Slow Down Your Eating
Eating slowly will also help cinch your waist, too. Inhaling croissants while run-walking to work will do little to satiate you not that youll do much digesting anyway, with all that cortisol flooding your system. Instead, by making time to eat and focusing on your food , youll wind up eating less and youll feel fuller for longer.
Why You Crave Comfort Food When Youre Stressed
Chronic stress has an almost diabolical effect on the metabolism. Chronic stress may influence our brains reward system in areas such as the amygdala and hippocampus, which may promote food cravings, says Chao.
The secretion of cortisol in response to a stressor also tells your body to store belly fat, says Shawn Talbott, PhD, an exercise physiologist and nutritional biochemist in Salt Lake City, and author of The Cortisol Connection. A review published in July 2018 in the journal Medicine found that belly fat not only adds pounds but increases your risk for heart attack.
In addition, a study published in February 2017 in the European Journal of Neurology revealed a connection between belly fat and ischemic stroke in women. At the same time, hormones released in response to chronic stress can prompt the loss of skeletal muscle, according to a study published in January 2014 in the Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research. Muscle tissue is the largest calorie burner in the body, so overall metabolism drops, Dr. Talbott says.
Research has repeatedly found that social support can help decrease stress levels and thus lower the likelihood of weight gain. In a study published in May 2017 in the journal Behavior Modification, researchers found that while most first-year college students gained weight, students with lower levels of social support at the beginning of college had greater increases in body mass index .
Cortisol Belly Fat: Explaining How The Stress Hormone Is Expanding Your Waistline
Theres a lot of information about how stress can cause weight gain. Its true, but that doesnt mean you dont need the bodys stress hormone. Cortisol is essential for your bodys fight or flight response however, it causes fat storage in your abdomen when its in excess.
The fatty adipose tissue, known as belly fat, accumulates and causes far more health issues such as type two diabetes and heart disease. Luckily, there are ways to get rid of this fat. Lets see how!
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Load Up On Fruits And Vegetables
These nutrient dense foods are packed with fiber, meaning you’ll get full on fewer calories. Sure, there’s sugar. But crunching on an apple is a lot different from drinking a glass of apple juice. It’s a good way to get something sweet without going overboard on added sugars or refined carbohydrates. Switch out starches like potatoes and pastas with colorful vegetables. Load up half of your plate with veggies or begin every meal with a salad.
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/9increased Cortisol Levels Obesity And Weight Gain
Prolonged stress can affect our health. The problems include high blood pressure, increased blood sugar levels and elevated stress cortisol levels. Cortisol levels triggered by stress are associated with abdominal obesity and weight gain.
According to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, people with higher levels of cortisol tended to have larger waist measurements and higher BMI as compared to people with lower levels of the hormone.
But not all people with obesity have high-cortisol levels since genetics and your lifestyle also play a role.
The Importance Of Sleep And Exercise For Stress Management
In several experimental studies, short-term sleep deprivation led to increased calorie intake and weight gain.
This may be because of changes in the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin, and a greater intake of high-calorie foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. Most adults should aim to get seven hours or more of sleep each night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Exercise helps lower stress levels and may help decrease symptoms of anxiety, according to a systematic review of randomized clinical trials published in August 2015 in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
But the benefits of moving regularly dont end there. Exercise can have direct effects on weight by helping burn calories and increasing lean muscle mass, which helps with weight control, says Chao. Regular exercise can help improve your physiological toughness when facing stress. Exercise can lead to beneficial adaptations in the stress response system that improve how your body reacts to future physiological stressors, which may result in the body being more efficient at coping with psychological stressors.
Exercising regularly can also help you more rapidly recover from stressors and decrease negative feelings following a stressor. This lessens the overall wear and tear that the stressors have on the body, says Chao.
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Signs You Have Belly Fat Caused By Stress
If you have fat around your belly that you cant shift, there are a few other signs to watch for that could signal an imbalance of cortisol is to blame.
Youre ravenous all day
Stress causes an increase in appetite. If you feel like you could eat another four meals after finishing breakfast or dinner or you often have that all-day need to snack, especially on sugary or fatty foods, you may have an imbalance of cortisol.
You feel overwhelmed
I cant deal with this! is a common cry I hear from clients I see with cortisol imbalances. its that feeling that if someone gives you one more thing to do, one more decision to make or one more problem to solve, you will explode, break down or both. That too is an imbalance of cortisol.
Exercise makes you want to stuff your face
After exercise, do you feel so ravenous you could eat a giant hamburger or plate of pasta rather than a healthy meal such as chicken/fish and vegetables? If you feel so hungry after exercise that you want to eat foods that are super-high in calories, you may well have an imbalance of cortisol or you may be doing exercise that is too hard and fast and thereby raises your cortisol levels too high.
Want to eat everything in sight? This could be why. Image: iStock
Reducing Stressed Belly Fat
Its clear that its a bad thing to have chronically elevated cortisol. Even professional athletes and fitness models can develop a stress belly if they have elevated cortisol all the time. Those who suffer from anxiety and depression generally have higher amounts of cortisol . If you suffer from either of these mental health disorders it may be a good idea to seek professional help.
But there are some simple proven strategies you can use to lower your stress, anxiety, and depression. Eating healthier foods plays a big role in the health of your brain . Constantly eating bad foods wreaks havoc on your mental biochemistry promoting anxiety and depression . Cut out the junk like processed foods, sugar, artificial sweeteners, refined carbs, excess alcohol, and bad vegetable oils.
Working out and exercising has been proven again and again to improve mood . Exercise and other physical activity done daily is a smart way to lower your stress, anxiety and depression. It might be a better idea to stay away from intense exercise since it can temporarily boost cortisol . Also, be sure youre not overtraining as this can lead to more cortisol in your body .
I know its easier said than done but staying away from stressful situations is key. Its not always practical but it can go a long way to lowering your stress and stubborn stomach fat.
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The Fight Or Flight Response
Cortisol is a crucial hormone produced in the adrenal glands. It helps control blood sugar and metabolism, among other things.
Along with other hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol is part of your bodys fight or flight response.
When faced with a crisis, this stress response slows unnecessary body functions so you can focus. Once the threat passes, everything goes back to normal.
Thats a good thing.
However, prolonged stress can keep stress hormones levels elevated, along with your blood pressure and blood sugars, and thats not good.
Fill Your Plate With Protein
Including lean protein on your plate every time you eat helps you feel full. Aim to consume at least 20 to 30 grams of protein with each meal and 10 grams of protein with each snack, recommends Ward. People who get enough protein feel very satisfied, and theyre not looking for all the refined carbohydrateschips, cookies, cake, candiesor foods that have trans fats like the pastries youd buy at a bakery or French fries, she says.
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Increased Health Risks From Visceral Fat
According to Harvard Health, visceral fat may increase your risk for:
Genetics influences where your body stores fat. Hormones, age, and how many children a woman has given birth to also play a role.
Women tend to add more visceral fat after menopause, when estrogen levels drop.
Still, there are things you can do to lose belly fat.
First, avoid all those lose belly fat fast solutions, because theres no quick fix. Making lifestyle choices with a slow, steady mindset is your best option to help establish long-term positive results.
Here are some recommendations:
How To Break The Cycle Of Stress And Weight Gain
When you’re stressed out, healthy behaviors likely eating properly and exercising regularly can easily fall by the wayside. Maintaining a schedule and/or routine can help make these healthy behaviors a habit and combat stress-related weight changes. Here are a few strategies that can help you break the cycle of stress and weight gain:
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Allow Enough Sleep For Your Body
Its important to note that if you want to lose weight, getting good sleep is critical. Adults who slept fewer than six hours or more than nine hours were found in research to have greater amounts of visceral fat. It is suggested that most people get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
To prevent raising cortisol levels, get at least seven to nine hours of excellent quality sleep each night. It was discovered in one study on adults between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five that those who slept for less than six hours each night and those who slept for more than nine hours had more visceral fat than the control group.
The same thing was discovered by two separate studies, one with a test group of 40-year-olds and younger and another with adults aged 50.
/9what Is Stress Belly And Ways To Get Rid Of It
We all experience stress from time to time. But prolonged stress can lead to a number of health issues, including mental and physical. One of the most common things stress leads to is stress belly. And abdominal fat as we all know is linked with serious health issues, including heart, diabetes and kidney disease. But there is a lot you can do to get rid of the stress belly. Read the article to know more.
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Raised Cortisol Levels Linked To Weight Gain And Abdominal Obesity
However, prolonged and constant feeling of stress can affect your health in many ways, including raised blood pressure, increased blood sugar levels and elevated stress cortisol levels. Raised cortisol levels triggered by chronic stress have been associated with weight gain and abdominal obesity.
For instance, a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine reported that individuals with higher levels of cortisol in their bodies tended to have larger waist measurements and a higher body mass index compared to those with lower levels. Similarly, a 2018 review study found that higher long-term cortisol levels are strongly linked to having abdominal obesity.
However, it may be noted that not all people with obesity have high cortisol levels, since genetics may play a role in glucocorticoid sensitivity.
Learn How To Get Rid Of Stress Belly Fat By Normalizing Your Stress Hormones
Reducing your stress levels can help you to normalize your hormone levels and get rid of stubborn belly fat.
Getting enough sleep is also critical to preventing the accumulation of belly fat and getting rid of stubborn belly fat that already surrounds your waistline. The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep each night and gets far less. This affects the cortisol levels in the same way that stress does. Make sure to get your beauty sleep each night so that you can get rid of stubborn belly fat.
Better Sleep, Calm & Serenity!
You also need to make sure youre drinking plenty of water. Sometimes the abdomen becomes bloated and even if you get rid of stubborn belly fat, you still feel like your stomach is larger than it should be. When you drink water and cut down on salt in your diet, you can have a flatter belly.
Learning how to get rid of stress belly fat is unique because a lot of different factors are involved. While its caused by genetic factors, its also affected by stress, digestion, water retention, and sleep habits. When you get these things under control, along with proper diet and exercise, youll find that youre able to get rid of stubborn belly fat and have the flat tummy youve always wanted.
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What Causes Stress Belly
Excess fat around the midsection can be attributed to a variety of factors. Genetics, aging, and eating habits can all play a part, but this fat can often be attributed to a cortisol imbalance.
Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps control blood sugar and metabolism. Further, it helps us get motivated and focused. Cortisol is usually elevated in the morning, when many of us need to perform at our best. In addition, exercise and periods of acute stress also help release cortisol and regulate energy.
Perhaps more notably, cortisol is also part of our bodys fight or flight response. The sympathetic nervous system activates in times of crisis, with the adrenal cortex then releasing cortisol. The body also gets a surge of glucose, which is meant to give our muscles an immediate supply of energy. At this point, insulin is also released to prevent the surge of glucose from being stored as fat.
In an ideal world, our stressors would be short-lived and our hormones would soon balance out. But in reality, many of our stressors stay persistent, leaving cortisol levels consistently high and stress belly fat in its wake.
How To Get Rid Of Stress Belly Fat
If youre been fighting the battle of the bulge for some time, you know that some areas of the body can be tougher than others. Part of that is the result of genetics. Your body is preprogrammed to collect fat in specific areas. So even when you follow a proper diet and exercise program, you cant specifically remove fat from one area.
However, in the case of belly fat, there are some specific things you can do to target the area and get rid of stubborn belly fat. There are some factors that make belly fat more likely to accumulate on the body and when you attack those, youll find that you can have a smaller middle.
Stubborn belly fat can sometimes be the result of stress. Stress causes hormonal changes, particularly with the hormone cortisol, that cause fat to settle in the abdomen. This is the most dangerous place for fat to settle for your health, and it also can make it difficult to find clothing that fits appropriately.
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What Are The Advantages Of Losing Belly Fat
When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? If youre like many women, you have unwanted and unsightly belly fat. And when it comes to your health and happiness, belly fat loss can make a dramatic improvement in your life.
Lets start with the obvious your physique. When you reduce stress belly fat and get rid of your stress tummy, youll find that your clothes fit better. Youll be able to shop at your favorite clothing stores and walk out with something that looks great right off the rack.
Youll no longer have trouble with fat hanging over your belt or feeling embarrassed to tuck in your shirt.
When you begin to feel better about the way you look, youll gain more self-confidence. You may find that your job performance and your social life improve when you begin to feel better about your belly fat loss.
Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are full of vital nutrients and vitamins. Not just that, they contain fewer calories but supply high fibre content.
You might be thinking that the sugar content is high in fruits. While that is true, they contain much less sugar than fruit juices. Hence, fruits are ideal for packing some sugar without crossing the healthy limit.
An excellent way to start is to fill half your plate with colourful vegetables and fruits. Further, you can eat vegetables instead of pasta or potatoes.
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