Field notes · Men's health basics
Stress and your waistline
Men tell me they eat well and still carry the belly. Often the missing piece is not food. It is the week they are having, every week.
Dai Manuel · Coach Moose · Vancouver
How stress shows up
Mostly through behaviour. Stressed men sleep worse, drink more, snack more at night and skip training because there is no time. Each of those pushes fat gain on its own.
There is also a hormonal piece. Research has linked higher cortisol responses with more fat stored around the middle, though much of the best-known work was done in women, so I hold it loosely.
What helps
Protect sleep first. Train twice a week, because strength training has good evidence for helping how you handle stress. Take five minutes of stillness a day, which is the smallest part of the Whole Life Fitness framework and the one men skip most. And put a hard stop on the workday.
Common questions
- Can stress cause belly fat?
- Chronic stress is linked to belly fat, mainly through worse sleep, more drinking and snacking, and less exercise. Some research also links higher cortisol responses to more abdominal fat.
Sources
- Stress and body shape: cortisol reactivity and central fat. Epel et al., Psychosomatic Medicine, 2000. Conducted in women.
- Exercise treatments for anxiety disorders, network meta-analysis including resistance training.