Working Out But Gaining Weight? Surprise You Might Be Doing Too Much!

You’ve cranked up your training from half marathon mileage to run your first marathon or maybe your 20th, either way you’re putting in the miles, making great food choices {minus that well earned post long run burger} and yet that damn scale keeps going up.

What gives?!

This seems to be an oddly familiar cycle for a growing number of athletes who are piling on the miles in addition to the rest of their already jam packed days of work and family, which means it’s nice to know you’re not alone.

But a bad sign that we’re all finding ourselves trying to climb out of a hole rather than seeing progress for our efforts.Endurance athletes tend to have a higher threshold for pain (and stress) which leads us to believe that we are “handling it all just fine”.  In reality our bodies are physiologically unable to respond to a consistently high level of cortisol.

Chronically high levels of cortisol lead to weight gain despite all your efforts! Let’s dig in so you can understand this tricky little hormone and what to do about it to get back on track, optimize your recovery and continue enjoying those runs.

Understanding Cortisol

First things first, a little bit of science, but I promise to keep is simple!

Here is an overview of how cortisol should rise and fall throughout the day, plus an interesting bit on the impact of food as well. Testing
If you do decide to get tested, it’s important to get a FULL day.

You need to see what your levels are at different times per the above graphic. Many doctors will just take your AM Cortisol, but that’s not a true picture of what your body is doing. This graph provides some examples of ranges to help when you get those test results back.Testing is really easy, it’s often done as a saliva test.

Morning
Cortisol levels should be elevated to increase alertness. If you struggle to wake up in the morning, hit the snooze button multiple times, or need several cups of coffee to get yourself moving then chances are your morning cortisol levels are abnormally low.

Evening
Cortisol levels should naturally decline to help us prepare for sleep. Excessive cortisol from stimulants, stress, “busyness” prohibit melatonin production making it hard to fall asleep or get in to a deep sleep.

Following are the impacts of allowing our stress {life and training} to go unchecked:

• Prevents short term memory from transferring to long term
• “tired but wired” feeling
• Decreased metabolism {gaining abdominal fat}
• Increased bone loss
• Inhibits pituitary function
• Higher inflammation
• Lowered immune system {frequently sick}
• Mood swings, anxiety, depression

Unfortunately, as athletes by the time we begin showing symptoms we’re usually in the later stages of adrenal fatigue. A result of having been overloaded with cortisol for too long. Sound like you? Read this!

Great visual from Dr Axe on the symptoms.

Regulating Cortisol

If you’re showing symptoms, it’s easy to make changes right away to give your adrenals some much needed love. Consider it a bonus to putting some effort in to your recovery plan.

The saliva test was really helpful as I figured out my own hormone imbalances. My cortisol will always run high do to no estrogen, which is what prompted me to try low heart rate training as it allows me to run while keeping my physical stress in check and thus my cortisol from running too high.

Ways to regulate your cortisol:

• SLEEP, at least 7-8 hours
• In bed by 11pm to help restore natural circadian rhythms
• Eat nutrient dense foods {lots of greens, vegetables, fruits}
• Eat good fats {coconut oil, avocado, nuts}
• Eat enough food to fuel your lifestyle, being too low in calories for too long is a big stressor
• Stop using stimulants like coffee
• Support digestion with probiotics and fermented foods
• Address life stress {make changes, meditate, understand mindfulness}
• Consistent moderate exercise
• Focus on rest days and post workout recovery meals
• Rhodiola is a natural herb he recommended in the morning to kick start levels {it’s part of why I use the Vega pre-workout}
• Talk with a doctor for a specific protocol

I think we’ve all heard that stress makes it harder to lose weight, but as athletes we assumed that simply didn’t apply to us…turns out maybe it applies even more.

It’s one reason I couldn’t agree more with Kindal’s decision not to run a marathon. Balancing training, a job and a family will never be a perfect equation, but there does have to be some give an take to keep your body humming along.

This certainly isn’t meant to be an exhaustive study of adrenal fatigue or to say that your eating habits aren’t the cause of a little extra weight, but hopefully to make us all more aware that stress isn’t just a bad day at the office…plus really isn’t de-stressing the best task you’ve been assigned lately?!

Other Weight Gain Causes

If you’re positive you aren’t over doing it or don’t have any of the signs listed above of high cortisol, but you’re still gaining weight, these are a few other common causes:

• Overdoing it on healthy foods (yup it’s possible)
• Eating foods that are “healthy” but which you have an intolerance too, leading to bloating
• Not getting enough sleep, which means craving more sugar
• Thyroid levels that are out of whack (read this book to really understand what to ask your doctor)
• Over estimating your calorie burn or calorie needs

How do you regulate your stress?

Do you try to balance workout and life stress?

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