Stress Can Make You Overweight

People who are already battling the bulge seem to really pack on the pounds when they experience stress. Jason Block, MD, whose Harvard research appears in The American Journal of Epidemiology, implicates stress as a trigger for weight gain. Apparently stress is gender specific. Men get stressed over the workplace hierarchy, difficulty paying the bills, the inability to learn new skills along with workplace demands.

However, women have broader categories when they experience stress, especially strained relationships and feeling limited by life's circumstances according to Dr. Block. I have observed in my own stress management work that most women feel stress more intensely than men and seem to get trapped in a negative loop.

For years the research has been out there: stress creates an inflammatory response for both mind and body. This means you are out of balance not sleeping or exercising enough and eating mindlessly to self-soothe - particularly junk food. In fact, cortisol one of the stress hormones is known to build fat around the abdomen making you more prone to metabolic syndrome which can lead to heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other ailments.

However, don't get stressed by these findings. Awareness can help you identify the pattern to minimize your stress and maximize your health and happiness. Stress is a cumulative process. While you might not be able to deal with the big stressors in your life just yet, you can certainly cope with the small stressors. Each stressor that you deal with it raises your stress threshold for the next and signals personal empowerment. You need to have empowerment to lose weight - to know that you can do it with balanced eating and exercise. This mindset helps you go the distance.

By Debbie Mandel on Intent.com

Debbie Mandel is a stress management specialist and an author. Her latest book is "Addicted to Stress: A Woman's 7 Step Program to Reclaim Joy and Spontaneity in Life" (Wiley, Sept. 2008). She also hosts a weekly radio show and run an educational site where you can learn more about building immunity to feeling bad: www.turnonyourinnerlight.com

Read more by Debbie Mandel:

• How to Find Love and Happiness at Home Depot
• How To Say No Nicely
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• How to Cope With One Disaster After Another
  
• How To Deal with the Summertime Blues