Weight Loss Struggles: Stressed or Blessed?

Do you feel the stress building? The end of summer? Back to school? The holidays?

Yeah, we are here already. And ready for this?

There’s 20 weeks left in 2024.

Sorry. Not sorry.

Let’s get real with what is starting… the stress.

What is stress?

Stress is a natural response to perceived threats, triggering the “fight or flight” reaction. It helps us stay alert and handle emergencies, but excessive or prolonged stress can negatively impact health, mood, and productivity.

Stress comes in various forms, including physical, mental, and emotional strains. These stressors accumulate, forming an allostatic load, which can impact overall well-being.

Types of Stress

Good stress, or eustress, can be beneficial, motivating growth and learning. Think short-lived and positive. It drives growth and improvement, such as the excitement of a roller coaster or a challenging workout.
Bad stress, or distress, is chronic, negative, and can lead to breakdowns. It diminishes well-being and motivation, like constant pressure or unresolved issues.

Ways That Stress Is Seen

Stress can manifest in various ways across the body, mind, and behavior. Physically, it may lead to an increased heart rate, aches, pains, and dizziness. Mentally, stress can impair concentration, memory, and lead to excessive worrying. Behaviorally, it often results in difficulty sleeping, as well as changes in eating habits and alterations in drinking or smoking habits.

How Can Stress Affect Weight Loss Efforts?

Another way that we can possibly see stress in the health and fitness realm is through things like pushing training too hard, very restrictive measures for dieting and other mindset challenges like perfectionism, self sabotage, and more.

Food consumption or a lack thereof is one of the ways that weight loss efforts could be greatly affected during heavy stress loads. This could be due to previous learned behaviors, dealing with situations that require changes, or emotional eating.

Stress can greatly drain your energy levels through a lack of appetite/not consuming enough nutrients, mental fatigue, interfering with your sleep and disruption in your focus. This would essentially affect your calorie expenditure side of the calories in versus calories out equation.

Finally, our stress levels can make tasks that were previously easy to complete, monitor or maintain feel quite difficult. This could affect our ability to prepare well for dealing with future stress with strategy to help us maintain our weight loss efforts.

Stress Tolerance

And even though we may deal with the same stressors as another person. We may not perceive that stress in the same way. This is because we all have a different stress tolerance. This is the amount of stress that we, as an individual can handle with some of our better coping mechanisms. once we exceeded our stress tolerance, we may start to lean into some of the more unhealthy coping mechanisms. And truthfully, our stress tolerance is affected by a handful of different factors.

Attitude and Outlook: Optimistic and proactive individuals handle stress better.
Life Experience: Previous stress can build resilience or cause vulnerability, depending on timing and context.
Genetic and Epigenetic Factors: Genetics influence stress susceptibility, impacted by environmental factors.
Perception of Control: Feeling in control helps manage stress; feeling trapped can worsen it.
Personality: Confidence and resilience affect stress response.
Support Network: Strong social connections act as a buffer.
Emotional Regulation: Managing emotions helps handle stress.
Environment: Safe, natural settings reduce stress, while chaotic environments increase it.
Allostatic Load: High cumulative stress lowers resilience.

The reason that I mentioned this here, especially with weight loss efforts is that we have the tendency to compare our situations to someone else’s situation and feel as though we should be able to do certain things through certain stressors that other people can too. But that’s simply not the case. We all live different lives and we all are able to handle different levels of stress because of our stress tolerance.

The Stress Bucket Analogy

This is a great way to visualize stress, our tolerance for stress and our coping mechanisms.

The Bucket

Imagine you have a bucket. This bucket represents your capacity to handle stress. With this analogy, you can essentially have a different size of a bucket as somebody else. That’ll be explained a little bit more lower. But I want you for the time being to just imagine you have a bucket.

Filling the Bucket

Different sources of stress are like water pouring into the bucket. These sources can be anything from work pressure, relationship issues, financial problems, health concerns, to daily hassles like traffic or household chores.
The water level in the bucket rises as more stressors are added. When the bucket is not too full, it can manage the stressors without any problems.

Too Much Stress: Overflowing & Cracks

If too much stress accumulates and the bucket becomes too full, it starts to crack and/or overflow. These cracks and possible overflow represents points at which stress becomes overwhelming and can lead to negative consequences such as use of unhealthy coping mechanisms, anxiety, burnout, or other mental health issues.
The overflow can result in symptoms like irritability, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, or physical symptoms like headaches and muscle tension.

Healthy Coping Mechanisms

There are ways to prevent the bucket from overflowing. These are the holes or drains at the bottom of the bucket. Healthy coping mechanisms such as exercise, mindfulness, talking to friends or a therapist, hobbies, and adequate rest can help reduce the water level in the bucket.
Effective coping strategies act as a release valve, allowing stress to be managed and keeping the water level from reaching the top.

Individual Differences

Everyone’s bucket size and the effectiveness of their coping mechanisms vary. Some people can handle more stress without overflowing or forming cracks, while others might need to rely more on coping strategies to manage their stress.
You can find ways to build your ability to tolerate higher levels of stress.

Key Points of the Stress Bucket Analogy

Awareness: Understanding what fills your bucket can help you become more aware of the sources of your stress. I previously wrote this blog on control, which can be very helpful in situations of high amounts of stress. This blog has a means to work through your current situation building awareness in what you have the ability to control control and what you do not have the ability to control. and what we don’t have the ability to do something with or to have any control over, may sometimes be the thing that we can easily let go of some of the stress associated with it.

Resource: Control what you can control.

Management: When you notice your bucket filling up, it’s important to take steps to drain it before it overflows. And maybe won’t notice this right away. Maybe you are somebody who feels that they can do everything at all times and doesn’t see the combination of stressors building. Something that can be very helpful. Is having a moment that you pause and reflect on your overall stress levels. Using a numerical scale, can give you a means to give a value to this stress load. For a lot of us, when we are able to equate in a numerical way, it brings a greater sense of value to what it is we are assessing.

No Stress at All: Completely calm and relaxed, no worries or pressures.
Very Low Stress: Slightly relaxed with minor, insignificant concerns.
Low Stress: Generally calm with a few manageable stressors.
Mild Stress: Noticeable but not overwhelming stress, easily handled.
Neutral: Balanced state, neither particularly stressed nor relaxed.
Moderate Stress: Some stress present, noticeable but manageable.
Above Moderate Stress: Clear stress, starting to affect mood and behavior.
High Stress: Significant stress, impacting daily activities and well-being.
Very High Stress: Intense stress, difficult to manage, affecting health.
Extremely Stressed: Overwhelming stress, major impact on health and functioning.

Prevention: once you are aware of what you do have to stress over and how big of an importance the attention to stress relief may be. You may want to look at engaging in some stress-relief activities to prevent your bucket from overflowing. More on these below.

Managing Your Allostatic Load

Once we have an understanding that everybody handles their stress differently because of their stress tolerance and you’ve taken the time to really just see what can you actually control… we can take a look at how can we possibly balance things out.

Do we need to lessen the load?

And what do I mean by this? This is in regards to the weight loss effort along side of everything else that you have going on. A lot of times this may be the first thing that is let go of the weight loss efforts aren’t just weight loss usually. They also focus on the quality of your sleep, the intention of your movement, the management of your energy levels, your ability to enhance your food, quality and focused on things that aid you feeling better. As easy as it is to let this go, sometimes maintaining some smaller habits in this area can be the thing that helps get you through the moments better.

Resource: Lessen the Load

7 Different Types of Rest

Do we need to counter the balance and how do we do that? Before we go into the list below, which is very expensive, you can look into another blog that had been written about seven different types of rest. This changes the perspective of what rest and recovery looks like. Being out with friends and laughing… is rest. Going outside for a nature walk… is rest. Take a look to see what else is rest that maybe you hadn’t considered it to be.

Resource: 7 Different Types of Rest

Different Stress Relief Activities

See a Therapist or Counselor: Talking to a licensed therapist or counselor can provide support, coping strategies, and a safe space to process stress and emotions.
Take up an enjoyable hobby: This could be anything. You’ll not only get some time to focus on something that brings you joy, but you’ll also be around people whose company you enjoy (well, most likely).
Volunteer: This will likely increase the time you spend around people whose company you enjoy. Plus, you’ll be living according to your values, which always provides a nice dose of goodness.
Get a Massage: Get a regular massage every few weeks, or on your own preferred schedule. Regular massages can reduce muscle tension, improve circulation, and lower stress hormones. Consider different types like Swedish, deep tissue, or hot stone massages.
Connect with a Person or Pet: Spending time talking or being with someone you care about can provide emotional support and reduce stress. Petting, playing with, or simply sitting with a pet can release oxytocin, a hormone that reduces stress and boosts mood.
Spend Time in Nature: Walking in a park, forest, or along a beach can lower cortisol levels and reduce stress. Nature has a calming effect on the mind and body. Sunlight boosts serotonin levels, which can improve mood and help you feel calm and focused. Ensure you get 15-30 minutes of sun exposure daily, preferably in the morning.
Take a Nap: A short nap (10-20 minutes) can refresh your mind, improve mood, and reduce fatigue without affecting nighttime sleep.
Watch a Funny Movie: Watching a comedy can release endorphins and reduce stress hormones, making you feel happier and more relaxed.
Dance While Listening to Music: Put on your favorite upbeat music and dance around. This combines the stress-relief benefits of exercise and music therapy.
Organize a Closet: Organizing your space can create a sense of order and control, reducing stress. It can also be a productive distraction from worries.
Try Guided Imagery or Relaxation Visualization: Close your eyes and visualize a peaceful scene, like a beach or a forest. Imagine the sounds, smells, and sensations of this place to create a sense of relaxation. Apps like Headspace, Calm, or Insight Timer offer guided meditations, sleep aids, and relaxation techniques. These can be beneficial for reducing stress and improving mental clarity.
Exercise: Engaging in physical activities like jogging, yoga, or even a brisk walk can boost endorphins, improve mood, and reduce stress. Try Tai Chi, Qigong, or Restorative Yoga. These gentle exercises focus on slow movements, breath control, and meditation. They can help calm the mind, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being. Include low impact movement (e.g., yoga, walking, biking, hiking) daily. Walk to get your groceries. Bike to the gym. And so on.
Practice being alone: Turn off your phone and go somewhere. Maybe out to dinner, a movie, a play, or on a hike. You are with yourself always and forever. The more we can learn to enjoy our own company, the better.
Grab a New Book or Go to Your Local Library: Explore different genres and find a book that captures your interest. Reading can be a great escape from stress and stimulate your mind. If you have a library card, check if your library offers digital loans through apps like Libby. Borrowing e-books and audiobooks can provide you with endless reading material for free.
Breathe Deeply: Practice techniques like diaphragmatic breathing or the 4-7-8 method. Inhale deeply for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale slowly for 8 seconds to calm the nervous system. This immediately calms your stress response.
Practice gratitude: This might mean a daily journal. Or maybe a weekly letter to someone you appreciate. You could write down three things you’re grateful for each day. Focusing on positive aspects of your life can shift your perspective and reduce stress.
Try a mind body scan: Find a quiet place with no distractions. Sit or lie down. Set a time, for 5 minutes if you like. Start at the top of your head, and slowly go down to your toes. Notice all physical sensations: hot / cold, itchy, tense, etc. Observe, don’t judge. You can do this anywhere, at any time, in order to slow down and calm your body.