THE STRESS LOOP

PART 1 OF 2: IDENTIFYING THE BREAKABLE CYCLES

Cognition

Stress spares no prisoners, especially in the mind and specifically with self-regulation. Stress also negatively influences problem-solving skills, planning, organizing and the ability to focus and manage your emotions.

Behaviors

Stress influences eating, physical activity and sleep. All these behaviors all have their own feedback loops, too.

As the researchers state: “Lack of sleep can hinder physical activity, and lack of physical activity can disrupt sleep.”

Physiology

The researchers outline three ways stress might affect you physiologically:

• It increases stress hormones. This can make you want to eat more, and can also tell your body to store fat.

• Stress increases your brain’s appetite for “rewards” — feel-good chemicals such as dopamine. These can drive you to eat foods that are highly palatable (sugar and fat) or seek out alcohol or drugs.

• Stress may negatively affect your microbiome – a fancy name for the microorganisms in our digestive tracts – which could make you more susceptible to weight gain.