Do Stressful Situations Increase Metabolism
Yes, stressful situations require more energy from the body to overcome by way of inflammatory circuit activation. The energy causes the body to be more “hungry.”
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Become A Pleasure Seeker
When you add oxytocin-releasing activities to your like, it helps rebalance the adrenal deficiency. What makes gives you lots of joy? Here are a few ideas:
- Watch a comedy series or film: Not only does laughter boost your immune system, it directly reduces levels of cortisol and epinephrine.
- Use music to calm you: Try some classical or ambient music. Or just put on a CD of soundscapes from nature.
- Enjoy a relaxing aromatherapy bath: Add some candles and close your eyes. Enjoy!
- Schedule a massage that gives you lots of pleasure. If you have limited funds, think about doing a massage swap with a friend where you do it for each other.
- on a regular basis: that gives us a HUGE oxytocin release.
- Embrace a child or a pet: regular touch is very healing.
- Do the twist: Take up dancing join a class or follow online tutorials at home. Research shows that taking up tango dancing can relieve stress more than meditation.
Dont:
Your Body On Stress Symptoms Of Adrenal Fatigue
Youre about to go for a job interview. Your body treats this as a perceived threat and triggers a powerful danger signal. This activates your HPA , a feedback loop between your brain and other organs such as the kidneys. Your hypothalamus is like the command center and its job is to send urgent Watch Out messages to your pituitary and Adrenal glands. Within femtoseconds, your fight or flight response kicks in. This preps you to defend yourself or flee. So you experience a rapid cascade of other stress responses:
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Adrenal Fatigue Weight Gain Treatment
There is only one scientifically proven way to lose that weight: maintaining a calorie deficit through adequately managing your diet and exercise. However, some things can make weight loss easier or more difficult. If your adrenal glands are depleted, you are suffering from a hormonal imbalance. As a result, it will be much more difficult to lose weight unless you correct that hormonal imbalance.
So, to support weight loss, it is ideal to treat adrenal fatigue and restore proper hormonal balance. This can be done through holistic methods of diet, exercise, specific herbs, and healthy sleep routines. To learn more about recovering from adrenal fatigue, read our article “What Is Adrenal Fatigue?“
You Recently Lost Weight
It would be really, really nice if lost weight stayed lost. But just the opposite is true.
Our body weight and body fat are tightly regulated, and will act to maintain balance, Butsch says. Put another way, any pounds you manage to drop are likely to returneven if you keep up your weight-loss routines, he adds.
So if you recently dropped some weight, its very likely that youll put some of it back onregardless of how much youre eating or exercising.
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My Struggle With Adrenal Fatigue
This could have easily been called: My Adrenal Fatigue story: how I ran myself into the ground and totally hit rock bottom by doing everything I thought was healthy. But that wouldnt have made for a very google-friendly title.
This was not an easy post to write, and its definitely not an easy story to share for me.
But I hope youll learn from my experiences, as I have, and hopefully will prevent some people from going down the same path. Sit tight, my friends, here goes a long one.
Try This Quick Iris Test:
Your eyes are not just the window to your soul, they are also the window to your levels of arousal and stress. An article by Scientific American magazine, gives a good rundown on the science of pupillometry.
A similar study is also looking into this area.
But you can also conduct a simply little eye experiment at home. Heres how:
- Go into a dark room that has a mirror and allow your eyes to adjust for a few minutes this allows your pupils to dilate.
- Stand close to the mirror or hold it close to your face.
- Using a penlight or a weak flashlight, shine light across your right eye.
- Watch your right pupil for about 30 seconds to see what happens.
It should quickly contract when exposed to the light. If, within seconds, it dilates again, this is a sign of adrenal fatigue. Rest your eyes, get accustomed to the dark again and repeat with the other eye.
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According To This Doctor Your Unexplained Weight Gain May Not Be Your Thyroid
For many people, unexplained weight gain, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and depression are often associated with a thyroid condition. While I am a functional medicine practitioner who specializes in thyroid health, I happen to also see a huge number of patients who think their thyroid may be the culprit when they are actually suffering from adrenal issues.
The adrenals are often linked to weight gain, which is not something that is talked about nearly enough. The weight gain is almost always right where we don’t want it right in our midsection! This is usually connected to a cortisol imbalance, which is a stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is released when we are under stress. On top of excess cortisol packing on the weight exactly where most of us are trying to lose it, cortisol imbalance and adrenal dysfunction can also be the cause of many other unwanted symptoms, such as fatigue, anxiety, and depression.
When talking about the adrenal glands, it is important to know that having an adrenal issue does not necessarily mean you have adrenal fatigue. The term adrenal fatigue gets used too often when most people actually have high cortisol levels.
Low Levels May Cause Weight Loss
Just as high cortisol levels may cause weight gain, low levels may cause weight loss in some instances.
The most extreme example is in Addisons disease, a condition in which your body doesnt produce enough cortisol (
- nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain
- muscle or bone pain
While high cortisol levels may seem more common, its important to be aware of the effects of low cortisol as well.
Summary
Chronically elevated cortisol levels may promote overeating and weight gain, whereas low cortisol levels may lead to weight loss in some instances. Still, more research is needed.
While there may be many stressors in your life potentially contributing to elevated cortisol, there are several effective methods for managing your levels and preventing or combating weight gain.
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I Cant Shed Any Pounds No Matter How Little Or How Well I Eat
Blame it on: High and low cortisol
Do you:
- Hate getting dressed in the morning because you have to find new ways to disguise the extra kilos that keeping appearing on your belly?
- Feel distressed by unpredictable fluid retention that makes you look puffy in the face, tummy and legs?
- Struggle to shed any kilos or even just maintain your current dress size even though you eat right for your body and exercise regularly?
- Complain that even if you ate nothing but air you still wouldnt lose any weight?
Then its highly likely you have adrenal fatigue. Its well accepted that stress and weight gain go hand in hand.
The culprit? Cortisol. The impacts of high cortisol can easily be seen in people who suffer Cushings disease, a condition that causes chronic excess cortisol. Cushings sufferers experience round puffy faces, high blood pressure and weight gain, particularly around the belly and chest.
But similar side effects can occur if you are exposed to sustained stress. Suddenly you pack on more pounds even though youre not eating more food. And exercise doesnt shift it either.
Lets Back Up A Bit To 2008
As a college freshman I gained a little weight in the fall but lost it during my first varsity swim season. It really wasnt a big deal, but the self-conscious perfectionist in me was terrified of gaining it back. So, like many college students, I started restricting my food, even skipping meals at times, counting calories obsessively, and exercising like a fiend running about 6-7 miles a day in addition another hour or more at the gym every single day.
The weight I now realize I didnt need to lose basically fell off, and I ended up injuring myself from overtraining. But I didnt learn from my injury, and I continued that restrictive eating and exercise bingeing cycle throughout college, even during swim season when we were training between 3-6 hours a day. I was eating within my healthy eating guidelines: lots of salads, not a lot of fruit, pretty low-fat, and extremely low carbohydrate, and in general just not enough food. I was also totally overworking myself physically and mentally in schooland probably one too many nights of killing my liver. You can already see where this is going.
I didnt realize it then, but I had just pushed myself over a critical threshold of what my adrenals could handle, and basically triggered a stress-based trauma in my body from working in the campaign environment, in addition to the gradual, cumulative effect of the multiple other stressors I had been piling on my body for years.
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How Chronic Stress Can Make You Fat
When the body is under stress, it shifts the way it physically handles incoming food. The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol quickly mobilize energy production from carbohydrates and stored fats. But they also make the body less sensitive to leptin, the hormone that makes us feel full, so we inadvertently eat larger portions than normal.
There is nothing wrong with this chain of events its simply part of our bodys innate fight or flight response that evolved long ago to help us to run for our lives, or stop and fight for survival.
The chronic stress of modern life is very different from stress our ancient forbearers faced, of course, but the bodys biochemical response remains exactly the same. So, unless you really do need to outrun a wild animal, your body doesnt require all those extra calories for energy when youre stressed and thats why they get stored as fat.
Weight problems are standard for women in a state of constant stress, operating under elevated or high cortisol levels for very long periods of time.
Cortisol is a key stress regulation hormone produced by the adrenal glands. When youre in danger, your body is pre-programmed to release higher levels of the hormone. Cortisol helps to quickly boost your energy levels so you can react and flee imminent danger. Cortisol specifically helps:
- Regulate your blood pressure.
- Regulate the effects of insulin the master hormone that controls your blood sugar levels.
- Reduce inflammation.
Adrenal Exhaustion Adrenal Fatigue And Weight Gain
For many of us, weight loss is a challenge. Even if were doing everything right it can often seem almost impossible to shift some of the stubborn pounds that we are holding onto. What is that?
There are a lot of different reasons that we struggle with weight loss, but one important area is our hormones. We have many hormones in our body and they respond to different things. Those hormones and their responses can have a range of effects, most of which we dont even notice at the time.
One specific area of interest is the connection between adrenal exhaustion, adrenal fatigue and weight gain.
Now adrenal exhaustion and adrenal fatigue are basically two names for the same thing. The term is connected to the way that the human body responds to stress. Essentially, when we experience stress, the HPA axis is activated . This axis is a key component of the way that the body responds to stress and it may also influence other hormones as well.
One of the outcomes of this process is the production of a hormone called cortisol the stress hormone.
All of this is a natural process and it is well-regulated.
However, we live in a society that has high amounts of stress and is extremely fast-paced. As a result, many of us are exposed to stress almost constantly. That is particularly true for people who lead very busy lives or who take little time for themselves.
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How Stress Causes Unwanted Weight Gain
As a culture, we most often associate being stressed with emotions. Few people understand the dramatic effect stress has on the body physically. The most frustrating physical effect is the storage of excess calories, which most often shows up as fat in the abdominal area and thighs.
Our ancient evolution has everything to do with why this happens. Thousands of years ago, if our ancestors were being chased by a tiger, their adrenals quickly went into fight-or-flight mode, releasing the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones not only give us those superhuman powers you may have heard of but also have the ability to quickly mobilize carbohydrates and fats to give us instant energy. In our ancestors time, when the threat was over, their bodies relaxed and their instincts kicked in, causing them to refuel with carbohydrate dense foods that are most often stored as fat.
Our World is Full of High Levels of Stress
Life is much different than it was during our ancestors time all those years ago. The stress we face today isnt always an immediate threat to survival. The unfortunate part is our bodies cant really tell the difference, so the same process happens whether the threat is physical or psychological.
We dont need that fight or flight response, and we certainly dont need those extra calories our body is so efficiently storing.
Reset Your Stress Response
Some tips for managing stress:
STEP #1 Recognize the Feeling
The first step to overcoming anxiety is to recognize it for what it is a set of feelings that are the result of a series of biological responses to a perceived threat. Pay attention to what happens when you become anxious: Your heart rate increases, your breathing accelerates, you may start to sweat, and your mouth might get dry. You may feel that you are going to pass out. Or you may have an urge to run, flee. You may have difficulty concentrating or experience memory lapses. You may experience nausea, chest pressure or pain. At bedtime you may be unable to fall asleep. You may feel a sense of impending doom even that you are going to die. But you are not. These are the signs of anxiety. It is your bodys flight-or-fight response kicking in.
STEP #2: Have an Emergency Response Practice
One of the quickest ways to reset your response from going down an anxiety pathway is to learn to use your breath for a quick reset. The quickest reset comes from doing a technique such as tapping or breathing exercises. You can retrain your brain to reduce negative thoughts with apps like Calm and Headspace.
For more advanced practice in learning to use your mind and breath to get and stay out of anxiety, check out HeartMath an affordable and effective biofeedback device that you can easily use at home.
STEP #3 Create Safe Space for Your Brain
STEP #4 Use Herbs and Supplements to Heal and Reset
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Supplements For Combating Adrenal Belly Fat
Supplementing doesnt replace a healthy diet, but supplements can help support healthy adrenal function.
Supplements important for combating adrenal belly fat include:
There are eight B vitamins. The B vitamins are:
These vitamins help your body make energy from the food you eat. The B vitamins also help form red blood cells.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an antioxidant. It is vital for your skin, bones, and connective tissue.
Additionally, vitamin C:
- Lowers the risk of some cancers
- Helps the body absorb iron
Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium. Calciumis essential to keeping bones and teeth strong and healthy.
The amount of vitamin D you need daily is dependent on your age.
How To Overcome Adrenal Fatigue And Weight Gain Change Your Diet
I have many resources around eating well for adrenal health. Everything Ive said before both in my article eating for adrenal glands, and in my book, Is It Me or My Adrenals? applies here too. Here are a few brief suggestions to remember:
Eat Regular Meals and Two Snacks Per Day
Eat on a regular basis to convince your body that it is not starving and that its not in danger. Keeping your blood sugar stable prevents the release of large amounts of cortisol and, in the long run, decreases the burden on the adrenal glands. I recommend that you eat three balanced meals and two snacks per day. Make sure they are at intervals throughout the day that work with your bodies natural circadian rhythm.
Eating at the Right Times Does Matter
Cortisol has a natural rhythm, that works well with your circadian rhythm. Typically, cortisol is highest in the morning, and decreases gradually as the day progresses it is lowest at night so restful sleep can occur. Eating increases cortisol, so ideally youll eat your largest meal early in the day, giving your body the time it needs to process it for optimal well-being.
Have Your Favorite Foods Readily Available
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