You're eating healthy and exercising daily, yet the scale won't budge. Why?! It's so frustrating!
Before I dive into this topic though, I want you to think about why you care about the number on the scale in the first place? Have you felt any other benefits besides weight loss from choosing healthier foods and exercising? Those are often signs of true health - regardless of what it says on the scale. Additionally, what kind of exercise are doing? How are your close fitting? It is also possible that your body composition has changed (less fat tissue, more muscle mass), even though weight hasn't.
When I hear this comment, the first thing I often do is ask my clients about their stress levels. Whether it be a busy work schedule, taking care of small children (or perhaps now even homeschooling if kids are unable to return to school), illness in the family, constant guests, etc. stress often plays a role in most of our lives. For me right now it's getting used to a new job and trying to buy a house in a seller's market all while living out of a garage!
It feels as if we are "doing everything right," but seeing zero results. More often than not this can be due to stress.
Stress plays a few roles in weight gain.
Food choices.
Stress often causes cravings for sugary foods, salty foods, fatty foods (like peanut butter), and/or comfort foods, which are all often higher in calories. We also just tend to be hungrier, though not everyone as some of us aren't hungry at all, but many of us are "stress eaters."
While there are many other factors at play, if we consume more calories than we burn day to day, we will gain weight. It is not uncommon to consume more calories than we realize on a regular basis, even if we eat pretty healthily, especially if we are not tracking intake accurately or at all: I don't need to count this cookie, right? I had salad for lunch. Was it one tablespoon of peanut butter I had...or 3?
While I don't think it's always necessary to count calories or track food and it's more important to learn intuitive and mindful eating, if you have never tracked before, I think it's a good idea to do so for 2-3 days just to get an idea of what kinds of foods you are typically choosing and how many calories you generally eat and then adjust from there.
Cortisol
Sometimes, though, stress-related weight gain has nothing to do with food choices. In fact, you tracked your food and you come to a 200-300 calorie deficit most days and your foods choices are mostly whole and nutrient dense, so what gives?
Cortisol is our stress hormone that increases when we are, well, stressed. The thing is, however, our bodies don't know the difference between stressors.
When cortisol rises, so does our blood sugar. Now, back when humans were fending for themselves and had to worry about predators, cortisol would rise, and so would blood sugar, giving them energy to say, run away from a lion. We would then likely be pretty hungry afterwards from all that running and stress, so we'd eat, and our bodies would welcome that much needed energy.
Nowadays, however, our bodies still don't know the difference between running from a predator, or sitting at work stressing over a deadline. Our bodies still flood with increased amounts of sugar, preparing us for the grueling race ahead, yet it never comes. It's as if we are eating sugary foods all day long, even if we aren't eating any of those things. The sugar needs a place to go though, and since it's not being used for energy, it's likely going to settle on our bodies as fatty tissue.
You know, come to think of it, this is probably why when I get really stressed I sometimes get a surge of energy and all I want to is run it off to calm down. I mean, exercise, absolutely helps reduce stress due to other factors like releasing happy neurotransmitters called endorphins, but I'd never thought about it this light before. Does this ever happen to you?
Sleep
What's worse is that often times when we're stressed, we have trouble sleeping. Either, we get poor sleep because we are tossing and turning all night, or we just can't sleep much at all because we're too busy thinking about all the things we're stressed about.
Either way, poor or lack of sleep also increase the likely hood of weight gain for a few different reasons.
Sleep is restorative. When we don't get enough sleep, our bodies still need energy, so instead we turn to food, usually high calorie foods. I tend to use my experience working at bakery to explain this. I worked at a bakery for about eleven years and I'd often have to be there at five or six in the morning, meaning I'd be getting up around four or five a.m. Now, if I went to bed at a reasonable time, this wouldn't be an issue, but did I do that? Not usually. So, often times, I wouldn't want the salad with grilled chicken I'd planned on eating for lunch, but instead I'd want all the high fat/high sugar baked goods even though I knew my body didn't actually need all those extra calories.
To make matters worse, when we lack sleep, our hunger hormones increase, while our satiety hormones decrease. This means that even if we ate the same foods after a night of poor sleep as we did after a night of restful sleep, we would not feel as satiated by them, and therefore, more likely to consume additional calories.
Furthermore, lack of sleep inhibits our decision making. Say, we are recently motivated to eat healthier, but this habit change is still a work in progress. After a night of poor sleep, we might be more likely to choose an easy frozen or fast food meal rather than a home-cooked one as it is still work to make the healthier choice and sleep deficiency is making it more difficult in this moment.
Okay, so what do we do about it?
I'd love to say "just be less stressed!" But, unfortunately that's easier said than done! However, if you're willing to try this, stress is technically just our response to a situation. It is possible to choose not to be stressed, or react in a stressful manor to a particular event or lifestyle. We are all human though and this kind of mindset does take practice. Besides, stress can be a good thing sometimes when we need to jump into high gear for whatever reason.
Some other tips to try could be:
Exercise
As mentioned previously, exercise releases endorphins, which help boost our mood. And maybe you are already exercising. So, make sure that a) you are choosing activities that you enjoy - if you hate every second of it, you're probably less likely to get that endorphin rush, and b) don't overdo it. Our bodies love exercise, but too much is stressful too. Aim for 30 minutes 3-5 times each week.
Food Choices
If you discovered that you are someone who tends to choose less healthy foods when stressed, work on cultivating a healthy eating pattern overtime: complex carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, poultry, nuts/seeds, fermented dairy products, etc. What we eat a) gives us the nutrients we need to better handle and overcome stress, and b) feeds the healthy bacteria in our gut microbiomes, which also play a key role in stress and anxiety (or lack thereof) through the connection to our brains.
But, don't stress about not eating "perfectly," either! Even as a dietitian, I don't eat "perfectly" and I don't expect anyone else to. It's not usually enjoyable and causes stress and anxiety around food that isn't necessary. Aside from food allergies and intolerances, most of us don't have to give up any particular food in or order to achieve our health goals.
Journal
Whether it be first thing in the morning, before bed, or midday, journaling can be incredibly powerful. I recommend journaling what you are stressed about, sometimes just getting it all down on paper is beneficial. It's a visual we can look at and come up with a plan to tackle. It also takes a little bit of pressure off remembering all the things we need to do or that are worrying us.
Next, you could also write why these things are stressful. Sometimes, I didn't realize why something was bothering me so much until I started writing it down, ended up writing way more than I anticipated, and then learned that the problem wasn't even as stressful as I thought!
Another idea is to write about the good things happening in your life, or the things you can be grateful for. Often times, focusing on all the good that we have makes the hard stuff less daunting and easier to handle. That's what happened as I wrote this post. It also happened when I kept a gratitude journal while planning for a wedding - talk about a stressful time that was waayyy less stressful than it could have been.
Magnesium
Many of us are deficient in magnesium, which plays a role in over 300 reactions in the body, including our stress-response. Magnesium helps us to relax our bodies. While magnesium can be found naturally in certain foods:
Pumpkin seeds
Spinach
Swiss chard
Soybeans
Sesame seeds
Black beans
Quinoa
Cashews
Sunflower seeds
Beet greens (1)
unless we are really focused on eating a variety of these foods, it can become difficult to obtain 100% of our magnesium needs. If you don't eat any of these foods, it may be beneficial to talk to your doctor about a magnesium supplement.
Probiotics
Probiotics = bacteria. I mentioned that having healthy bacteria in our gut microbiome helps with stress, but sometimes we can struggle to get enough, or the right strains, especially if we've been on antibiotics. I usually recommend first including more fermented foods in your diet: kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, etc., however, sometimes people benefit from taking an additional probiotic supplement. I also usually recommend a probiotic with a variety of strains, however, I would look for the particular strain lactobacillius rhamnosus as this one has been shown to reduce anxiety, at least in rats. Personally, I take Culturelle, as it has this strain and was recommended by my doctor. I have also tried many others and this one works the best for me, but, everyone is different! If you are considering taking a probiotic supplement, talk with your doctor.
Deep Breathing (and Belly Breathing)
It may sound simple, or something you've heard many times before, but deep breathing really can be helpful! Try taking a few truly deep breaths to help you pause and reevaluate why you are feeling stressed and approach the cause with a calmer, maybe even more perceptive, perspective. Belly breathing, taking a deep breath while raising your stomach instead of your chest, can also be used. Even just 3-5 of these breaths has really helped me relax while trying to fall asleep.
Let me know in the comments or email if this was helpful, or if you still need guidance!
I may be compensated through affiliate links in this blog post, but all opinions are my own.