How Stress and Comfort Eating Causes Weight Gain ?

Most people tend to comfort eat when they are stressed, depressed, lonely or just bored and then sometimes start to comfort eat which could be unintentional in some cases. Comfort eating is usually however linked mostly to stress.

Stress has a lot of effects to the body and one of the biggest causes of weight gain. When you are stressed or depressed, the brain produces an increased amount of a hormone known as Cortisol.

This hormone increases your blood sugar level, thus slowing down your The Complete Weight Loss Guide metabolism. This then tends to increase your appetite causing you to crave unnecessarily on food which can sometimes lead to abdominal fat gain and eventually weight gain.

The habit of comfort eating usually follows when people are stressed or depressed. They think they are eating their sorrows away and it will make them happy and feel better, then they carry on eating even when not hungry. Well that’s where you get it all wrong and start fooling yourself. And that’s why you end up eating more and more, for more and more comfort and happiness and also to fulfil your emotional needs. And the more and more you keep eating, is the more and more weight you keep gaining, and is the more and more your stress/depression problems will keep adding.

The Big Truth

The truth is, once you finish that big chocolate cake, or massive plate of food, whatever is depressing you will still remain and doesn’t change anything except of course your waistline or more.

Maybe the root cause of you being stressed is because you are fat, others call you names, you are seen as an outcast to the rest of the world etc. Then you become best friends with food as it is the easiest thing to grab and then it becomes your only source of happiness and comfort. The reason why you are still sitting there feeling stressed/depressed is because you are embracing that excess junk food as your best friend and is the same reason why you cant get over that stress/depression.

You know why? Because food is not an anti - depressant drug and is what is continuing to harm you even more and more everyday. In fact it is even adding to your stress problems, because when you find out you have gained some extra weight, it will be the start of another big stress problem. So when this happens, where will you then turn to for that emotional comfort? Will you continue to run for that food? Think about that again the next time you feel like bingeing or comfort eating.

Solution

So instead of jumping from one food to another trying to comfort yourself, and adding your stress list, why not find out what exactly is stressing or depressing you, get to the root of it and try to work on solving and getting over it in a better, realistic and more healthier way.

When you feel like eating something, ask yourself is this really worth it? Am I really hungry? Try to distract yourself by doing something you enjoy doing that doesn’t involve you eating unnecessarily. A healthy diet and lifestyle will also keep your body and mind happy. Or better still go out and get some fresh air, relax your mind, go to the beach or somewhere calm and reflect on how you can get over your problem. If you cannot deal with this yourself why not seek medical or professional help for advice.