Stress on keto can have a major impact on your weightloss journey, encouraging poor food choices, lack of sleep and exercise.
When we’re feeling under pressure, often our self-care routine goes out the window. Stress eating can be a vicious cycle because you will feel stress again after eating something unhealthy and then want to eat again which will make you feel more stressed out.
The key to breaking this cycle is by learning how to manage stress in healthier ways like exercise or yoga and replacing junk food with keto-safe alternatives.
What does stress affect most in our ketosis state?
- Stress/binge eating unhealthy foods can break your ketogenic state
- When we’re stressed our bodies produce more of the hormone cortisol which can interfere with our ability to fall asleep
- Stress can lead to a lack of self care
What is cortisol and how does it affect keto?
When we’re stressed our bodies produce the hormone cortisol that makes it harder for our bodies to lose weight.
Cortisol is a hormone that tells our body we are in danger and need to prepare for the worst. As a result of this it causes our body to produce more fat cells and store more fat in the cells.
This hormone can also cause weight gain by increasing appetite and reducing the amount of energy we burn. So, it is important to find ways to reduce cortisol levels and lower the risk of breaking our ketogenic state.
How to manage stress on keto?
Here are a few tips to manage stress levels on keto:
- Find keto alternatives for your usual go-to comfort food, like replacing store bought choc-chip cookies with keto cookies!
- Daily movement, even 20 minutes of mild exercise a day can majorly reduce our stress levels, with activities such as walking, yoga or a even a quick workout at home.
- Focus on keeping your body in a healthy sleep routine, with no late caffeine, reduce screen time before bed and aim to go to bed at the same time every night.
Remember that stress is a part of life and we’re all going to experience it at some time or another, but recognising that you are under stress and keeping track of the strategies you need to stay on top of it, you can prevent it affecting your weight loss journey.
If you find you’re regularly dealing with stress such as a stressful job like health care or teaching and you feel it’s having a negative affect on your weight loss, a Keto Coach be in your best interest to help keep you on track and plan your keto diet for you so planning your meals is one less thing on your mind!