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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Original poster

Stress affecting weight loss

43 replies

pumpkintits · 21/10/2023 18:43

I've never really given it much thought, but since January I have been trying to lose weight and not been successful (I'm actually heavier) and I'm starting to think stress may have some hand in it.

I've tried Slimpod, calorie counting, OMAD, 16:8 + exercise and nothing seems to work.

Has anyone experienced this where they were doing everything right on paper but they were stressed and couldn't lose weight? I feel like I'm making excuses for myself but when I track what I eat, I know I am not eating enough to gain the amount of weight I have.

I'm also struggling with how I can reduce stress when I cannot quit my job/sell the kids/afford a cleaner. And I'm so obsessed with my weight, hating myself and thinking about how awful I look that it makes me MORE stressed.

I know I need to chuck the scales out and start from scratch, but I feel so pissed off that I have been doing everything I can for over 10 months and I'm still fat.

Would love to hear other people's opinions/experiences around stress and weight loss.

OP posts:
Paltrypam · 21/10/2023 18:43

How long have you been overweight?

Original poster
pumpkintits · 21/10/2023 18:51

@Paltrypam pretty much since the age of 11. Lost weight, gained it back, lost weight, gained it back.

Lost over 8 and a half stone in 2019/2020 and gained half back. That's when I decided to take control and get back on track, doing exactly the same thing I did to lose it the first time round, only I've not budged. (Well I have, only in the wrong direction)

OP posts:
Somewhatchallenging · 21/10/2023 18:51

When I am stressed, it’s easy for me to lose weight without trying. I’m not hungry, my stomach is in a tight knot and the slightest bit of food chokes me. I also fidget and move more, pace around.

Doggymummar · 21/10/2023 18:53

It's the cortisol effect

Yogateacherherehello · 21/10/2023 18:56

Cortisol and emotional eating are the most likely culprits.
I would say this, but can you fit in some yoga? Especially pranayama (breath/energy) techniques which will help you switch out of stress mode and into rest & restore. Once you've learned them, you can take a few minutes where you can to practice them.

nextdoorneighbours · 21/10/2023 18:58

It wont be stress, it will be the yoyoing your weight has done before that makes it harder to lose weight now. If you regain lost weight it is always much harder to lose again

Paltrypam · 21/10/2023 19:08

Ok so the first thing to do is to get this thought out of your mind

why? Because you will start using it as an excuse. “Oh well I can’t help having that donut / chips / chocolate because I am stressed. It is out of my control”

Paltrypam · 21/10/2023 19:10

last Time you lost a lot of weight

but you put a lot of it back on

that will be impacting your approach this time. Because you know that it could all be for noting again if you put the weight on.

You need a complete mind set overhaul

Original poster
pumpkintits · 21/10/2023 19:20

I just feel very very stuck at the moment, I used to struggle a lot with binge eating and emotional eating, however doing Slimpod really helped me with that and got rid of that feeling to binge, it was like it no longer made sense to binge (still didn't lose any weight over the 3 months I did it though)

I have a wardrobe full of clothes that don't fit me anymore, I don't want to buy clothes in a bigger size because I always have the mindset that I will lose weight and fit in my old clothes, but I can't keep that mindset up when it's been so long of me trying and getting nowhere. But buying a bigger size feels like I'm throwing the towel in. To top it all off whenever my Facebook memories reminds me of the time I only had one chin I want to cry.

Sorry, this is turning into a very self indulgent whine fest now! I was thinking of trying meditation, downloaded the Calm app last night but it looks like most of the content you need to subscribe to.

OP posts:
Openmouthinsertfood · 21/10/2023 20:05

Hi, you sound very down on yourself. Sad I tried this book The Kindness Method: The Highly Effective (and extremely enjoyable) Way to Change Your Habits by Shahroo Izadi She also does one called The Last Diet. But I found the kindness method better personally. I hope you find them useful.

Frasers · 22/10/2023 07:15

Stress will impact your eating habits and potentially your drinking ones too, but the reality is you need to be consuming enough of both to maintain at your current weight based on your energy expenditure.

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 07:54

Chronic stress really does impact weight loss. If your cortisol levels are constantly raised, it buggers up your metabolism and in particular plays havoc with leptin, the hormone that regulates appetite and how you store fat.

I have discovered this the hard way. I've been horrendously stressed this year because of work and money. I'd got rid of my scales but bought another set last week because I realised my clothes felt so tight and to my horror I've piled ANOTHER half stone on, despite actively trying to lose weight! Since Jan I've been doing low-carb, portion control, less alcohol, more exercise, yet I'm now the heaviest I've ever been and the only thing I can see that's been a negative factor is the awful levels of stress I've been dealing with.

Now the work/money situations are calmer and my stress is abating, I'm hoping weight loss will be a welcome by-product.

nextdoorneighbours · 22/10/2023 07:56

it really doesn't, easy enough to check out a few pictures of the most stressful places in the world to live - it doesn't make people put on weight!

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 07:58

nextdoorneighbours · 22/10/2023 07:56

it really doesn't, easy enough to check out a few pictures of the most stressful places in the world to live - it doesn't make people put on weight!

So there isn't a single overweight person in a war-torn country? What a sweeping generalisation you're making. Stress CAN cause weight gain, there's been plenty of scientific research done on the subject.

nextdoorneighbours · 22/10/2023 08:03

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 07:58

So there isn't a single overweight person in a war-torn country? What a sweeping generalisation you're making. Stress CAN cause weight gain, there's been plenty of scientific research done on the subject.

Show quote history

of course there are some, but fewer than we have here!

"stress" is an excuse and there is no evidence that it causes any weight gain.

There is some evidence that some of the effects of stress might, such as insomnia,

But in and off itself, no.

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 08:11

nextdoorneighbours · 22/10/2023 08:03

of course there are some, but fewer than we have here!

"stress" is an excuse and there is no evidence that it causes any weight gain.

There is some evidence that some of the effects of stress might, such as insomnia,

But in and off itself, no.

Show quote history

There is a wealth of evidence out there if you can be bothered to look, which you clearly can't. When a person is living in a state of chronic stress, continually worried and in fight or flight response, their body is flooded with cortisol and it reaches a level when it negatively impacts other hormones like leptin, which regulates appetite and fat storage. Of course, it's not everyone who reacts like that – some people when they're stressed can't eat and therefore lose weight.

Or is your argument really that stress in the UK doesn't count compared to more troubled nations? Because it's all relative – we might not be dodging bombs, but our current CoL crisis is triggering horrendous and damaging amounts of stress in many people, myself included.

roughtyping · 22/10/2023 08:31

Hi @pumpkintits (love the name!)

Totally get you. I really want to lose weight and have been trying for over a year but the loss is negligible. I know exactly why - I binge when I'm stressed and I'm always stressed. The only time stress causes me to not eat is when it makes me ill in every way - really extreme stress, not my day to day level.

I have no advice other than for me, I need to be in the right head space and then it works - SW works for me although I really dislike the concept of it all. I really would like to get some sort of therapy to sort me out with eating but unlikely!

Frasers · 22/10/2023 08:55

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 08:11

There is a wealth of evidence out there if you can be bothered to look, which you clearly can't. When a person is living in a state of chronic stress, continually worried and in fight or flight response, their body is flooded with cortisol and it reaches a level when it negatively impacts other hormones like leptin, which regulates appetite and fat storage. Of course, it's not everyone who reacts like that – some people when they're stressed can't eat and therefore lose weight.

Or is your argument really that stress in the UK doesn't count compared to more troubled nations? Because it's all relative – we might not be dodging bombs, but our current CoL crisis is triggering horrendous and damaging amounts of stress in many people, myself included.

Show quote history

You still need to be consuming the calories and more than you expand, there is no way round this scientific fact.

QueenieMe · 22/10/2023 09:24

Frasers · 22/10/2023 08:55

You still need to be consuming the calories and more than you expand, there is no way round this scientific fact.

Show quote history

That's not been my experience though and it sounds like it's no OP's either. I've very specifically cut my calorie intake since Jan (portion control, logging) and I'm already a pretty healthy eater, cook from scratch etc, yet I have gained weight. The only negative factor has been the enormous amount of stress I've been under.

Paltrypam · 22/10/2023 09:26

@QueenieMe the op has been overweight for decades. So has she been stressed constantly for decades?

either way - stress may well play a part but fgs don’t use it as an excuse.

Original poster
pumpkintits · 22/10/2023 09:32

I have always been overly harsh on myself when it comes to my weight, comes from having an abusive parent who picked on me for my weight from a young age. I feel like throwing in the towel and saying what's the point, but my knees have started to hurt and I know it will be my weight so I really can't give up.

I'm nearly 17 stone and tall, so it takes a lot of calories to get me here and I feel like what I eat does not justify being that weight. I know how I gained the weight back, because I was binging and eating shit, I'm not confused about that part as the answer was obvious, but what does confuse me is how I am still at the that weight despite stopping the binging and going back to what I know has worked for me before.

When I track my calories I aim for about 1700 (according to TDEE calculator this should be what I need to eat to lose 1.5lbs a week). I would lose a couple of lbs over a few weeks, then all of a sudden gain 4lbs whilst having no idea why.

I then think "it's ok, it's water weight" so I continue on, lose the 4lbs over the next few weeks and then it happens again.
The only thing I don't track is vegetables and salad (with the exception of parsnips, corn, carrots) but maybe I do need to track absolutely everything? I hate the thought of having to do that as we cook mostly from scratch so having to weigh everything, work out how many portions it makes, weigh it and work out the weight per portion etc is a pain in the bum!

OP posts:
Paltrypam · 22/10/2023 09:35

I think that your first port of call needs to be therapy to address your relationship with food alongside a more conscious effort to reduce the junk but not a diet alongside an increase in movement by waking more outside

baby steps

to make this manageable and long term

Paltrypam · 22/10/2023 09:36

Do you have children op?

RudsyFarmer · 22/10/2023 09:36

It’s going to depend on age, sex and hormones. My suspicions are that it will be hormones and low carbing and fasting will get you there. It honestly tends to be the thing that always does even if you religiously calorie count. For some people the carbs are just the enemy (I wish they weren’t).

RudsyFarmer · 22/10/2023 09:37

ive dropped weight in the last few months through fasting and increasing exercise. I know that if I increase protein and lower carbs alongside fasting will drop some more. So that’s the plan. I don’t calorie count.