Stress can take a toll on every part of your body. From your brain to your sleeping patterns, it can seep into your daily life in several ways. One of these negative effects may be weight gain. You may not closely associate weight and mood, but the link can be very real. Here’s a closer look at that connection and how you can achieve weight loss as you work to counter it.

The Ways Stress Can Lead to Weight Gain

Emotional Eating

Stress can affect your emotions and cause you to eat when you’re not hungry. Many people use food as a form of comfort in times of anxiety and sadness. This may be fine in small doses, but using food as a coping mechanism can lead to eating as a trigger for positive feelings. 

Interference With Meal Schedule

You may be too busy or overwhelmed to eat regularly during the day. While this may sound like it would aid in weight loss, it’s unhealthy and may also have the opposite effect.

When you restrict your eating for a large part of your day, your body can go into a mild starvation mode. You might then eat a large amount at the end of the day or grab whatever food is easiest—even though it’s often not the healthiest.

Slowed Metabolism

Your weight may be affected in ways you can’t detect. Your metabolism is a crucial factor in weight gain, and some studies have shown that people with higher stress levels tend to have slower metabolisms than people who report a normal amount of stress.

How You Can Combat It

Reducing stress can be difficult. You can cut some forms out of your daily life with relative ease, but others, like a job, aren’t so easy to alter. This means you’ll need to tackle individual behaviors as well as coping with your stress sources in order to combat weight gain.

For example, tactics such as meditation, therapy, time with friends, or a hobby may help. Some stress reduction strategies, such as exercise and cooking healthy meals that are consumed regularly during the day, present more direct weight loss benefits.

Keep it simple so you’re not overwhelmed: Take an hour or so at the beginning of the week to make sure you’ve meal-prepped and have an assortment of healthy snacks for the afternoon munchies. 

As you take proactive steps to manage your stress, the medical professionals at Gulf Coast UltraSlim can help you reach your weight loss goals in a healthy and personalized way. Located in Foley, AL, their office offers state-of-the-art non-surgical weight loss solutions, including noninvasive liposuction and body sculpting. To learn more and schedule your free consultation, call them at (251) 943-4948 or visit them online.