Have you ever found yourself instinctively eating a tub of ice cream while you clutch about your latest romantic rejection — or eating a hamburger and fries in front of your computer as you wrathfully try to make a work time limit? Perchance you’re a busy mom, eating cookies in your car as you carry the kids back and forth to a swing of activities. Or you’re a small business owner dreadfully trying to make ends meet when you swiftly realize your waistline has prolonged.
Below are the five chief reasons anxieties or stress lead to weight gain. Let’s read further.
1. Hormones
When your brain detects the existence of a threat, no matter if it is a snake in the grass, a cranky boss, or a big credit card bill, it triggers the liberate of a gush of chemicals, including adrenaline, CRH, and cortisol. Your brain and body prepare to grip the threat by making you feel attentive, ready for action, and able to endure an injury.
2. Belly Fat
In the days when our ancestors were skirmishing off tigers and famine, their bodies were tailored by learning to store fat supplies for the long pull. The untoward result for you and me is that when we are constantly stressed by life crises and work-life demands, we are prone to receiving a superfluous layer of “visceral fat” deep in our bellies.
3. Anxiety
When we have a rush of adrenaline as part of our fight/flight response, we get squirmy and activated. Adrenaline is the cause for the “wired up” reaction we get when we’re stressed. While we may burn off several additional calories fidgeting or running more or less, because we can’t sit still, fretfulness can also trigger “emotional eating.” Overeating or eating unhealthful foods in retort to stress or as a way to calm down is a very universal response.
4. Cravings and Fast Food
When we are stressed, we also may be more likely to coerce through the fast food place, rather than taking the time and mental energy to prepare and cook a meal. The eternal craving to satisfy ourselves takes us to the fast-food outlet.
5. Less Sleep
Stress causes decreased blood sugar, which leads to tiredness. If you drink coffee or caffeinated soft drinks to stay wide awake, or alcohol to feel enhanced, your sleep cycle will be even more disrupted. Sleep is also a commanding factor influencing weight gain or loss. Lack of sleep may interrupt the functioning of ghrelin and leptin—chemicals that control hunger. We also yearn for carbs when we are tired or cantankerous from lack of sleep.