Stress can contribute to weight gain. #61 on our “101 Legit Ways to Lose Weight” countdown is to teach you why, how, and what to do about it.

Cortisol is a stress hormone, created in the adrenal gland. We all produce some amounts of cortisol, but when imposed with high stress, the adrenal gland churns out cortisol faster than Taylor Swift churns out boyfriend-bashing songs.

Stress hormones are sometimes referred to as “fight or flight” hormones. Your system goes into survival mode, and it does what it needs to do in order to get you our of harms way: your energy spikes, metabolism shifts, blood pressure rises, and many other changes occur. Your body can adjust to this then bounce back to normal if the threat is short-lived. The problem comes when you live in a constant state of stress, forcing your system to remain in “fight or flight” mode.

Here are some physiological changes that can occur from living your life in a prolonged state of stress, also known as “chronic stress:”

METABOLISM: Excessive amounts of cortisol can slow your metabolism, causing you to gain weight even if you eat and exercise the same as you were before you were in the stressful situation.

CRAVINGS: When under stress, you typically crave foods high in salt, sugar, and fat. These types of foods may be appealing to you even when you’re not stressed, but when under stress, you are less likely to resist the craving. It’s not “all in your head.” Stress-induced cravings are physiological, not psychological.

FAT STORAGE: Excessive amounts of cortisol are linked to greater amounts of abdominal fat. That’s right: sustained high levels of cortisol is one cause of belly fat, and stress causes continual high levels of cortisol! Excessive abdominal fat leads to a long list of health risks, and these risks are not associated with fat storage in any other area of the body.

BLOOD PRESSURE: There is no conclusive evidence that proves that stress, by itself, causes long-term high blood pressure. It may be the other behaviors linked to stress- such as overeating, drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and poor sleeping habits- cause high blood pressure. However, adding up short-term stress-related spikes in your blood pressure may, indeed, put you at risk for developing long-term high blood pressure.

There are still other ways that stress is linked to weight gain. When we feel burdened by high levels of stress, we often make decisions that may contribute to packing on pounds. A few of these are:

EMOTIONAL EATING/DRINKING: using excessive amounts of food or alcohol as an escape or refuge.

FAST FOOD*: saving time by whipping through the drive through to just fill the hungry stomach with something- anything- quickly! Experts believe that one of the big reasons why we are seeing more obesity in our society these days is that people are too stressed or busy to make healthy home-cooked dinners.

FORFEITING EXERCISE*: spending longer hours, storming away on the computer at work or whatever the stressor may be, and allowing the commitment to working on the task at hand trump your commitment to working on you! Before you know it, you’ll find that a day, week, month, year passed and you were too busy and/or stressed to exercise at all. Your body NEEDS to move- not just for vanity reasons, but for emotional reasons, too. Maybe one way to let go of some of your stress is to find time to give back to yourself and treat your body to a workout.

*Points marked with an asterisk may affect those who are stressed or those who are busy. The two are not mutually exclusive. Not everyone who is busy is stressed, and not everyone who is stressed is busy.

Helpguide.org is a fantastic resource for anyone who is coping with high amounts of stress, before letting acute stress become chronic, commit to making some changes! It’s not just about avoiding weight gain associated with stress; it’s about turning your ship around and living a happier life!

The most common excuse for inactivity is the lack of time. We’re busy people, so finding a chunk of time to set aside to exercise is a difficult thing to do. Cardio exercise is a metabolism revver upper. If two quick 5-minute/day workouts can boost your body’s fat burning efficiency, don’t you think you can find a way to wedge that tiny amount of time out of your schedule? They really can do that! But here’s the catch: if you’re only going for 5-minutes, you are going to have to give it 100% from start to finish. That means no slow and steady; it’s fast and furious! If you are running as fast as you can for 5-minutes straight, when the clock strikes 5-minutes, you should be breathless and exhausted.
You’ll find that, with time, it will take a more rapid running pace to get you to that high level of exertion. That is one of the adaptations to aerobic exercise. So, if you’re new to exercise, running a 9-minute/mile pace for 5-minutes may wipe you out, but if you take on the 5-minute 2x/day challenge for 5-7 days every week, you may find that 3-weeks later, your pace has increased to a 8-minute mile, then 6-months later, maybe a sub-7-minute mile!
I recommend that you take on the 5-minute 2/day challenge on a treadmill, because your pace is steady and measurable there. If you don’t have access to a treadmill, take the 5-minute challenge right in your neighborhood. Since time is of the essence, just pick the location most convenient for you, and if that happens to be on the pavement, just challenge yourself to continually increase the distance you cover in your 5-minute runs.
It’s best to spread your two 5-minute max runs out between morning and evening, doing one in the morning and one in the evening. However, whenever you can squeeze them in is great!

Is it going to be hard? YES! Are you going to want to quit or slow down before you reach 5-minutes? ABSOLUTELY! But will this 5-minute, twice a day hard run change your body? MOST DEFINITELY! Take the challenge (run as hard as you can for 5-minute durations, twice a day, 5-7 days per week for 3-weeks) and see for yourself.

A recent study found that people who ate half a red grapefruit with each meal lost 3.6 pounds over a 12-week period. For most people, ruby red grapefruit is a great addition to your meals!

Great information on the history and nutritional benefits of red grapefruit can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit.
Caution should be given to post-menapausal women, especially those taking hormone replacement, before reaching for that grapefruit. This is a direct quote from the website listed above:
“Since grapefruit juice is known to inhibit enzymes necessary for the clearance of some drugs and hormones, some have hypothesized that grapefruit juice may play an indirect role in the development of hormone-dependent cancers. A 2007 study found a correlation between eating a quarter of grapefruit daily and a 30% increase in risk for breast cancer in post-menopausal women. The study points to the inhibition of CYP3A4 enzyme by grapefruit, which metabolizes estrogen.” A 2008 study seems to reveal that this risk is not prevalent for those who have never taken hormone replacement.