Stress is a natural survival mechanism that keeps your body alert, helping you become more efficient when you need to get something done.

However, if you’re under chronic stress, its manifestations can become physical. It may cause headaches, muscle and joint pain, and disrupted sleep. As such, it’s essential to manage stress effectively and ensure that these symptoms do not interfere with your quality of life.

Aside from addressing these symptoms, one crucial benefit to stress relief is healthy weight loss.

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How stress is related to weight gain

The link between weight and stress levels may not be immediately apparent. A key part of comment perdre du poids is reducing stress, as individuals with high levels of cortisol—or the stress hormone—tend to have increased weight, waist circumference, and BMI. Being stressed can also increase your appetite for foods high in sugar and fat, making it more challenging to sustain healthy food choices conducive to weight management.

That’s because when your body releases cortisol, it expends energy to make you more alert and help you get out of a stressful situation. But once this energy spike subsides, your body will look to replace what it lost. This draws you toward sugar and fat, providing you with a quick energy source. Unfortunately, your body tends to store the energy from these substances as fat, adding a few pounds to your weight.

In addition to hormonal changes caused by stress, being under pressure can drive you toward unhealthy behaviours. These include emotional eating, exercising less, skipping meals, or sleeping less. When sustained over a long period, habits like these can slow down your metabolism, causing you to burn fewer calories and store more weight.

Fortunately, turning to healthy coping mechanisms can help you reduce stress. When you’re relaxed, you’re more likely to observe healthier lifestyle choices. This can help you break the cycle of stress, bad habits, and subsequent weight gain.

Stress relief tips for healthy weight loss

Although stress management is easier said than done, many activities you can try are luckily in line with weight loss methods. So by addressing your stress, you can kill two birds with one stone.

One of the best ways you can manage stress is through exercise. Physical activity helps you burn calories while producing endorphins—neurotransmitters that help your body overcome stress. You can also eat healthier comfort foods, as they provide the nutrients you need to cope with high-pressure events while avoiding unnecessary and unhealthy calories that add to your weight.

Finally, it’s critical to observe proper sleep hygiene to regulate your hunger and stress hormones. Sustaining these habits can help increase metabolism and help you feel more at ease.

Being under constant stress can make it challenging to manage your weight. By observing sustainable stress relief activities, you can feel better while achieving healthy weight loss.