Can Anxiety Cause You To Lose Weight

Cortisol And Sugar Cravings

Cue the sugar cravings. Because sugar supplies your body with the quick energy it thinks it needs, it’s often the first thing you reach for when you’re stressed.

The downside to consuming so much sugar is that your body tends to store sugar, especially after stressful situations. This energy is stored mainly in the form of abdominal fat, which can be particularly hard to shed. And so the vicious cycle starts: get stressed, release cortisol, gain weight, crave more sugar, eat more sugar, gain more weight.

Food Is Medicine: Don’t Starve Yourself

Lets face it: being “angry” stinks . Not nourishing yourself properly will leave you drained and fatigued, impeding your bodys ability to recover.

Moreover, starving yourself is a sure way to increase cortisol production . Consequently, you risk binging/overeating in the future. That can feed into a vicious cycle of unexplained weight loss and weight gain, which leads to even more anxiety.

Try and eat at least three to four balanced meals/snacks per day, including a good amount of complete protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Our handy macronutrient and calorie calculator can help you determine how much to eat daily.

Anxiety Can Reduce Your Appetite

Have you ever been so worried about an assignment or chore that youve worked right through lunch? Or stewed in your room for hours on end about a particular problem before realizing that youve lost a whole chunk of time without eating?

There may well be stress hormones behind your lost appetite. A research review found that your body produces a hormone called corticotropin-releasing factor that messes with your desire to eat.

Eating less food while your metabolism is potentially amped up could mean that you start shedding a few pounds.

Anxiety doesnt only chip away at the pounds. It can be just as likely to trigger changes that increase your body mass.

Don’t Miss: Does Anxiety Cause Brain Fog

How To Be Safe With Anxiety & Weight Loss

Given western societys focus on thinness as the ideal, weight loss may sound positive. However, any weight loss should result from healthy levels of exercise and diet changes rather than from nausea, low appetite, or constant fidgeting. If you notice that youre losing weight despite no obvious or intentional changes, pay attention. Too much weight loss for your body could result in long-lasting health changes.

Stress And Weight Loss

While many people put on weight during periods of stress, others lose weight.

Stress is known to cause a loss of appetite for some people, meaning that they end up eating less food. The circumstances surrounding the stress may also lead to poor eating habits for instance, if youre working long shifts or irregular hours, you may not find the time to cook for yourself.

Whats more, the stress hormones that our bodies release can speed up our metabolism, causing us to burn calories faster.

In more extreme cases, prolonged stress may lead to depression, which can also cause weight loss.

You May Like: Can Anxiety Cause Physical Pain

Stress Can Cause Digestive Issues

When you feel threatened, your body releases the hormone cortisol .

Cortisol redirects blood flow away from your digestive system and toward your brain and muscles. This is your bodys natural stress response, and it makes sense: when youre in immediate danger, its more important to think and move than it is to digest.

Take the keto quiz

These symptoms can make it difficult to eat, causing you to lose weight over time.

If Stress Becomes Overwhelming Seek Help From A Professional As Soon As Possible

In case you are having bad thoughts like self-harm or suicide, or if you feel too overwhelmed by it, seek help from a qualified person as soon as possible.

If you remember those few pointers, then you will easily be able to handle routine stress. When it comes to weight, stress can either make one gain weight or lose weight. All this depends on the individual.

Read Also: How To Control Anxiety Without Medication

What Are The Treatments For Obesophobia

People with obesophobia should talk to a healthcare provider to ensure they manage their anxiety and prevent other disorders. Possible treatments include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy :CBT is structured psychotherapy that can help a person understand and control thoughts and emotions. This talk therapy can help people unlearn negative thoughts that happen when they think about gaining weight. Over time, they may be able to change their emotions associated with food, exercise and weight.
• Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy, sometimes called desensitization, helps people confront their fears gradually. Your therapist might gradually expose you to the idea of eating well or gaining appropriate weight to be healthy in a controlled environment. Exposure therapy starts with something less scary, like looking at pictures of people who arent overly thin. Eventually, you may be asked to think about gaining one pound or eating something high in calories. Through increasing exposure, people can learn to manage obesophobia and stay at a healthy weight.
• Hypnotherapy: Hypnotherapy can put a person in a trance-like but focused state. A person under hypnosis is more open to suggestions and change. A hypnotist may be able to help a hypnotized person to be less afraid of healthy weight gain.
• Medications: A variety of anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications can lessen the symptoms of anxiety or depression if they interfere with your life. But medications are not a cure for obesophobia.

Anxiety Can Make It Harder To Make Healthy Food Choices

It can sometimes be difficult to focus on whats best for you when your brain and body are screaming at you about everything under the sun.

People with anxiety may have a hard time making decisions about what to eat, resulting in them eating more unhealthy food, Chait says.

Its also much easier to lose track of what youre eating when youre feeling anxious. That distracted eating can add up to extra pounds.

Similarly, anxiety can cause people to be distracted, which may cause them to eat aimlessly, paying less attention to what theyre eating or how much theyre eating, Chait says.

You May Like: How I Get Rid Of Anxiety

The Role Of Cortisol In The Body

• The Mental Health Benefits of Physical Exercise

Stress can significantly impact your ability to maintain a healthy weight. It can also prevent you from losing weight. Whether it’s the result of high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, unhealthy stress-induced behaviors, or a combination of the two, the link between stress and weight gain is glaring.

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

Why Does Anxiety Cause Weight Loss

Stress, especially chronic stress, can cause weight loss or weight gain due to its effects on bodily processes. Stress affects the production of stress hormones and the GI system, which can lead to changes in appetite and metabolization. A person can use a variety of self-help techniques to decrease stress.

You May Like: How Do You Get Generalized Anxiety Disorder

How To Tell If Your Stress Is Causing Weight Loss

When I was 22 years old, my father lost his battle with cancer. I had just graduated college and had no plan for my immediate future, other than paying my rent and hanging out with friends.

After he died, I was spiraling. The stress of my grief and lack of a plan for my life took a major toll on my health. Even though I thought I was eating regularly a slice of pizza here, a bowl of Easy Mac there it turned out that I was barely consuming any food. I was so completely overwhelmed that I dropped weight in a matter of weeks.

People deal with stress in a multitude of ways . Its important to monitor your response to anxiety, grief or any other negative emotion in order to keep your health in check, according to experts.

Below are a few stress-related behaviors and effects that could lead to unhealthy weight loss:

Being Safe With Weight Loss

Weight loss is generally seen as a good thing, but it’s important that you lose weight safely. If you’re losing weight without a healthy diet or exercise, then you’re putting your body through a great deal of stress. Unexplained weight loss may indicate another health problem in addition to or instead of anxiety.

You May Like: How To Stop Thinking About Something That Gives You Anxiety

Anxiety Can Make It Harder To Get To The Gym

Exercise can help you lose weight and chill you out .

But when youre feeling anxious and overwhelmed, lacing up your shoes and going to the gym is usually the last thing you feel like doing. This is probably why a 2011 study showed a connection between anxiety and a lower rate of participation in physical activity.

When some people are anxious, they move and exercise less, Chait says. And the less you move, the harder it is for your body to burn calories . Their metabolism will slow down with decreased physical activity.

Clearly, anxiety and weight control do not play well in the sandbox together, but enough about the problem. Lets talk about the solution.

How To Control Your Anxiety Related Weight Gain

It doesn’t matter what causes you to gain weight. Diet and exercise are still the most effective solutions. Make sure that you’re eating healthy with the right calories, and that you’re exercising regularly. There is no magic pill that will cause you to lose weight – in fact, many diet pills and diets can actually increase anxiety. You simply need to start taking care of your body, and your weight will follow.

The good news is that exercise and healthy eating are actually incredibly effective tools for combating anxiety as well. So in a way, it doesn’t matter which comes first – you’re reducing both when you start exercising regularly.

Was this article helpful?

Don’t Miss: Can Amitriptyline Be Used For Anxiety

Tips For Healthy Weight Gain

If you find that stress is making you skip meals or forget to eat, you may want to create more structure around your eating habits.

Make sure youre eating at least two big meals a day and prioritize high-quality protein, healthy fats, and vegetables. Good nutrition will make your body more resilient to stress.

If youre not skipping meals but youre still losing weight, consider adding more calories to your diet than you would normally eat. Stick to healthy foods eating fast food, packaged snacks, or empty carbohydrates can compromise your immune system and make the effects of stress worse for you, not better.

You may also want to talk to a nutritionist about your diet. He or she can help you find a nutrition plan that promotes healthy weight gain.

How To Break The Cycle Of Stress And Weight Gain

When you’re stressed out, healthy behaviors likely eating properly and exercising regularly can easily fall by the wayside. Maintaining a schedule and/or routine can help make these healthy behaviors a habit and combat stress-related weight changes. Here are a few strategies that can help you break the cycle of stress and weight gain:

Also Check: How Do You Know If You Have Severe Anxiety

Why Anxiety Causes Weight Gain

There are three main ways that anxiety can cause weight gain: it produces the stress hormone cortisol, it may contribute to over-eating, or it may reduce the amount of physical exercise that an individual engages in throughout the day. Although weight gain can be a symptom of anxiety, it is not always the reason that an individual may gain weight.

Anxiety has a very complicated impact on the body. Weight gain can be related to the emotional state of mind, but it is not always the primary factor that has caused you or a loved one to gain weight.

How Is Obesophobia Diagnosed

There are no tests to diagnose the fear of gaining weight. A healthcare provider can diagnose the condition based on discussions with you about:

• Your symptoms.
• How long theyve been happening.
• How they interfere in your life.

Again, many people think about weight and diet often. But for a diagnosis of obesophobia, a persons fear must:

• Cause extreme anxiety.
• Lead to significant stress or affect your daily life.
• Have been happening for at least six months.
• Be out of proportion with any actual problems regarding your weight.
• Lead you to take unreasonable steps in an attempt to look, feel or be thin.
• Make you avoid specific situations that involve eating.
• Produce physical symptoms of anxiety or panic attacks.

Recommended Reading: How Do I Stop Anxiety

Can Stress Cause You To Lose Weight

Yes, stress is one of the major reason behind lose weight in unhealthy manner. Sudden loss of weight after a stressful event, can also be a sign of a serious illness. In sudden loss of weight through stress can be explained as:

• Sudden loss of weight for no apparent reason
• Weight loss in pounds during short amount of time.
• Feeling anxiety and restlessness whole day.
• Low sleeping time.
• Inadequate food intake and emotional stress.

How to Get Rid of the Weight Loss Anxiety Symptoms?

You can get rid of sudden loss of weight by simply getting relieve from stress. Try to avoid things that cause stress in your life. If you are not able to get rid of your current situation then try yoga therapies and counselling from the expert.

Reduce your body stress: Reduce your body stress by using yoga and other practices meant for reducing stress.

Slow down your bodys metabolism: Slow down your body metabolism in rest, relaxation. It helps to gain body weight and try to take small meals after every 3-4 hours to reduce the fat in your body.

Increase your food intake: Increase your food intake and take small meals after every 3-4 hours rich in carbohydrates and protein. Try to eat more vegetables and fresh fruit.

Anxiety Might Speed Up Your Metabolism

Human studies are pretty thin on the ground when it comes to anxiety and weight loss.

But a study with mice found that when researchers engineered a particular gene out of certain areas of their brains, they developed symptoms that resembled anxiety and stayed super lean in the process.

In short: According to the study authors, anxiety may make you expend more energy, meaning you burn more of the energy youve stored up in fat.

You know how, in some people, anxiety leads to fidgeting or pacing? Well, that could be contributing to weight loss.

Headaches can also result from anxiety learn more here.

Don’t Miss: How To Not Get Anxiety