Gaining weight? Maybe it’s because you’re too stressed.
Here are the 4 ways stress makes you gain weight:
1. Stress can stop your body from breaking fat
In normal situations, the fat you intake gets used for energy. A recent study shows that when you’re under chronic stress, the enzyme that burns fat doesn’t do its job. The stress blocks the enzyme and fat gets stored.
2. Stress affects your hunger levels
Thinking about a stressful event in the future increases the level of ghrelin, the hormone that tells your brain you want more food. Unfortunately, that food you want is always junk. One study has shown that comfort food reduces your stress level.
3. Stress zaps your energy during workouts
When people do mental work in the middle of their workout, their muscle endurance decreases by 25%. One study has shown that doing physical and mental tasks simultaneously exhaust your brain faster and your muscles feel more fatigued.
4. Stress causes lack of sleep, which causes gaining weight
When you’re under a lot of stress, you can’t sleep and this isn’t good for you at all. Not only will decrease the energy but also increase the “I’m hungry” hormone.