Losing weight can be a stressful process and if you are chronically under stress (personal, professional, psychosocial, physical, etc.), it can prove to be an uphill battle. Studies have found a direct link between stress and weight gain, hence stress can become a bane in multiple ways – it can not only prevent weight loss, it can add extra pounds too. You can have literally nothing on your plate but if stress is on your mind, shedding extra fat layers can become quite difficult. Apart from lowering metabolism, the stress hormone “cortisol” increases appetite, cravings, and also directs the body to store fat around the belly region. The ability to burn fat also flattens out with increase in anxiety and stress. Above normal level of the stress hormone “cortisol” can trigger emotional eating where you tend to lean towards sweet or salty foods to calm the nerves. These foods then trigger the release of “pleasure chemicals” that have a soothing effect and help relax and take the load off. Remember how eating a tub of ice cream can instantly help you loosen up and cool down. The problem is the kind of food we resort to during stressful situations can become addictive and we may seek them out too often, leading to rapid weight gain. Now comes the scary part, the hormone cortisol tends to mobilize fat from other areas of the body to the tummy area, increasing the waist circumference! That’s why it becomes important to beat stress to ...