One of the biggest misconceptions I hear in clinic is, “I hardly eat anything, so why am I still putting on weight?” Very often the answer isn’t simply food. It isn’t always exercise either. One of the biggest factors I see affecting body composition is stress.
The interesting thing is that many people don’t think they’re stressed. They simply believe they’re busy. They’re running a business, looking after ageing parents, juggling children, answering emails at midnight and waking at five o’clock already thinking about everything they have to achieve before the day has even begun.
They have become so used to living under pressure that it feels completely normal. Unfortunately, our biology doesn’t see it that way.
What happens to your body when you are stressed?
When we feel threatened or overwhelmed, the body activates what scientists call the fight-or-flight response.
Thousands of years ago this was a remarkable survival mechanism because it prepared us either to fight danger or run away from it. Our heart rate rises, stress hormones increase, stored energy is made more readily available and the body prepares for physical action.
It is a brilliant system when you are escaping a predator or facing genuine danger.
The problem is that most of us are no longer running away from sabre-toothed tigers.
Instead, we are sitting in traffic, rushing between meetings, worrying about finances, answering emails and constantly trying to keep up with modern life. Our brain often reacts as though these situations are life-threatening, even though we never actually burn off the energy our body has prepared us for.
We remain in a prolonged state of alertness, and over time this can influence our sleep, our mood, our food choices and ultimately our ability to maintain a healthy body composition.
If you would like to understand more about why body composition matters so much, you may also find this article useful: Weight loss vs body composition: why the scales don’t tell the full story.
Why stress can change the way you eat
One of the patterns I have consistently observed after more than sixteen years and over 50,000 client hours is that people living in this constant state of pressure rarely make their best nutritional decisions.
They skip breakfast, work through lunch, eat standing up, snack mindlessly or arrive home completely exhausted.
That is when highly processed starchy and sugary foods become particularly attractive because they provide an immediate sense of comfort and reward.
Bread, pasta, biscuits, cakes, crisps and chocolate are rarely the foods people crave after a relaxing weekend away. They are much more commonly the foods people reach for when they are mentally exhausted.
Why successful weight loss is about more than nutrition
This is why I have always believed successful weight management is about far more than simply telling somebody what to eat.
If nutrition alone solved the problem, everybody would already be their ideal weight.
In reality, our relationship with food is influenced by psychology, habits, emotions, sleep, stress and the way we choose to approach everyday life.
For women in midlife, these pressures can sit alongside changes in hormones, muscle mass and body composition. I explore this in more detail here: Why women over 40 gain weight and how to reverse it.
Are you spending too much time as the Warrior?
One of the thinkers who has had the greatest influence on my work is Carl Jung. Over the years I have found his archetypes incredibly useful for helping clients understand why they feel permanently overwhelmed.
The first is the Warrior.
The Warrior wakes up already preparing for battle. Before their feet have touched the floor, they are mentally writing today’s to-do list.
They are worrying about deadlines, finances, emails, meetings, children, ageing parents and everything else they believe must happen before they are allowed to relax.
They rarely stop because they constantly feel there is something else that needs doing.
Many successful people spend almost every waking hour living as the Warrior.
Years ago that mindset helped our ancestors survive. Today it often leaves us mentally exhausted, emotionally drained and much more likely to seek comfort through food.
How the Magician can help you change perspective
What I encourage instead is spending much more time developing three other parts of ourselves.
The first is the Magician.
The Magician steps back before reacting. Rather than focusing on everything that is wrong, they begin the day by recognising everything that is right.
They practise perspective and gratitude. They understand that two people can experience exactly the same circumstances yet feel completely differently because they choose to interpret them differently.
Why the Lover matters for emotional wellbeing
The second is the Lover.
Many people, particularly professionals and parents, forget that enjoyment is not a luxury. It is essential.
Meeting a friend for lunch, reading a book, painting, gardening, listening to music, walking in the countryside or attending a yoga class are not signs of laziness. They are investments in mental wellbeing.
When we allow ourselves time to recover, we often become calmer, think more clearly and make better nutritional decisions.
How the Monarch helps you prioritise
The third is the Monarch, the strategist.
The Monarch asks a very different question.
Instead of asking, “How will I possibly do everything today?” they ask, “What are the four things that genuinely matter today?”
Once those priorities have been completed, they give themselves permission to stop.
The emails can wait. The dishwasher can wait. The world does not end because every spare minute has not been filled with another task.
What happens when you stop living in constant survival mode?
One of the most powerful changes I see in appointments is when clients stop living almost entirely as the Warrior and begin dividing their lives more equally between the Magician, the Lover and the Monarch.
They often sleep better, feel calmer, enjoy life more and, perhaps most importantly, stop relying on food to compensate for emotional exhaustion.
Why nutrition still matters when stress is high
Nutrition still plays a crucial role.
I continue encouraging clients to build meals around protein, healthy fats and fibrous carbohydrates such as vegetables, salads, herbs, spices, pulses, seeds and fruit because these foods help support energy, satiety and healthy body composition.
However, the best nutritional advice in the world becomes much easier to follow when somebody is no longer permanently operating in survival mode.
If you are interested in how food choices can influence appetite and food noise, you may also find this article helpful: Food noise after Mounjaro: why it comes back and how to manage it.
Does stress directly cause weight gain?
One of the biggest myths is that stress directly causes weight gain.
I believe the picture is more complex than that.
What I consistently observe is that stress changes behaviour. We sleep less, rush more, crave quick-reward foods more often and give ourselves very little opportunity to recover.
Those behaviours repeated day after day can make maintaining a healthy weight feel far harder than it needs to be.
How to make weight loss feel easier again
The encouraging news is that this is completely reversible.
Just as we can improve body composition through nutrition and resistance exercise, we can also change the way we respond to stress.
We may never remove stress from our lives completely, but we can choose not to spend every waking hour living as the Warrior.
For me, successful weight management has never simply been about calories. It has always been about understanding people.
When we learn to nourish both our body and our mind, healthy choices become easier, food loses its emotional hold and lasting change becomes much more achievable.
That, in my experience, is where real transformation begins.
If you would like more personal support with sustainable weight loss, eating psychology, nutrition and the habits that sit behind long-term change, please get in touch to find out more about working with me.
