{"id":3958,"date":"2023-02-08T18:27:03","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T18:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utahbariatrics.com\/?p=3958"},"modified":"2023-02-08T18:27:03","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T18:27:03","slug":"stress-and-weight-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utahbariatrics.com\/stress-and-weight-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress and Weight Gain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Learn more about weight loss surgery at Rocky Mountain Associated Physicians www.RMAP.com (801) 268-3800<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Stress brought on by challenges or demands that lead you to feel worried, frustrated, anxious, or upset can cause the body to react in a negative way. Not only can stress affect your physical health, it can impact your emotional and psychological health as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

You could be familiar with the terms \u201cemotional eating,\u201d \u201cstress eating,\u201d \u201chead hunger,\u201d or \u201cemotional hunger.\u201d Any of these terms can affect your weight loss. When people stress-eat, they often keep eating even though they are no longer hungry. It could be hard not to mindlessly eat, not paying attention to how much or what they eat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eating in response to unpleasant or uncomfortable emotions most often means turning to \u201ccomfort\u201d foods, such as ice cream, chocolate, cookies, cakes, potato chips, and fried foods to name a few. When people are in emotional turmoil, hardly are salads, veggies, or a type of protein-packed snack reached for. When foods are high in calories and low in nutrition, it is a recipe for some type of weight gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s no secret that life is stressful. How often have you found yourself saying, \u201clife just happened,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m dealing with a lot of stress right now.\u201d If you turn to food to make yourself feel better, feel like food makes you feel safe, or a quick fix to heartache or loneliness, these are indications that it could be from an emotional-eating standpoint and not actual physical hunger.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bottom line is that stress can lead to the release of hormones such as cortisol, which stimulates your fat and carbohydrate metabolism, creating a surge of energy in your body, increasing your appetite. Elevated cortisol levels can cause cravings for sweet, fatty, and salty foods.1<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Ways to Help Manage Stress<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Identifying how you feel, recognizing what you need, and choosing what to do instead of grabbing for unhealthy food options is an imperative habit to form to help avoid stress-eating. You could be thinking that\u2019s easier said than done, but with committed effort and resilient determination, you can develop this new habit over time and keep up with your weight loss, too!<\/span><\/p>\n