Stress and Belly Fat: Should I Worry?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's got the biggest belly of all? Alarmed at my expanding waistline, I discovered the that there could be reasons behind this increase in belly fat besides what I was eating. So before going crazy with sit-ups and diets that might not work, I needed to uncover the other hidden causes of belly fat.

Identifying the Problem

Recently, I had seen fat accumulating around my middle. This made me feel sluggish, less physically attractive, and less healthy overall. I also began to worry if heart disease was in my future, which alarmed me.

My worries, it turns out, were not unfounded, since belly fat raises the risk of heart disease significantly. In fact, anyone who has a waistline of 33 inches or more increases their chances of serious health problems, according to the Mayo Clinic. My waistline looked like I was still six months pregnant even though my last child had been born almost two years before.

It was time to find out why my body was adding so much unhealthy fat and take swift action.

Finding Solutions

What I soon discovered was that belly fat is often linked to stress. Many sources on women's health, including a research article in Psychosomatic Medicine, point out that stress causes the body to secrete the hormone cortisol. This hormone leads to the accumulation of fat concentrated in the abdominal area.

I had definitely been under more stress and felt more anxious throughout each day in recent months. And apparently I had the belly to prove it, though I worked hard to dress in ways that concealed my bulge.

As we lamented our recent changes in body shape, a former coworker shared that her lifestyle had also become more stressful. Like me, she was also not getting nearly enough sleep. These were quickly confirming the cortisol-belly fat connection I had read about.

So what can I do to help reduce this belly fat? Various health articles, including a helpful article on weight loss at Redbook.com, led me to focus on 3 personal action steps: exercise, get enough sleep, and reduce my stress levels.

Making It Work

Without exercise, my physical and emotional health were going downhill. After researching belly fat, I realized that exercise provides the added benefit of helping reduce stress. Less stress in turn decreases cortisol and should allow me to lose abdominal fat more quickly.

When I'm not out exercising, I find prayer, singing, and listening to music to be enormously helpful tools for coping with stress and fears that creep up during the day. Writing a journal of my thoughts and taking aromatic baths also help me to relax.

The sleep issue is more problematic for me. And I know that many other women, like me, struggle to get enough sleep. However, I am trying to make going to bed one of my highest priorities, trusting that the benefits are worth it.

It helps to remind myself that more sleep (and a trimmer waistline) can:

1. help me be a more patient and creative parent;

2. boost my immune system;

3. combat depression;

4. reduce stress and cortisol levels;

5. encourage healthier eating habits;

6. enable me to make better choices during the day;

7. give me more energy for what I need to do;

8. reduce my cancer risk; and

9. prolong my life.

A New Balance

The secret to living well involves attending to physical needs like sleep, food, and exercise, along with my emotional and spiritual health. When one or more of these aspects are suffering, my whole being takes a turn for the worse. Accordingly, I'm trying to take better care of my body, relax my mind, and feed my spirit. Though I am still "a work in progress", I expect to see the effects on my body as my overall outlook becomes more peaceful and positive.

These are the physical equations in a nutshell:

More stress + less sleep = an increase in belly fat and sluggishness;

whereas

less stress + more sleep + daily exercise = a healthier me!

References:

Colino, S. Weight Loss Plateau - Inability to Lose Weight - Redbook.
6 Surprising Reasons Why You're Not Losing Weight. Redbook.com

Epel, E. S. et al. Stress and Body Shape: Stress-Induced Cortisol Secretion Is Consistently Greater Among Women With Central Fat. Psychosomatic Medicine.

Mayo Clinic. Belly fat in women: How to keep it off. Mayo Clinic.

Pischon, T. et al. NEJM - General and Abdominal Adiposity and Risk of Death in Europe.
New England Journal of Medicine, vol 359, p 2105.