How Stress Stops Fat Loss After 40 and What to Do

Nikkiey: Stress plays a huge factor in your progress. Are you seeing the progress that you want to see in the state that you are in, being chronically stressed out? Are you putting in all of the work and you're still not seeing the progress, and you know that you're a chronically stressed individual? Well, then something needs to change.

What's up, you guys? Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show. I'm Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 237.

Today, my friends, we're going to talk about something that I feel could be the reason why you're struggling with your fat loss, if you are, or struggling to see the progress that you want to see. And you may not even realize it. You could be tracking your macros. You could be absolutely crushing your workouts. You could be doing everything right, but you're not seeing the scale budge. Your progress seems like it's stalling. Pictures don't look any different from last week to four weeks ago to six weeks ago. On top of this, you could be feeling exhausted. You could be feeling bloated. You could be feeling like, I'm putting all this time in for nothing. And you could be constantly craving sugar, sweets, all of the bad foods.

Does that sound familiar? What if I told you the missing piece to your fat loss puzzle doesn't require you to do another workout? It isn't you having to tweak your diet, or having to go do more cardio, or having to cut your calories even lower. The missing piece to your fat loss puzzle could be your stress levels.

I want you by the end of this podcast to understand that stress plays a huge factor in your progress. If you are dealing with chronic stress day to day, that could be the thing that is keeping you stuck. It messes with your hormones. It messes with your metabolism. It starts turning you into a cravings monster. You start to have these crazy cravings.

So today what I want to break down with you is, one, how stress impacts your body and how that sabotages your fat loss. Number two, how overtraining might actually be making things hella worse. And number three, what you can do to lower your stress levels and finally start to see the results that you're working so hard for. Because at the end of the day, I want you to reap the rewards of your efforts. The missing piece could be this one thing that you're struggling with, but maybe your eyes are just set on the goal and wanting to see the changes, and you're hitting all your workouts, you're hitting your macros, but we're not addressing this one thing. I want you to be able to walk away from this podcast today knowing how to adjust this one thing, and even just asking, is this you, and is this impacting you?

All right. First things first: what actually happens in your body when you're stressed? When your body perceives stress, whether it's from work, from a lack of sleep, or from overtraining, it triggers your fight-or-flight response. That means your adrenal glands are releasing cortisol, almost like a waterfall, and cortisol is your stress hormone.

So you're in fight-or-flight on a daily basis from work, or from relationships, or from lack of sleep, or from overtraining, or from under-eating. And your adrenals are like, let me just keep pushing out waterfall amounts of cortisol. Cortisol isn't bad in smaller doses. From what I understand and know about cortisol, it's actually super essential for your energy and for your survival. But when you're chronically stressed, when it's being flushed out in the waterfall amounts I'm talking about, when your body is constantly in that fight-or-flight mode, it starts to work against you.

Here's how. Number one, stress increases fat storage. Especially for those of you who notice that as you continue to age, more stressors keep compounding on each other. Maybe you are going through menopause, or maybe you're not even in menopause and there are just the day-to-day stressors of life. You'll notice this around your belly. Do you ever notice that when life gets super stressful, your midsection starts to hold more fat? This is what's happening. The cortisol is increasing fat storage, especially in that abdominal area. Your body is literally holding onto fat as a survival mechanism. As these waterfall amounts of cortisol pour into your body from your adrenal glands, because your body is constantly in this fight-or-flight response, it's going to increase your fat storage, and it's going to happen around your midsection.

That's one: stress increases fat storage. Number two, and this is probably close to number one, which a lot of you may experience, is that it messes with your metabolism. Cortisol makes your body less sensitive to insulin, which can lead to higher blood sugar levels and make it harder to burn fat. So instead of using food as fuel, your body stores more of it as fat, particularly when stress is never-ending, when it's chronic, when you've been living in this state of fight-or-flight for so long and it's compounded over so many years and you haven't addressed it.

These are reasons why you're probably not seeing the progress that you want, because stress is basically overpowering how well you're doing with your macros. It's overpowering how well you're doing with your workouts, because there's this underlying factor that hasn't been addressed. It's storing abdominal fat, it's messing with your metabolism, it's making you keep more of this body fat for survival, and also for fuel when you're doing these types of workouts or going into the day-to-day of your fitness programming and your regime.

Another thing it does is crash your energy and increase your cravings. If you've ever felt drained and then immediately reached for processed carbs or candy or sugar, that is basically cortisol being in control. What happens here is that high stress drives up your cravings because your body wants quick energy from foods that will give it to you, which usually come from processed foods or sugar or candy.

And at this point, this isn't about willpower. This isn't about you trying to step up and say, no, I'm not going to do this. This is literally cortisol in control. Your cravings are in control here, and it's your body's way of looking for fuel fast. So again, you could be so in control of all of the things you are trying to do, which is eating better and tracking your macros and getting your workouts in and getting enough sleep and all the other things.

But the stress you're experiencing day to day has compounded so much, and you're constantly in this state of survival. Your body recognizes this. It feels this. Your body is so smart. So if it's constantly in this state, all of what you are trying to do to get the progress you want is going to be overshadowed by cortisol. It's controlling the narrative for you, if I'm trying to make this make sense in layman's terms.

Later in this podcast you're going to get some tactical takeaways to be able to do things a little bit differently and better. And what I ask when we get to that point is that you actually consider doing something different. Because if this is you, and you're living in fight-or-flight, and you're not seeing the progress that you want, this is the missing puzzle piece that needs to be addressed. It's controlling the narrative.

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Because cortisol is being flushed out in waterfall amounts, it's increasing fat storage. It's making your body less sensitive to insulin. And it's pumping the cravings higher and higher, because your body wants fuel and wants it fast.

And the last thing is that if you're in fight-or-flight, you already know that you're not sleeping well, because stress wrecks your sleep, which in turn wrecks your progress. I'm probably going to do another episode on sleep, because it's been a while since I've talked about it, and it's definitely something that's underrated in the fitness space and doesn't get talked about enough.

But think about it like this: poor sleep equals high cortisol, which equals a slower metabolism, which equals more cravings, which equals harder fat loss. It is a vicious freaking cycle, my friends. And if any of this sounds like exactly what you've been experiencing, please don't worry. This isn't the end of your fat loss journey. You just need to understand how to start managing stress better, as intentionally as you manage your nutrition and your workouts.

As I said, you're doing all those other things right, or you feel like you are. This probably needs to take, if not priority, then equal footing with the other two things, which are nutrition and your workouts.

Hey, while you're listening, if you're getting value from this episode, take a moment to tap that review button or share this podcast with a friend. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in helping more women find their way to feeling stronger and more confident in their skin. I appreciate you so much for taking the time to support this show.

What I want to dive into next is overtraining, which I feel like a decent number of people do, where they train six days a week, seven days a week. I've seen clients want to do six days a week, and I'm cool with that. But on the low, within three to six months of working with me, I'm going to secretly get that number down without you noticing. You're just going to agree with me along the way, because it's in your best interest. We're going to get that number down. I know there are clients who want to do six days a week, but if you have a good coach by your side, in your corner, you're going to realize that halfway through your journey with them, that number got chopped. But if any fitness trainer, willingly, of their own accord, is programming six or seven days a week for you, please run for the hills.

Because here's something that might surprise you: too much exercise can actually add to your stress load and keep you from losing fat. I know you may be thinking from an old-school mindset that says just do more cardio, burn more calories, train harder, or if you don't leave feeling like you died, did you even work out? All of that. But the reality is, more isn't always better. There's a saying we use at WarriorBabe. It's not necessarily a WarriorBabe motto, and I'm sure you've heard it before: less is more. Less is more.

When you overtrain, here's how it backfires on your fat loss. Number one, it increases cortisol levels even more. Your body sees high-intensity training, or training six to seven days a week, as another stressor. If you're already dealing with stress from life or poor sleep, you're adding more stress from excessive exercise. That's going to push you into a state of chronic inflammation and burnout. You're going to want to give up at that point.

Number two, it causes you to lose muscle. If your body is overly stressed out, it will start breaking down muscle tissue for energy instead of burning fat. Muscle is what keeps your metabolism high, so losing it will only make fat loss harder. So if you're constantly stressed out, constantly overtraining, constantly not getting enough sleep, and you're looking in the mirror wondering why you're not seeing progress, it's because your muscle is being broken down for energy instead of you burning fat. Muscle is an active tissue. Muscle doesn't stop. Muscle keeps your metabolism going and going and going. The more muscle you have, the stronger your metabolism. So if you're losing it, it's only going to make this whole thing that much harder for you.

And the last thing: you're going to feel constantly sore and constantly tired. If you're never fully recovering, if you are constantly working out, constantly doing high-intensity training over and over again, and you're not taking the time to fully recover, it's a sign that your body is overdoing it. More isn't better. More isn't better. It's about being smart, like that saying, train smarter, not harder.

In that regard, for fat loss, you need to prioritize strength training over doing too much cardio. You need to make recovery a priority, like taking at least two days off a week. One of those days can be an active recovery day. What I mean by active recovery is doing yoga, or mobility training, or stretching, or going out for a walk. Listen to your body. That's how you train smarter, not harder. To achieve fat loss, you need to prioritize strength training, you need to prioritize recovery, and you need to listen to your body. If your body is really sore, getting a lighter workout in or extra sleep will do more for your progress than pushing through exhaustion. Okay?

I know some of you are hearing that, and it's going to be so hard for you to do. But look at it this way. Are you seeing the progress that you want to see in the state that you are in, being chronically stressed out? Are you putting in all of the work and you're still not seeing the progress, and you know that you're a chronically stressed individual? Well, then something needs to change. I understand, and I fully feel you, that hearing me say you need to dial it back a little may feel uncomfortable. But at what cost?

Are you willing to be uncomfortable to get better results? Are you willing to figure out where the stress is coming from so you can address it? Once it's addressed head on, you can deal with it, and that's going to lead to better results. Right?

So now that you know how stress is a major roadblock in your fat loss, what can you actually do about it? I want to give you three or four ways, and you can take one of those today, that are going to help you lower your stress, balance your cortisol, and finally let your body respond to all of the work that you're putting in. Because again, at the end of the day, you want to reap the rewards of your efforts and see progress. So if you're doing everything right, like I've been saying, and you're not seeing the results, and you know you're a chronically stressed individual, you need to take one of these things I'm going to share with you and put it into action.

The first thing: you've probably heard your coach say this. If you work with a coach, you've probably heard me say this. You have to prioritize your sleep, my friends. Your progress depends on it, because it seriously does. And I don't want to hear it. Those of you who get five hours of sleep a night, where can you dial it back in your day-to-day to give yourself an extra hour or two? Start there. Then try to get to seven, eight, nine hours of quality sleep each night.

And look, I feel you, those of you who say, I only sleep five hours a night because of work or kids and responsibilities. Let me remind you that when I first started my fitness journey, about 10 years ago now, I was in a state of, I guess you could say, chronic stress, but more so in the responsibilities of my day-to-day. I was working in the emergency room locally as my part-time job. I was also going to nursing school full time.

At the same time, I was taking care of my sick grandmother, who had a stroke, and I took care of her in the morning, the afternoon and at night. On top of that, I was preparing for my first bodybuilding competition. I don't have kids. Many of you maybe have kids, and that's a responsibility. But I can understand how busy life gets. During that time, I understood that in order to get the progress I wanted to see, I had to be better with my time, with time management in my day, to successfully accomplish all the things I was doing and still make sure I got good quality sleep at night, at least seven to eight hours. I think I was at more like six, but then I bumped it to seven.

I stopped watching TV at night. I went to bed earlier. I woke up a little earlier. I started expanding the hours at bedtime or when waking up, and taking away things that didn't align with where I wanted to go, like scrolling on Instagram or watching TV, or whatever it is that may be eating up time you could spend winding down and going to bed. So aim for seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night.

Another recommendation I can make is about the environment you sleep in. I've talked about this on the podcast a couple of times before, but at around 6 p.m., or whenever the sun starts to go down and it gets darker, my whole living area gets dimmer. It's not bright or cold light. It goes to more of a warm color, almost orange. This helps limit the bright light exposure I get before bed.

You can do that. And also, get off your phone. That blue light exposure is making it harder for you to get effective sleep. Over time, to get better sleep, you're going to want to first pull out what's not supporting you. Stop scrolling, put your phone away, stop watching TV 20 minutes earlier. Then you can incorporate a wind-down routine: journal, do breathing, whatever helps you relax. But you don't need to do this all at once.

Just try to do something tonight. Go to bed 20 minutes earlier and start there. Do that for a week. Then gradually add another five or ten minutes, getting to 25 to 30 minutes before bed. Then focus on your true quality of sleep. Okay.

Another thing, which is pretty self-explanatory, is to fuel your body with the right foods. Eat enough. If you've been chronically dieting, that can be just as stressful as overtraining. So prioritize protein. Choose healthy foods, whole foods. Eat enough. If you're in a fight-or-flight response and you're not giving your body the nutrition it needs, you're just adding more stress. You're adding more fuel to the stress fire.

The third thing I would tell you, and I think I do have a fourth one for you, is to manage your mental stress. This is way harder to do, but I believe you can do it. I know you can. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it and you get a little uncomfortable to make yourself more comfortable.

That means setting boundaries. If work, social media or toxic relationships are draining you, then you need to create some type of space. I recognized over the last couple of months, while I've been on my own personal journey, that social media was eating me alive. It's why you've probably noticed that I'm not on it as much as I used to be. I used to post 15, 20 stories a day, like, yo, what's up guys, how you doing? I've taken it to this podcast because I feel like I can elongate my thoughts here.

At the same time, social media was exhausting. And this is the first time I'm ever sharing this, but I sought external validation from social media. How many likes did I get? Who's in my DMs? Who's seen my stories? Who hearted it? That's not a good space to be in. So I needed to create a boundary. I needed to create space for my mental well-being.

If you need to do that too, do that. Because let me tell you, you'll sleep much better at night when you have those types of healthy boundaries supporting you.

Another way to manage your mental stress is to breathe. I've noticed that I don't breathe throughout the day. I do, obviously, because I'm living, but I don't recognize that I'm breathing. So let me take a second and just focus on a breath. Focus on three breaths. Focus on nine breaths. Whatever is going to help you midday, just take a breath for your mental sanity. Those simple techniques can lower cortisol in literal minutes. For me, just taking a breath... everyone, take a breath with me. Wow. Do you feel that shift? Do you feel a little more aware? More present? A little calmer? It makes a huge difference. Do that more often in your day.

The fourth thing I would say is to stop overloading yourself with unrealistic expectations. Your body is hella smart. It is a machine in certain regards, but in this respect, it is not a machine. You can't outwork chronic stress. You need to put into practice some of the things I've been sharing with you in this podcast to help manage your stress levels better, so that you can see the progress you want.

Fat loss isn't just about hitting your macros and doing everything right with your workouts, crushing it and showing up. It's also about the environment you create for your body. Like I said, this could be the missing puzzle piece and you don't even know it. I'm hoping this podcast brings some awareness or light to that. Hey, I'm chronically stressed. I'm always in fight-or-flight mode. I have abdominal fat. I'm constantly craving things, even though I'm putting in hard work.

My metabolism feels wrecked. I don't feel like I'm recovering well. It's not that you need to tweak your diet. It's not that you need to do more workouts and more cardio. It's like, yo, let me try to prioritize some strategies to reduce my stress. Okay?

Because here's the big takeaway. Fat loss isn't just about macros. It's not just about workouts. It's also not just about consistency. It's about managing your stress. If you've been stuck in a plateau despite doing everything right, ask yourself: Am I prioritizing my recovery? Am I fueling my body properly? Am I taking care of my emotional and mental health? Because your body won't let go of fat if it thinks it's in survival mode.

And survival mode is a real freaking thing. A lot of people live in survival mode. If you can switch over to thriving mode, which again is a harder thing to do, and a way deeper concept, thought process and journey than will fit in this episode... if you can give your body enough sleep, hydrate it, fuel it right, manage your stress levels, breathe a little more, move your body a little more with mobility work or yoga or things like that, that's how you can start to enter thriving mode, step by step.

So this week, I want you to focus on this. Instead of thinking, what else can I do? I feel like I'm doing everything right. Should I tweak my macros? Should I cut my carbs? Just ask yourself, how can I support my body better? And I promise, when you give your body what it actually needs, you'll start seeing the results you've been working for. Okay?

If this podcast hit home, please share it with someone who needs to hear it too. And if you're ready to ditch stress, if you're ready to finally make progress in a way that feels sustainable, what we do at WarriorBabe is all-encompassing. It's not just macros. It's not just workouts. It's not just, here's your plan and calendar, go follow this. We meet our babes where they're at when they join us. We get the whole picture of your lifestyle. How stressed are you? Why are you stressed? What does work look like for you? Do you have support systems around you? What does that look like? We get down to the bare bones of understanding you as a human and what's going to fuel you best, with a personalized plan for you in all of those areas.

Okay? So check out WarriorBabe if you're ready to finally ditch the stress and make progress in a way that feels sustainable. All right? Until next time, ask yourself this question: How can I support my body better? Take care of your body, and it will take care of you. All right? Love you guys. Peace out. See you in the next episode.

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