Stress and Weight Loss

I’ve been watching videos by Dr. Eric Berg on Youtube and he goes into great lengths about stress, cortisol, which is the stress hormone, and how it affects weight loss. And one thing that he said is that the effects of stress can come from a very early age. He asked the audience to think back to when they first began gaining weight and what stresses may have happened then. It could have been trauma, loss, change, etc.

Mine began when I was very young, around 5. I had Reyes Syndrome and was in a coma for a week. That was the trauma. Then the change happened. Everyone began treating me like I was a fragile doll that would get sick and die. I couldn’t run around like children do, I wasn’t allowed to help in the kitchen, do housework, play with friends or cousins. It was always “must not excite the child.” This continued until I was around 12 years old. After that, came the loss. Instead of being the child everyone kept an eye on, I was completely ignored by my parents, siblings, other family members, and even friends. AND, I was an overweight child, at least 20-30 lbs heavier than my classmates.

However, my entire life has been one trauma, loss or change after another. And stress upon stress. Dr. Berg says this wears down the adrenal glands. Mine must be non-existent and probably why I cannot lose this stomach.

Right now, I live in the least stressful of circumstances than I ever have, and yet I still stress over money, people, my weight/health, and my “woe is me” moments. My heart races, my mind won’t shut off, and I don’t sleep very well. It’s no wonder cortisol hangs on to me like glue.

Here’s an excellent example of how people stress me out. I have a long-time friend who is extremely selfish. She cares only about “what’s in it for me,” and not two cents about how she affects others. Back in July, I ended our friendship. I was just done with her selfishness. Two days ago, she emailed me again. It is a month away from her birthday and this is one girl who LOVES her birthday gifts. I had a feeling she would be in contact the closer it got to her birthday and I was right. She wants to begin our friendship again, but she is not even willing to apologize for what caused it to end. Instead, she deflects back to me and puts the blame on me. Normally, being the kind-hearted soul (or push-over) that I am, I would just sweep it under the rug (all the while worrying about it night after night instead of sleeping) and accept her back. Not this time.

I am finally taking charge of my stress. No more negative people in my life. As Dr. Berg said, there are people who lift you up and people who drag you down. I need lifters, not downers.

Now to get this adrenal gland of my to start working better! That’s my next target.