Stress & Weight Gain: When was the last time your body got a 3-point inspection?

You know what’s so great about a car? It has a dashboard- when you’re out of gas, it tells you. Need an oil change? It will let you know. No more windshield wiper fluid? There’s a light for that. Unfortunately, our bodies don’t have that same kind of navigational system that tells us when something needs attention. Over time, these often-ignored stresses will start to impact your digestion, and your weight.

I recently bought a new car. It was getting to the point that the old one was needing a lot of repairs. This wasn’t an overnight decision; it was two years of thinking I could squeeze a bit more juice out of her. Shelby was comfortable, reliable and safe. Then I test-drove a new car. All of a sudden, I had a heated steering wheel, and more than one way to adjust my seat to accommodate my abnormally short legs. Hello upgrade.

This is what happens when it comes to how our bodies learn to live with stress. We get comfortable with that incessant back pain, or that indigestion that hits at about the same time every day. It becomes our normal. We tend to compartmentalize the impact stress has on digestion in particular. That sluggishness or bloating that eventually leads to weight gain is explained away as stress eating. Very few people stop to examine the root cause of it: stress.

I have seen time and time again how the little stresses in our lives start to add up and get your systems out of whack, particularly your digestive track. When you’re feeling sluggish or slow, it’s usually a result of the foods you ate. Some people will react to stress by overeating, and others will become even more regimented with eating and exercise.

So let’s see both sides of the coin. Let’s start with the good stress. It’s often short-lived, inspires you to action, and leaves you better than you were before. On the other side, there is bad stress: it can last a long time, be demoralizing and depressing, and lead to a lack of motivation and paralysis. It’s all about finding the sweet spot; basically, how much stress you and your body can tolerate.

There are many things that affect our stress tolerance. Top among them are your attitude and outlook, your life experience and your environment. Are you optimistic? Proactive? What happened during COVID? Did your eating and exercise habits get better or worse? Your attitude, and your perception of control over your body are things that you will spend your whole life trying to define, and that will have a significant impact on your stress resistance.

Also, your life experience, in particular past stress, can be carried in your body and mind for long periods of time, and can contribute to issues of self-esteem and body shaming. We are our own worst enemies, and whether we admit it or not, many of us spend a lot of time thinking about what others think.

Lastly, your support network and your environment can have a profound effect on your stress levels. What if your partner doesn’t share your same weight loss and healthy eating goals? Or your kids? What about your physical space? Spaces with lots of light, and the great outdoors, calm us down. That cluttered corner where you spend your days working from home- probably isn’t helping you deal with stress.

More so, many of the things that tend to be good for us can become too much of a good thing if left unchecked. Those people who push too hard, too often at the gym, and don’t have rest days often end up injured, and with a slower metabolism. Too much dieting in the form of strict, low-calorie diets tend to elevate the stress hormone cortisol. Some people get so far into the “clean eating” mode that they miss out on social events, or avoid certain foods because they have to work out first.

When it comes to stress and its impact on the body, it is alarming how many lights we ignore, or just accept, on the dashboard. Ever had the experience of not being able to eat when you’re feeling anxious? That’s because blood flow and enzyme production in the gut are limited during stressful times. Ever feel like your blood sugar levels are all over the place, leading to restless sleep and carb cravings? If you take a look at what you’ve been eating, it is very possible that full row of cookies you finished last night isn’t going to help curb the stress that will come with this morning’s check-in with your boss.

Thankfully, there are a few small changes that can nudge you in the right direction, and make sure you make it to that next oil change.

Focus on quality nutrition, and not dieting or restrictive food choices. If you’re a stress eater, consider how that piece of cake will impact your digestion and slow down your weight loss progress. Is it worth it?

If you work out too hard or too often, take a rest day. If you don’t work out, think about how it could be the key to more energy, and a more balanced approach to all of life’s stress. And don’t discount a walk or a yoga session! It doesn’t have to be a sweaty, weight-lifting class to get you feeling better, both mentally and physically.

Finally, try eating slowly, and actually looking at your food. Take it all in, use your senses, and put away the screen. You will feel fuller with less, and chances are, better about whatever it is that has got you feeling like you might need to stop in at the next repair shop immediately, instead of actually making it to your mechanic.