Having Problems to Lose Weight Permanently Over 40?

"My days are very hectic. I'm always on the go. There is too much to do." Is that a fair description of your life? Does it impact your ability to lose weight permanently over 40?

Stress can be good. Stress hormones put ourselves on the fast track, we are high-energy and powerful. Yet, long time stress is a dangerous health risk: Diabetes, hard attacks, high blood pressure etc. are correlated with stress.

Even worse: Stress makes you heavy and keeps you from losing weight permanently. If you are stressed out all the time, you'll increase your weight on your belly and your hips: stress fat. When your body demands energy, the stress level increases. When our ancestors had to deal with physical challenges, this energy releasing mechanism was very useful.

Unfortunately, today 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 danger 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 accessible and the blood sugar level rises. Under permanent stress you burn fewer calories, preventing you from losing weight permanently. The varying blood sugar levels will lead to feeling hungry- so you'll consume more while burning fewer calories.

Even worse: stress releases cortisol, a hormone affecting your immune system, muscles and bones. It's much riskier to get an contagious disease. The bone density is getting less, making osteoporosis more probable. And the muscle mass is reduced, so you'll burn less fat.

Cortisol has another risky result lowering your ability to lose weight permanently. The body's energy storage is filled up when your stress level is reduced. In this situation, Cortisol wakes up your appetite and gives you a voracious appetite. That's why you like high-calorie food in stress-reduced, relaxing phases- sweets, chocolate, cookies, ice-cream etc.

The longer fat cells are exposed to high cortisol levels, the sensitive they get. The number of fat cells increases because of this process, making it tougher for you to lose weight permanently.

Never-ending stress means never-ending hunger at a decreased metabolism. When we become older we usually accumulate more responsibilities- and consequently more stress. You need to decrease your stress level if you want to lose weight permanently over 40.

If the stress level is high losing weight permanently is peculiarly hard for women over 40. Women over 40 frequently have periods of eating not enough, followed by periods of time of eating too much if they are chronically stressed. This leads to shifting weight making it challenging to lose weight permanently for women over 40.

Lose Weight for Women over 40


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Women over 40: Lose Weight