Can’t Lose Weight Permanently Over 40? Do You Know An Inconvenient Truth?

“My days are very hectic”. “I’m always on the go”. “There is too much to do”. Could that be you? And what has it to do with losing weight permanently over 40?

Stress can be a good thing. Stress hormones put ourselves on the fast track, we are energetic and powerful. Short time stress is good- but being stressed out all the time can make you sick: Heart attacks, diabetes, high blood pressure are linked with stress.

Even worse: Stress makes you fat and prevents you from losing weight permanently. Constant stress promotes fat storage on your belly and your hips- “stress fat”. Stress fat is the body’s energy pool to react physically in stressful situations.

Unfortunately, nowadays our reactions to stressful situations do not need to be physical any more- we do not have to run away from or fight wild animals. Today, our reactions need to be mental. So the stress fat sits on our bodies and doesn’t get burned. Especially for women stress fat increases the risk for heart diseases, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, strokes, diabetes and cancer.

The adrenal glands release Adrenalin in stressful situations. Your metabolism slows down to make more energy available and the blood sugar level rises. Under permanent stress you burn fewer calories, preventing you from losing weight permanently. In addition, fluctuating blood sugar levels will cause hunger- forcing you to eat more although you burn less.

Even worse: stress releases Cortisol, a hormone affecting your immune system, muscles and bones. Your risk to catch an infectious disease is heightened, muscle mass reduces and bone density is getting less.

Cortisol has another dangerous effect threatening your ability to lose weight permanently. When your stress level reduces, the body’s energy storage system wants to be filled up. In this situation, Cortisol wakes up your appetite and gives you a voracious appetite. Have you ever noticed that in stress-reducing, relaxing phases you don’t desire vegetables or fish, but high-calorie food, like sweets, ice cream, chocolate or cookies?

The longer fat cells are exposed to high Cortisol levels, the sensitive they become. This process leads to a growing number of fat cells- not a good outlook if you want to lose weight permanently.

Constant stress means constant hunger at a reduced metabolism. As we grow older typically our responsibilities increase, and with the responsibilities comes stress. To lose weight permanently over 40 you’ll need to reduce stress.

Especially for women over 40 it’s very hard to lose weight permanently when the stress level is high. Stressed out women over 40 tend to have periods where they are eating too little, and periods where they are eating too much. This leads to fluctuating weight making it hard to lose weight permanently for women over 40.

My top 10 lifestyle-tips to lose weight permanently over 40 will help you to reduce your stress level and make it easy to lose weight permanently over 40.

Are you interested in a weight loss program that adjusts to your specific situation? Have a look here:

Are you a woman over 40? Do you want to lose weight permanently? Signup for your free, personalized “Lose Weight Permanently” program. I answer your questions individually. Click here now.

Recommended reading:

• Stressed? Relax Into Losing Weight Permanently
• Women Over 40: Hormones And Weight Loss
• Long Term Thinking And Permanent Weight Loss

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