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我们都知道压⼒过⼤的危害，它影响到我们健康的⽅⽅⾯⾯，是的，也包括你的体重。如果你觉得你的减肥道路⾛得很艰难，也许是时候审视⼀下⾃⼰⾯对的压⼒和焦虑了。
We all know the harms of too much stress. It impacts every single aspect of our health, yes, that includes the weight. If you find it difficult to shed the pounds you don’t want, you may want to take a look at the stress and anxiety in your life.
你的压⼒和你的腰围很可能紧密相关。
You stress level could be correlated to your waist size.
让我们先来看看最直接最明显的原因。
Let’s take a look at the most obvious connections between stress and weight.
当你感到有压⼒时，你不太会去做计划。很可能你会随便吃些最容易填饱肚⼦的东⻄，当然你不也太可能去锻炼。
When you are stressed, you are not going to make detailed plans. You probably grab what comes the easiest to fill your belly, and of course you not very likely to exercise.
当你感到有压⼒时，很容易屈服于情绪化饮⻝，⽽这通常意味着不那么健康的⻝物。当你焦虑的时候，是更可能伸⼿拿⼀罐冰淇淋呢还是坐下来吃⼀盘⻄兰花呢？
When you are stressed, it is extremely easy to engage in emotional eating, and that usually entails not-so-healthy food. When you are under pressure, are you more likely to reach for a jar of ice cream or a plate of broccolis?
当然还有睡眠。压力大的⼈睡眠往往不好。当你睡眠不⾜时，你体内两种调节⻝欲的激素就会被搞乱。让你有饥饿感的饥饿荷尔蒙 ghrelin 会升⾼。结果是，你往往吃的要⽐你的身体真正需要的要多。另⼀种让你有饱腹感的荷尔蒙，leptin，会被压制。结果是，吃饱的感觉会延迟，所以在你该停下来的时候你停不下来。
Then there is sleep. Stressed people don’t have good sleep. When you are sleep deprived, the two appetite regulating hormones get messed up. The hunger hormone, ghrelin, which tells the brain you are hungry, is up-regulated. As a result, you eat more than what your body really needs. The other hormone, leptin, which tells your brain you are full, gets down-regulated. As a result, the sense of being full is delayed, so you cannot stop eating when you should.
这些都很容易理解，但不那么显而易见的是你减肥如此困难背后的⽣物化学机制。
These are all understood by most people, but what is not so obvious is the biochemical mechanism that makes it so hard for you to lose weight.
我们的 ANS（⾃主神经系统）有两个部分：交感神经系统和副交感神经系统。当你感到压⼒时，你的身体处于交感神经系统主导的状态。这是身体的⾃然防御机制，因为它可以让你摆脱危险：⾎液被输送到身体的外围，⼼跳可能会加快，你在做好战⽃或者逃跑的准备。
Our ANS (autonomic nervous system) has two parts: sympathetic system and parasympathetic system. When you are stressed, your body is in a sympathetic system dominated state. This is the body's natural defense mechanism working to get you out of whatever danger you are in: blood is sent to the peripherals of the body, your heart may be pounding, you are ready for fight or flight.
我们的身体只有两种燃料来源：葡萄糖和脂肪。当你处于交感神经系统主导的状态下，你的身体会尽量利⽤最容易燃烧的燃料。猜猜那是什么？是的，是葡萄糖，不是脂肪！如果你⻓期承受压力并且始终处于这种交感神经主导的状态，你的身体将永远没有机会去燃烧脂肪，⽽只是在不断地消耗和补充体内的葡萄糖储备 (叫做糖原）。
Our body only has two fuel sources: glucose and fat. So when you are in a sympathetic state, your body automatically tries to utilize the fuel that is the easiest to burn. Guess what that is? Yes, it’s glucose, not fat! If you are chronically stressed and always live in sympathetic state, your body never gets a chance to burn fat. What it does instead is to keep replenishing the glucose storage (glycogen) in our body.
⼀个正常体重的⼈可以在体内储存 2000 到 2500 卡路⾥的糖原。当它减少时，身体会努力将其恢复到原有的⽔平。如果你⼀直在燃烧葡萄糖，你的身体需要加倍努⼒来不断补充糖原的储存。这可能就是你⼀直极度想吃甜⻝的原因。
A normal weight person may store 2000 to 2500 calories of glucose in our body in the form of glycogen. When it gets reduced, the body will work to restore it to full level. If you are constantly only burning glucose, your body needs to work extra hard to constantly replenish the storage of glycogen. That may be why you are constantly craving for sweets.
Libby Weaver，⼀个专注营养的⽣物化学家， 讲过她个⼈的⼀个经历。当她还是⼀名⼤学⽣时，每天跑步两个⼩时，每周6到7 天，体重稳定。后来在疗养院⼯作后，她开始练太极，和她的客户⼀起做慢⾛，她发现⾃⼰体重开始没有原因地下降，⽽她根本没有改变她的饮⻝习惯。这让她⾮常困惑，于是回到教科书去找解释。她后来才彻底明⽩，原来你的体重不仅与你放⼊嘴⾥的东⻄有关，还与你的⼼态有极⼤的关系。
Dr. Libby Weaver, a nutritional biochemist, explained this with a personal example. When she was a university student, she was running two hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week. She had a pretty stable weight. After she got a job at a retreat center and started doing Tai Qi and going on slow walks with her clients, she found she started losing weight, without changing her diet at all. This thoroughly puzzled her and drove her to go back to the textbooks to understand why. Turns out your weight does not only have to do with what you put in the mouth, it also has a lot to do with your state of mind.
我们都知道腹部脂肪是最难减的，男⼥都⼀样。为什么呢？当我们倍感压⼒时，我们的身体内会发⽣⼀连串的生化反应，并且会释放多种荷尔蒙。两个最突出的是肾上腺素和⽪质醇。⽪质醇会触发腹部区域的脂肪储存酶，导致脂肪的增加。更多的腹部脂肪也会吸引更多的⽪质醇。你知道吗？腹部脂肪细胞的⽪质醇受体是普通脂肪细胞的4倍！这很可能是我们⾃然进化的结果。因为腹部的脂肪可以温暖我们的身体，⽽且可以保护内脏器官。
We all know that belly fat is the most stubborn to lose, for both men and women. Why is that? When we are stressed, a cascade of biochemical actions are happening in our bodies and a bunch of hormones get released. Two most prominent ones are adrenaline and cortisol. Cortisol triggers a fat storing enzyme in the belly area, causing us to put on more fat. And more belly fat also attracts cortisol. Do you know that visceral fat cells have 4 times as many cortisol receptors as regular fat cells? This is probably a result of evolution. Belly fat keeps us warm and also protects the internal organs.
肾上腺素和⽪质醇的释放也会提⾼⾎糖⽔平，这是为了让让你的身体做好战⽃或逃跑的准备。在上古时代，这可能会救了你的命。但是，当你坐在你的办公隔间⾥，因为deadline感到焦虑，或者对同事刚刚对你说的话感到愤怒，那你体内的葡萄糖完全没有得到利⽤，你的身体必须想办法去把它处理掉：释放胰岛素来降低葡萄糖⽔平。如果你⻓期处于这样的压⼒之下，随着时间的推移，胰岛素会变得越来越不敏感，葡萄糖就更难以像预期的那样进⼊细胞，结果被储存为脂肪。
Release of adrenaline and cortisol also raises the blood sugar level, preparing your body for fight or flight. In old times, this may save your life. However, if you are sitting in a cubicle, stressed over a deadline, or fumed about what a colleague just said to you, all that glucose did not get used, and your body has to figure out a way to deal with it: releasing insulin to lower the glucose level. If you are chronically stressed, over time, insulin becomes less sensitive, it is more difficult for the glucose to get into cells as it is supposed to do; instead, it gets stored as fat.
⽪质醇的作⽤并不全都是负⾯的，它还具有其他很有⽤的功能。在压⼒过去之后，⽪质醇实际上会留下来清理烂摊⼦，因为它具有抗炎的作⽤。但是⾼⽔平的⽪质醇会触发⼀个叫做“室旁核”的东⻄，这是⼤脑中控制中⼼的⼀部分，它告诉肾上腺停⽌释放更多的⽪质醇。如果这种情况发⽣得太频繁，例如⻓期处于压⼒和焦虑的状态下，那么炎症就不会得到及时清除，会开始发展成慢性炎症。我们都知道这是很多健康问题的开始。
Cortisol is not all bad, it has other functions as well. After a stressful event, cortisol actually sticks around to clean up the mess. It is anti-inflammatory. But a high level of cortisol triggers paraventricular nucleus, part of the control center in the brain that tells the adrenal glands to stop releasing cortisol. If this happens too often, as in a chronically stressed body, then inflammation does not get cleaned up on time. Hence chronic inflammation occurs. We all know what that will lead to.
所以，饮⻝虽然重要，但我坚信更为重要是的我们的⼼态。每个⼈都应该有⼀个经过规划的，实践的，不断调整的减压系统。这个系统对于不同的⼈也许完全不⼀样，但关键是你要有！我们会在以后有这⽅⾯的分享，但我希望这篇⽂章⾄少能帮你进⼀步意识到⼼态的重要并开始主动地, 而不是被动地去抗压。
Therefore, as important as diet is, I strongly believe it is still less important than the state of mind we are in. Every one should have a well-thought-out, often practiced and often adjusted stress management system. It may look different for different people, but the key is to HAVE ONE! We’ll certainly talk more about how to do that in the future, but for now, I hope reading this will help you realize its importance and start ACTIVELY, NOT PASSIVELY, managing your stress.
References:
• Liji Thomas. Ghrelin and sleep
• Libby Weaver. The Perception of Stress
• Anna Cabeca. The Hormone Fix
