol responses to waking in middle-aged men and women
A Steptoe, S R Kunz-Ebrecht, L Brydon, J Wardle
International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders : Journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, 2004 Sep;28(9):1168-73. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802715.
Stress may add bite to appetite in women: a laboratory study of stress-induced cortisol and eating behavior
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Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2001 Jan;26(1):37-49. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4530(00)00035-4.
Long-term weight loss maintenance
Rena R Wing, Suzanne Phelan
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 82, Issue 1, July 2005, Pages 222S–225S, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/82.1.222S
Daily Stressors, Past Depression, and Metabolic Responses to High-Fat Meals: A Novel Path to Obesity
Janice K. Kiecolt-Glaser, Diane L. Habash, Christopher P. Fagundes, Rebecca Andridge, Juan Peng, William B. Malarkey, and Martha A. Belury
Biological Psychiatry, Published online 2014 Jul 14. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.05.018
Stress management can facilitate weight loss in Greek overweight and obese women: a pilot study
E Christaki, A Kokkinos, V Costarelli, E C Alexopoulos, G P Chrousos, C Darviri
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 2013 Jul;26 Suppl 1:132-9. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12086. Epub 2013 Apr 30.
Impact of a stress management program on weight loss, mental health and lifestyle in adults with obesity: a randomized controlled trial
Niovi Xenaki, Flora Bacopoulou, Alexandras Kokkinos, Nicolas C. Nicolaides, George P. Chrousos, and Christina Darviri1
Journal of Molecular Biochemistry, Published online 2018 Oct 3. PMID: 30568922
Overweight, obesity, and depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies
Floriana S Luppino, Leonore M de Wit, Paul F Bouvy, Theo Stijnen, Pim Cuijpers, Brenda W J H Penninx, Frans G Zitman
Archives of General Psychiatry, 2010 Mar;67(3):220-9. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.2.
Impact of income and perceived stress on engagement and weight loss outcomes in an online behavioral weight loss program
Kristen Volz, Emily Wyckoff, Tania Heudo Medina, Zeely Denmat, Christiana Field, Jessica LaRose, Amy Gorin, Tricia Leahey
Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2021 Dec;44(6):853-859. doi: 10.1007/s10865-021-00238-6. Epub 2021 Jun 23.
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5/4/2022
