Can stress make it harder to manage your weight?

Ever wondered why managing your weight can feel harder when you're stressed, exhausted and running on empty? There is a reason for this and it isn't simply about willpower.

Our biology evolved in a world where food wasn't always available and physical threats were very real. Our stress response was designed to help us deal with those challenges.

Think “run away from the sabre-toothed tiger”, rather than “answer 47 emails before lunch.”

Unfortunately, our bodies haven't quite caught up with modern life and your body can't differentiate between what stress is what.

When you experience stress, your body activates its stress response and releases hormones including cortisol and adrenaline. This is a normal and useful response. It helps you stay alert and mobilises energy when you need it.

The problem is what happens when stress becomes chronic.

Work pressures, poor sleep, money worries, relationship difficulties, caring responsibilities (don't know about you I'm definitely part of the sandwich generation), illness, constant notifications and simply having too much to do can all keep your nervous system in a state of heightened alert.

And when you're stressed, you're also more likely to:

Crave highly palatable, energy-dense foods Eat quickly or mindlessly Skip meals and then become ravenous later Sleep badly Have less energy for movement Rely on caffeine or convenience foods Reach for food as a way of rewarding or comforting yourself

So it's not necessarily that stress magically makes your body store fat. It's that chronic stress can influence a whole network of behaviours and biological processes that can make maintaining a healthy weight more difficult.

And then there's sleep. This is a big one. When you're exhausted, everything becomes harder.

Poor sleep can affect appetite-regulating hormones, food choices, energy levels and insulin sensitivity. You're also less likely to feel like cooking a nutritious meal or going for a walk when you've barely slept.

And this can become a cycle:

Stress → poor sleep → increased hunger and cravings → less energy → less movement → more stress.

Sound familiar?

What about your gut? . The gut and brain are in constant communication through the gut–brain axis, and stress can influence gut motility, digestive function and the gut microbiome.

At the same time, what we eat influences our gut microbes.

A diet based heavily around ultra-processed foods and low in fibre can mean we're providing less of the diverse range of fibres and plant compounds that our gut microbes thrive on.

And your microbiome isn't just there to help digest your lunch.

It interacts with your immune system, metabolism and nervous system and produces compounds that can influence many aspects of health.

So supporting your gut is part of supporting your metabolic health and long-term resilience too.

It's impossible to lead an stress-free life. Unless you're planning to leave your job, abandon your family and move to a remote island tomorrow, stress is going to be part of life.

The goal isn't to eliminate it.

It's to give your body enough opportunities to recover from it.

That might mean:

Eating regularly and well rather than skipping meals and then living on coffee and biscuits.

Prioritising protein and fibre to help keep meals satisfying and support muscle and gut health.

Getting enough sleep or, if your sleep isn't great, making it a priority to understand why.

Moving your body, but choosing the type and intensity that works for you. More exercise isn't always better if you're already exhausted.

Getting outside, even for a short walk.

Taking a few minutes to properly switch off. Music, meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, reading, whatever genuinely helps you slow down.

And don't underestimate the power of simply doing nothing for ten minutes.

Your genetics, appetite regulation, hormones, sleep, stress, diet, activity, medications, age, muscle mass and environment can all play a role in weight regulation. So if you've been struggling with your weight, please don't automatically blame yourself. Look at the whole picture. This is why I don't believe in approaching weight, gut health or healthy ageing by focusing on one thing in isolation. Sometimes the answer isn't eat less and exercise more, it's so much more than this...