The Science of Chronic Stress and Weight Gain (Part 2)
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Have you noticed any changes in your weight or overall health during periods of chronic stress?
Welcome back to Part 2 of our exploration into the intricate relationship between chronic stress and weight gain. In this episode of Embrace Your Real, we dive deeper into the science behind stress-induced inflammation, increased cravings, emotional eating, and the detrimental effects of poor sleep on your weight management journey. Discover the underlying factors contributing to stubborn weight gain and gain practical strategies to overcome these challenges with confidence and resilience.
What I discuss:
4. Chronic stress leads to inflammation
5. Chronic stress triggers heighten sugar and fatty food cravings
6. Chronic stress triggers bad sleep
If you loved this episode, be sure to tune in to…
Episode 432: The Science of Chronic Stress and Weight Gain (Part 1)
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace a real let's get it. Let's go. [00:00:29]
[00:00:29] Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode on the Embrace Your Real Podcast. We are back with part two, baby the science of chronic stress and weight gain. So like I mentioned last week, this is a hot topic. I have so many women that I work with who are just frustrated that they're not seeing the results that they want. Despite being super consistent with their workouts, they're nourishing their body regularly on a daily basis, optimally with what they need, and they're really feel like they're going out of their way to stay on track with these habits. They're putting so much effort into it, and yet they still feel like their body is clinging on to fat. And you know, the reason, more than likely than not, is if they're actually being truthful with staying consistent with what they're doing on a day to day basis, and it is what their body actually needs. It's likely that they're, you know, undergoing chronic stress. And unfortunately, this type of stress can not only, like I mentioned in last week's episode, have a serious impact on our mental health, but also our physical health, including our weight. And so that's why I am doing this two part series. So if you missed part one, let me quickly recap the three ways we discuss chronic stress and how it affects our weight. [00:01:38][69.5]
[00:01:39] Number one, we talked about raised cortisol levels that trigger weight gain around the midsection. Number two, high blood sugar levels that trigger cravings and overeating. And lastly, number three, a slower metabolism, a less efficient metabolism. So in today's bonus episode, part two, I want to kind of dive into the three the last three ways that chronic stress is related to weight gain. So number four is inflammation. So another factor to consider is the concept of stress induced inflammation. Chronic stress can actually trigger this state in your body called low grade inflammatory. And while inflammation is a natural response to injury or infection, long term low grade inflammation has actually been linked to various health problems, including weight gain. In fact, inflammation is arguably one of the leading drivers of weight gain. And kind of going back to the last two points that we discussed. Inflammation can also disrupt metabolic processes and can contribute to blood sugar issues, which is what we learned, right? Can both have and lead to kind of this unwanted weight gain, if nothing else in our lifestyle or habits change, which is pretty wild. Number five increased cravings and emotional eating. So who here listening is a stress eater or has stress eat eaten in the past? Or maybe you're an emotional eater. Like when things get stressful or emotional, the first thing that you want to do is just eat. If that's you, you are not alone. There's actually signs to explain why you want to eat to soothe yourself when you're stressed. Stress actually triggers intense cravings in your brain for sugary, high fat foods, and these comfort foods will give you a wonderful yet temporary mood boost thanks to the surge in dopamine. If you don't know what dopamine is, it's a neurotransmitter in your brain that is associated with pleasure and reward. [00:03:34][115.5]
[00:03:35] But the problem is that this actually leads us to overeat and go over our allotment for what we should be eating in terms of protein, carbs, and fats. But it's so difficult because your brain is literally telling you that you need these high, you know, high fat, sugary foods. And it feels so real in the moment that, you know, I need to give my brain what it's asking for. But then it feels like an uphill battle trying to stay on track because you're constantly fighting with your brain and fighting to control those cravings. So that's definitely something that is, you know, from this chronic stress and can lead to weight gain. Is that emotional eating, that stress eating mentality and just that cycle that we can get into. And last but not least, number six bad sleep. Okay, so I know, you know, when most of us are stressed, our sleep is oftentimes compromised, right? When we're chronically stressed, it messes with our ability to get enough deep sleep, which is so essential for us to feel actually rested. I can tell you, I've talked about this so many times in the podcast, and I swear it's not sponsored. But my offering has been so transformative and just learning about sleep because I have found, you know, there have been some nights where I'm like, well, I got, you know, seven out, seven hours and 30 minutes of sleep, but why am I feeling so crappy? And I look and I'm like, oh, it's because my REM sleep in my deep sleep was not in an optimal range. I for some reason got less. And then I typically ask myself, okay, what was I doing the night before? You know, did I eat something super late at night that, you know, was maybe causing me to knock it into a deep sleep? Was I stressed, thinking about something? Was I on my phone for like hours upon hours right before I went to bed? And oftentimes it's those things I was very distracted. [00:05:19][103.6]
[00:05:19] I, you know, I eat or drink something like to to close to bed. To which again, you don't have to limit your food like at a certain time. But for me, I've just found certain things that are linked to the lack of deep and REM sleep. But on the other hand, there's been, you know, a handful of times that, you know, maybe gotten 4 or 5 hours of sleep. And I wake up and I'm like, I am feeling amazing. Obviously, that's not sustainable. But then I look at my ordering statistics and I'm like, oh, or my ordering data. And I'm like, oh, the reason I'm feeling so much energy is because I actually got an optimal range of deep sleep in REM sleep. You know, even though I got, you know, 5.5 hours of sleep, my REM sleep in my deep sleep was actually pretty decent in terms of where it should be on a nightly basis. And so it's just it's fascinating when you really start to dig into the data and you realize just how important deep sleep REM sleep is. And it also, you know, our sleep plays a crucial role in weight management and weight loss. And this is because sleep helps to regulate hormones that control our appetite aka leptin. Right. This is the hormone that promotes the feelings of fullness. And ghrelin, which is the hormone that stimulates the feelings of hunger. So what happens? And, you know, when we're in a chronic state of stress that's going to disrupt your sleep, it's obviously going to also throw off those hormones. And and they're going to be out of whack and out of balance. And this means that, you know, you have a decrease in leptin levels and an increase in ghrelin levels, aka you're going to struggle to feel full and will constantly feel hungry, which will likely lead you to overeat throughout the day. [00:06:54][94.9]
[00:06:55] And so what does all that mean? Essentially, just saying that sleep deprivation that can actually slow down your metabolism, meaning that your body burns less calories efficiently. And that's a double whammy if you're sleep deprived due to chronic stress. So that's definitely something to keep in mind. And, you know, for all those mommas out there, I'm about to be a mom very, very soon. And I likely am going to go through this process of sleep deprivation. I want you to know that every season in life, it will have everything that we go through as this season. You know, sometimes that season feels like it's forever. And so I just want to give you I want you to extend yourself as much grace as possible and just know that this too shall pass. But try to be as proactive as you can in this season of life, even if you know you're about to go through this, you know, period of sleep deprivation, or maybe you're currently in the thick of it. Extend yourself grace, but do the best that you can with what you have. And I you know, I tend to look at things always with this glass half full and say, okay, you know, this situation is less than desirable, but what can I do in this situation to give me the most optimal result? It might not be the most optimal result that I'll ever get in my life, but in this season of my life, what can I do to get the most optimal result? And maybe that's, you know, when your baby goes down, you really try to prioritize that sleep as well. You are not on your phone as much. Maybe you are not watching as much Netflix. You're really trying to prioritize sleep when your baby is sleeping, so that you can ensure that you're getting at least, at the very least, enough sleep to kind of carry you through this season. [00:08:28][93.6]
[00:08:29] And then just know at the end of the day, this season too, shall pass. Okay. So there you have it. The six ways chronic stress and weight gain are connected. Let me kind of quickly recap what we talked about in today's episode, part two. Number four chronic stress leads to inflammation, which is a leading driver of weight gain. Number five, chronic stress heightens sugar and fatty food cravings, which leads to going over typically on your daily allotment of protein, carbs and fats. And obviously that's going to lead to weight gain. And lastly, number six, chronic stress triggers bad sleep. And being chronically sleep deprived can really mess with your hormones that affect your weight gain. Again, extend yourself grace in the season of life that you're in. But if you are in a season of life where you know, you know you could be getting more sleep, you're just not prioritizing it. That's definitely something that I want you to take a look at. If you haven't already tuned into part one, you can go ahead and tune in to that. Now. I'll be sure to link that in the show notes that you can easily go check that out, but I think that you'll find that very helpful. That's all that I have for today's bonus episode. I love you so much. I mean, I'll take the next one [00:09:35]
[00:09:35] All right, sister, that's all I got for you today. But I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the gram, be sure to do so. Julie A Ledbetter. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that daily post workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace it real because you're worth it. [00:10:51][0.0]