Tag: weight gain

Regarding core values like religion, work ethic, money, raising children or not… birds of a feather should flock together according to most studies. What about the disparity in putting on the pounds? Is there a "more of you to love" or "you should be wearing a looser-fitting black outfit" mindset?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, "Put a Stop to ‘Do I Look Fat?'" by Elizabeth Bernstein, if a woman outweighs her male counterpart there will most likely be tension in the relationship (in some cultures this is not the case).

Fall, the season of the harvest, is the time when winter weight gain creeps into our lives at a steady pace. Primal evolutionary survival mechanisms urge us to store fat when the temperature drops to keep warmer. With the days shorter and less sunlight to make vitamin D on our skin, Seasonal Affective Disorder can set in, with varying degrees, causing sadness and low-energy which trigger a desire for carbs and sweets. Then the holidays arrive to cheer us up around the winter solstice, ironically bringing more stress and oh, the dinners and parties replete with rich, calorie-laden cuisine, pastries and drinks (soothing that stress temporarily)—clearly, all the ingredients of a conspiracy.

The holidays are filled with festivities and beautiful rituals, yet they bring along the dread of dietary demons, the meals, the parties and office snacks, which sabotage the weight we have worked so hard to lose or maintain during the year. These days, everyone wants a fast metabolism and flatter abs. However, what really weighs us down in life is the resentment we carry.

This is not metaphorical. Resentment actually causes us to put on the pounds. Cortisol, a stress hormone, increases with negative emotions and deposits fat around the abdominal region.