With fat loss, eating and exercise are two of the more obvious pillars to implement into your life, but there are two more pillars that are often overlooked, and extremely underrated,
Today we tackle one that has become more prevalent in today’s hustle society.
Here’s a common scenario though:
You can exercise all you want, and eat great, and still not lose body fat.
Why?
You have a major project at work to finish, and your kid has a game tonight, and your partner has a work event tomorrow, and you have to find time to clean the bathroom, and you forgot to get a card for your grandma’s birthday, and, and, and….
You’re stressed the F**k out
Exercise and nutrition are crucial, but stress can quietly sabotage your fat loss. Here are just a few ways stress can impact your fitness goals:
- When stressed we tend to seek out “comfort foods” that are typically salty, sugary, and/or fatty. This can lead to overeating and more calorie consumption.
- Stress can lead to other comforting habits such as alcohol consumption, smoking, or increased inactivity.
- Sleep is largely disrupted during stressful times, affecting our energy levels for workouts and hormones for hunger/satiety when it comes to nutrition.
- Chronic stress can negatively impact your physical activity
What are some ways we can battle stress?
Set a schedule for yourself
People tend to take on too much in their daily lives, and beat themselves up when they can’t be superman.
Setting a schedule for yourself can be an excellent way to reduce time wasters, and set your priorities for the day. Remember Parkinson’s law – a task will fill the time allotted, so without a schedule some “30-minute” tasks end up taking all night if you let it.
It might sound silly but scheduling in relaxation time, and actually relaxing instead of scrolling on social media and stressing out about the state of the world, can be an effective way to ensure you’re taking a much-needed breath.
This may not always work, especially when you have children, but it can be a great way to set boundaries for yourself, and allow yourself to say no when you’re feeling overbooked.
Brain Dump
You can call this journaling if you want, but during times of high stress we tend to think of all the things that we need to get done, and how it’s going to ruin your life if you don’t do them right now.
This can lead to analysis paralysis, where we have too many thoughts going at once and can’t seem to figure out where to start.
One of the best things you can do is externalize your thoughts.
Put all your thoughts, worries, tasks lists, or hard decisions down on paper. Dump everything out, and as you do, have conversations with yourself about each item.
Many times, you’ll find a solution to the problem you have, learn that the problem might not be as drastic as you made it out to be, or at least you end up with a list of things you can get done over the next few days.
Get it out of your head and onto paper.
Learn To Relax Better.
Again, I don’t mean lay on the couch with Netflix on the background while scrolling Tiktok.
I mean genuinely do things that relax you, or that you enjoy doing. Read a book, write a story, paint, create music, go for a walk, do a fun family activity, have a bath, or do a hobby you genuinely enjoy doing.
There’s a time for mindless tasks like scrolling social media or rewatching The Office for the 13th time—but too often, we skip the things that actually help us unwind.
PS – Disconnecting from social media as much as possible is one of the best ways to learn how to relax.
Learn New Techniques To Relax
Learning how to destress your body is a skill. Trying meditation, yoga, or different breathing techniques can all relax our body and dial down our stress responses.
In fact, why don’t you take a deep breath right now, let your shoulders sink down, and unclench your jaw.
Reduce Your Fat Loss Efforts
This might seem counterintuitive to what we are aiming for… but during times of high stress, it’s going to be counterproductive to put your body under even more stress.
Resistance training is a stressor on the body, as is being in a caloric deficit. Instead of pushing harder, consider a temporary shift: eat at maintenance calories and focus on movement that feels good.
This will keep you consistent with your fitness routine and allow you to be a little more flexible with your diet to feel better overall.
Wrapping Up
There are many other ways you can address your stress, like seeking therapy, connecting with family/friends, practicing gratitude, or reframing your thought processes.
The important part here is to de-stress. Our nervous system has two modes: Fight or Flight, and Feed or Breed. We spend way too much time in the fight or flight (aka sympathetic state) than we do in feed or breed (parasympathetic state). To get the most out of your fat loss efforts, ditching stress is going to help out immensely. For more tips, check out this previous article
For a free no BS checklist to help you with your fat loss goals – click here
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Choose To Live Your Life To The Fullest,
Rich,
Edmonton Personal Trainer & Online Fitness Coach
Become An Everyday Athlete
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