Les,

Stress isn’t all bad! I’ve lost 10 pounds in the last month because I started working two jobs and go to school. I’m exhausted all the time but at least I can button my jeans.

Waisted

Dear Waisted,

Your pants may fit, but if you’re dragging yourself through work and class, or sick in bed thanks to a fatigued immune system, how much does an inch here or there really matter? Since so many factors including metabolism, physical activity, food sources and medication can impact the way our clothes fit, it’s ultimately impossible to pin your weight change to a specific cause based solely on the info in your question. Substantial weight loss or gain can definitely come from a high stress diet, but it can also be a symptom of illness that you might check with a health care provider.

If your pound purging is stress-induced, here’s betting that life change and meal skipping are key ingredients in your stressed out diet. This is because super-sized situations such as major responsibility and schedule shifts, relationship breakups and bankruptcy tend to diminish appetites and waistlines. Mix your new job(s) with what sounds like a hectic schedule unfit for regular dining, and you’re on your way to weight loss. Conversely, increased eating and weight gain are usually served up by “run-of-the-mill” stressors like routine job and school strain, commuting hassles and everyday money worries.

Your query may be tongue-in-cheek, but you’re right that stress isn’t all bad… as long as it’s balanced by contented calm. Constant and unwanted stress from big and small sources, however, should be spit out and sent back to the kitchen. The exhaustion you report can dull your disease fighting ability, not to mention your work, study and driving skills. Alas, for many, working, going to school, taking care of family, commuting and the like are simultaneous facts of life that can’t always be taken in for alteration. Instead, regular and even brief exercise, meditation, laughter or other stress cycle interruptions can go a long way toward breaking up a stress-fest and its potentially sickening side effects.

Les
1/07